Bookseller Reviews
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Atmospheric Chills
This is a hyper atmospheric slow-burn thriller set in a rural Scottish highlands community. The disappearance of Christine, mother to Lauren, devastates La... READ MORE
Chilling!
I nabbed a free copy of this from the staff room and I'm so glad I did.
I read Pine in a couple of days as I just could not put it down. This wonderfully ... READ MORE
'Little girl, little girl, don't lie to me'
This is a genuinely brilliant haunting, atmospheric Gothic tale set in a remote Scottish community where daughters rebel, men quietly simmer with rage and ... READ MORE
Bewitching
Pine is an original tale of a bereaved, young girl who is struggling not only with finding her way into adulthood, but also with the rumours of her mother ... READ MORE
Haunting and Claustrophobic
Pine is Francine Toon's debut novel, and is a mixture of gothic thriller, magical realism and crime. Told mainly from the perspective of 10 year old Lauren... READ MORE
An eerie thrilling tale...
When I picked up this book I thought it was going to be just another thriller set in the Highlands of Scotland, to be honest I only picked it up because it... READ MORE
A wonderful, spooky and beautifully written book
Pine is a thriller/crime/horror novel set in a Highland village that, to those of us who live or grew up in similar locations, will be especially chilling.... READ MORE
Just read this unforgettable, haunting novel, and now for the review!!
10 year old Lauren lives in an isolated village with her father Niall, her mother disappeared shortly after Lauren was born, her disappearance caused rumou... READ MORE
Synopsis
Winner of the McIlvanney Prize 2020
They are driving home from the search party when they see her. The trees are coarse and tall in the winter light, standing like men. Lauren and her father Niall live alone in the Highlands, in a small village surrounded by pine forest. When a woman stumbles out onto the road one Halloween night, Niall drives her back to their house in his pickup. In the morning, she's gone.
In a community where daughters rebel, men quietly rage, and drinking is a means of forgetting, mysteries like these are not out of the ordinary. The trapper found hanging with the dead animals for two weeks. Locked doors and stone circles. The disappearance of Lauren's mother a decade ago. Lauren looks for answers in her tarot cards, hoping she might one day be able to read her father's turbulent mind. Neighbours know more than they let on, but when local teenager Ann-Marie goes missing it's no longer clear who she can trust.
In the shadow of the Highland forest, Francine Toon captures the wildness of rural childhood and the intensity of small-town claustrophobia. In a place that can feel like the edge of the word, she unites the chill of the modern gothic with the pulse of a thriller. It is the perfect novel for our haunted times.
Publisher information
- Publisher: Transworld Publishers Ltd
- ISBN: 9780857526700
- Number of pages: 336
- Dimensions: 222 x 144 x 32 mm
- Weight: 453g
Customer Reviews
View allA ghostly, atmospheric, original and unsettling debut.
Ghostly, atmospheric and bewitching, Pine is an unsettling and beautifully written debut. The plot almost feels secondary to the rich, original, nuanced, d... READ MORE
A perfect Scottish dark noir tale
Pine is set in a small hamlet in the Highlands, where a father, Niall, struggles with alcoholism and depression following the disappearance of his wife, Ch... READ MORE
Poor ending
324 page book with an ending constituting 10 pages, it’s like the author just gave up or ran out of steam, disappointing.
Disappointing
Not for me
A gripping, goosebumpy read
Lauren and her father, Niall, live in a secluded area of the Scottish highlands. Her mother had disappeared years before when Lauren was a baby.
One nigh... READ MORE
Worth a read, but leaves a lot of questions...
I did enjoy the book, but taking a while to finally build up tension, it felt as though the ending was rushed (which i believe others have already commente... READ MORE
A beautiful edition
This is a beautiful edition, which is admittedly the first thing that drew me to it. And dark Scottish mystery? Sure sign me right up.
Niall is strugglin... READ MORE
Lots of potential but didn’t meet its mark sorry
I was totally hooked. Coming from the area that the book was written about I could picture the place ... smell the place... I’ve lodged in houses as damp a... READ MORE
Verified Purchase
Unnerving and absorbing
Unnerving and absorbing, ‘Pine’ is a gothic tale of neglect, mystery, and the supernatural. There is an eerie sense of unease running throughout which kept... READ MORE
Achingly sad and beautiful
Ten-year-old Lauren lives with her father in the Highlands of Scotland, surrounded by a pine forest. Her father drinks, her mother is gone, and suspicion a... READ MORE
A Scottish Highland Tale
This story is set in the Scottish Highlands community. Lauren and her father Niall are driving through the wood that surrounds their village one Halloween ... READ MORE
A lyrical novel with elements of the Gothic and folk horror
My thanks to Random House U.K. /Transworld for initially providing me with an eARC via NetGalley of Francine Toon’s highly anticipated debut, ‘Pine’, in ex... READ MORE
Pine
An eerie meditation on our connection with the deceased, a perfect read for a stormy night.
Eerie supernatural thriller
Definitely thought I was picking up another "killer in the woods"-esq novel, but this book puts a spooky spin on it. Light read that gave me a fww goose bu... READ MORE
A stunning read
Dark, ominous and otherworldly, Pine is a subtle, creeping novel that infiltrates your subconsciousness with its sense of mystery. It isn't scary, per se, ... READ MORE
Brilliant spooky read
Loved this book living in the Highlands it was familiar loved the story and was spooked out a couple of times but really enjoyed it couldn’t put it down gr... READ MORE
Excellent
Excellent Gothic thriller. Couldn’t put it down. Highly recommended.
Pine promises an eerie gothic chiller yet fails to fully deliver.
Review: Pine, Francine Toon
Pine promises an eerie gothic chiller yet fails to fully deliver.
Lauren lives with her father Niall in a small remote villag... READ MORE
A light thriller
Ten-year-old Lauren faces the challenges of growing up in a small Scottish village and everyone badly hides suspicions on her mother disappearance. Events ... READ MORE
Pine by Francine Toon
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past year (and let’s face it, for many of us that would probably have been preferable!) then chances are you... READ MORE
Great book
Great book, found it hard to put down.
Pine by Francine Toon
A modern gothic thriller with an unexpected ending. The story is told from a young girl's point of veiw but also from her fathers. Why did Lauren's mother ... READ MORE
Pine, by Francine Toon
If ever there was a book to be reading at Hallowe’en, then this is it. It will scare the blue blazes out of you. Which of course is the intention. It... READ MORE
An atmospheric thriller
This was a beautifully written book with an amazing atmospheric feel, I couldn’t put it down picking it up any chance I had.
Disappointed
Was expecting a great fireside read but it fell short. Was a good idea and could have been a great story but was disappointed with the way it was written a... READ MORE
Chilly Scotland
Read this in a few days , book of the month for Waterstones , was so looking forward to reading this , not as riveting as I hoped , an ok read , the last f... READ MORE
Good read, slow to start, too short
It has s good story plot. But it takes about 250 pages to get to the main story, with only 322 pages in the whole book. The two main characters, Nial and h... READ MORE
That's hours of my life I won't get back.
I'm sorry, I know that this is Francine Toon's debut novel and I wish her all the best but I really can't understand the reviews about this novel. The cove... READ MORE
A “Mildly” paranormal “mystery” - Not a gripping gothic, thriller
Most of what I have to say was summed up by multiple reviewers, I don’t understand where the hype is coming from. I wish I could say I enjoyed it.
Nothin... READ MORE
Mesmerizing, haunting. unforgettable!
''With all the lights on, there is still a darkness in the house.''
In a small community in the haunting Scottish Highlands, the strange disappearance of ... READ MORE
I couldn't wait to finish this book - and not because I was enjoying it
I don't know what the fuss us about. This is not what I would call a "thriller": it's slow; too short for any sort of real character development; and ulti... READ MORE
A Enthralling & Haunting Début
I read Pine by Francine Toon in staves with other Pigeonholers as part of a group.
Francine Toon has written a remarkable début novel full of atmosphere, ... READ MORE
Beautifully written
This is gripping and moving with unexpected twists. I could relate a lot to some parts which helped. I read it in a couple days is it was so compelling.
An ok read
A little disappointed to be honest, the back cover blurb promised a better read, it was ok, I finished it but wouldn’t particularly recommend this
Had me hooked
Decided to take up reading again to stop me using my phone so much and this book was a great first book recommended by one of the waterstones staff. Loved ... READ MORE
Perfect Scottish setting, with eerie narrative
Perfect Scottish gothic thriller aesthetic, which builds up an eerie narrative which will make you cautious but also desperate to know what happens. Finish... READ MORE
Amazing world
I could not put this book down, the world created felt so real and It’s become one of my favourites.
Best book I’ve read this year
Found the pace really good and it accelerates at the end, couldn’t put it down! Enjoyed the style of writing and could relate to the characters. She create... READ MORE
Wonderfully unsettling!
I read this book during a recent October break trip to Glencoe and it could not have been more perfectly timed. The book itself was fantastic. I couldn't p... READ MORE
Pine
Brilliant book, found it hard to put down, just wanted to keep reading. Quite creepy which I really enjoyed.
Beautifully Atmospheric but slow...
I was so so excited to read this when I first heard of it towards the end of the summer. It sounded right up my street and I knew reading it at winter in f... READ MORE
'Pine' by Francine Toon
Probably one of my favourite books now. It is set in the haunting Scottish Highlands (in the modern-day) and focuses on ten-year-old Lauren who lives with ... READ MORE
Twisty
This was full of twists and turns, I really felt I was there in some scenes.... the head space of dad, the bedroom of daughter, the pub scenes... the woods... READ MORE
A good story concept
A good story concept, but a hurried and weak ending didn't do it justice.
Enjoyable but the ending sagged for me
I really enjoyed this book, from the beginning I was turning pages fast to find out what was going to happen next and reading it last winter gave me all th... READ MORE
confusing one
There were times where I had to reread parts of the story because I didn't really understand what was going on. It is a book that is marketed as crime, mys... READ MORE
Creepy and atmospheric
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The author paints a wonderfully vivid picture of the setting and I feel like I can still visualise the forest and the villa... READ MORE
Wonderful
Dark and moody, Pine felt like the perfect winter read. At times utterly terrifying, there is an air of unease to the entire novel.
I could talk for hours... READ MORE
Eeeeerily Good !
Winner of the McIlvanney prize 2020.
A strong debut novel set in a secluded village, surrounded by pine forrest, in the Scottish Highlands. This is an eeri... READ MORE
But for now, she’s a vampire
Really did enjoy this book, it’s spooky and gothic. However I felt like I wanted more from it, it dragged slightly in the middle and felt like it was rushe... READ MORE
Gripping and moving
Loved this book, really entertaining but also moving
Unfinished
Tedious and boring waste of time, certainly not "pacey".
Atmospheric and keeps you guessing
I really enjoyed Pine - I thought it was well-written, evocative and struck just the right balance of intrigue and genuine chills. It kept me guessing all ... READ MORE
Disappointed
I am very sorry to say that I had high expectations of enjoying a scary thriller...alas I was neither scared nor thrilled.
I found the story telling lacked... READ MORE
Best avoided
I am at a loss to understand the rave reviews for this novel. It could be any rural setting. An obligatory ceilidh scene suggests Scotland but none of the ... READ MORE
chilling, eerie, intensely written - thrilling
PINE by Francine Toon. Is set in the heart of the Scottish landscape. A small village, almost adjoining a deep, foreboding forest of Pine.
Lauren can h... READ MORE