Thank you to the publishers for this early read. Pleased to report that I loved it! But perhaps a word of caution... read in daylight unless of course you are very brave... Are monsters real? If you thought you saw a monster would your family believe you? Absolutely loved the tree, great characters, excellent TENSION and pace. Very happy to recommend to all from age 9 upwards. Look forward to seeing what Jack writes next.

The Clayton-Fenn kids—Gwen the eldest at thirteen, ten year old Henry and the six year old twins Hazel and Hester—have only their new stepdad Henry to look after them. On the death of their beloved grandmother, Henry moves the whole family to the House, Grandma’s home, on Gloam Island, which is not the idyllic it once was. Forced to find work off the island, Henry leaves the children in the care of Esme Laverne, a seemingly perfect childminder, but as Gwen soon realises, appearances can be deceiving… Billed for 9 year olds and over, this is a real horror novel of the creepy local folklore kind, almost Stephen King’s It for tweens, but the book is more than horrific enough for adult readers. Seriously, I got goosebumps throughout reading it; for younger readers, I think it might be worth reading it together, as the scares, although not of the jump kind, are sure to linger and as a lot takes place in children’s bedrooms-dot-dot-dot. Four and a half stars

Like a lot of readers, I guess, what I read is a mixture of titles from authors that are already known to me and those whose work I’ve never read, either because there just aren’t enough hours in the day or because their books are debuts and, hence, new to everyone. In the last year, I’ve enjoyed lots of great reads that have fallen into both categories but the two that I loved the most, and that blew me absolutely away, were both debuts. Here then is another new title to join them. An incredibly creepy and at times hide-behind-the-sofa-scary middle grade, this is a read that young horror fans – and I know there are a lot of them – will be thrilled by. Set on a small island accessible only by causeway, this is a tense and spinechilling story with properly frightening monsters that is not for those with a nervous disposition and is perfect for those who love Jennifer Killick’s, Phil Hickes’s and Dan Smith’s stories and are looking for something else to scare themselves silly with. As they make the short crossing to the island of Gloam in the care of their stepfather Henry, 13-year-old Gwen and her young brother and twin sisters look out at the all-too-close sea and feel relief that their journey is almost over. Reaching the tiny village of Gloaming, the family heads to The House, formerly the home of the children’s late grandmother now theirs following the death of their mother and where they are set to have a fresh start. Making their way inside, the children explore the house, which is filled with their grandmother’s amulets – an assortment of stones, each painted with an eye – and other treasures before they choose bedrooms. As the younger ones get ready for bed, Gwen discovers a tabby cat in the hallway and shoos it out of the back door, following it into the garden where she cannot help but see The Well that has always frightened her and the Rickety Den – a treehouse built by the siblings’ grandfather that has seen better days – before heading back inside. When she turns in herself, she spots a pair of glowing eyes in the dark but switching on her phone torch convinces herself it is one of the amulets and thinks little more of it before she falls asleep. The following morning, Henry announces that he has a job interview later that day and that a local babysitter, Esme, will be coming to keep an eye on the children while he is gone, annoying Gwen enormously. When the blonde and beautiful Esme arrives, Gwen immediately dislikes her while Henry and her siblings are all very taken with her. As strange things start to happen around the house, Gwen is more and more convinced that Esme is to blame, but none of her family believes her. Vowing to do whatever it takes to drive her away, before long Gwen finds herself facing terrifying monsters and in terrible danger. Will she be able to find a way to defeat the evil babysitter, and what will happen to her family if she can’t? Gwen is a strong and capable heroine who has had to take on the responsibility of looking after her younger brother and sisters and the family home while her dying mother was in hospital, and as a result has an old head on young shoulders. When Esme enters the family’s lives, Henry is relieved to have another adult with whom to share the hard work of raising the children that he loves but that he has inherited from marriage to their mother and finds hard work, and as a result immediately dismisses Gwen’s concerns as complete nonsense. As the babysitter wheedles her way into everyone else’s affections, Gwen is forced to stay strong and to call on all her powers of logic, courage and determination to overcome the monster that she knows Esme truly is. Esme is such a brilliant villain. Both blonde and beautiful, she meets the stereotypical idea of female beauty that still persists in society and is utterly charming when we first meet her. When she realises that she has met her match in Gwen, her behaviour towards our protagonist is truly horrible, making us root for Gwen all the more as the situation in which she finds herself becomes more and more frightening and dangerous. As we read on to see just what she will face, the monsters that she encounters are truly terrifying and will challenge even the bravest of young readers to carry on with the story until the end. A fabulous debut, perfect for confident readers in upper KS2 – or those who are brave enough in Year 4 – this is a brilliant read that I thoroughly enjoyed, and I cannot wait to see what Jack Mackay writes next.

I was a total devotee of 101 Dalmations as a child. The animated Disney film, not the book, I regret to say and I can still feel that awful sense of horror and shock at Cruella DaVil's intentions. Jack Mackay has totally pinned that down in Gloam. When the babysitter turns out not to be quite the doe eyed marvel of her CV - and Gwen is the only one to see through it, we are immediately filled with a strong sense of injustice tempered with lashings of fear. When the house itself begins to show a rotten core, things seem hopeless, but Gwen is a determined protagonist, and her siblings are not as gullible as they seemed. I raced through it - wonderful piece of horror, and definitely not one to read with your back to the wardrobe in a house on your own. 8+