Francine Toon – författare

WINNER of the McIlvanney Prize 2020Shortlisted for Bloody Scotland's Scottish Crime Debut of the Year 2020Longlisted for the Highland Book Prize 2020'Hugely atmospheric, exquisitely written and utterly gripping' LUCY FOLEY, author of The Hunting Party'It's both eerie and thrilling at once, and had me under its spell until the end' SOPHIE MACKINTOSH, author of Blue Ticket and The Water Cure______________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.______________READERS LOVE PINE . . .'Stunning ... I was completely spellbound' *****'Mesmerising and addictive' *****'I raced through this one, absolutely adored it!' *****'Can't recommend it enough' *****'I could not pull myself away from the pages' *****

'Outstandingly weird and memorable' GUARDIAN'Deliciously creepy' NEW SCIENTIST Fear never dies… Featuring stories from Susan Barker, J K Chukwu, Bridget Collins, Mariana Enríquez, Michel Faber, Lewis Hancox, Emilia Hart, Ainslie Hogarth, Robert Lautner, Adorah Nworah, Irenosen Okojie, Lucy Rose, Lionel Shriver, James Smythe, Lavie Tidhar, Francine Toon, Evie Wyld and Louisa Young. These stories from eighteen master storytellers will curdle your blood, haunt your dreams and redefine terror.From a hungry young woman who is not what she seems, to a boy who has taken his mother's advice a little too seriously; from disfigured girls willing to pay any price to fit in, to an immigrant who cannot escape his tormentor in his new home country; from a new home with a sinister secret, to the discovery that a long-dead parent’s corpse is perfectly preserved decades later; this collection plumbs the depths of the psyche and dredges up some very modern horrors. READERS ARE OBSESSED 'Stunning' 'Well-plotted and horrifying' 'Visceral, creepy, gory… stays in your head long after reading them' 'It's so satisfying to turn to the next story in an anthology like this and be pretty confident it's going to be a banger… bravo' 'Spine-tingling… I was gripped and it kept me up at night as I just wanted to read one more story' 'Often unusual, always unique… a wildly eclectic cornucopia of horror'

'Outstandingly weird and memorable' GUARDIAN'Deliciously creepy' NEW SCIENTIST Fear never dies… Featuring stories from Susan Barker, J K Chukwu, Bridget Collins, Mariana Enríquez, Michel Faber, Lewis Hancox, Emilia Hart, Ainslie Hogarth, Robert Lautner, Adorah Nworah, Irenosen Okojie, Lucy Rose, Lionel Shriver, James Smythe, Lavie Tidhar, Francine Toon, Evie Wyld and Louisa Young. These stories from eighteen master storytellers will curdle your blood, haunt your dreams and redefine terror.From a hungry young woman who is not what she seems, to a boy who has taken his mother's advice a little too seriously; from disfigured girls willing to pay any price to fit in, to an immigrant who cannot escape his tormentor in his new home country; from a new home with a sinister secret, to the discovery that a long-dead parent’s corpse is perfectly preserved decades later; this collection plumbs the depths of the psyche and dredges up some very modern horrors. READERS ARE OBSESSED 'Stunning' 'Well-plotted and horrifying' 'Visceral, creepy, gory… stays in your head long after reading them' 'It's so satisfying to turn to the next story in an anthology like this and be pretty confident it's going to be a banger… bravo' 'Spine-tingling… I was gripped and it kept me up at night as I just wanted to read one more story' 'Often unusual, always unique… a wildly eclectic cornucopia of horror'

'Outstandingly weird and memorable' GUARDIAN'Deliciously creepy' NEW SCIENTIST Fear never dies… Featuring stories from Susan Barker, J K Chukwu, Bridget Collins, Mariana Enríquez, Michel Faber, Lewis Hancox, Emilia Hart, Ainslie Hogarth, Robert Lautner, Adorah Nworah, Irenosen Okojie, Lucy Rose, Lionel Shriver, James Smythe, Lavie Tidhar, Francine Toon, Evie Wyld and Louisa Young. These stories from eighteen master storytellers will curdle your blood, haunt your dreams and redefine terror.From a hungry young woman who is not what she seems, to a boy who has taken his mother's advice a little too seriously; from disfigured girls willing to pay any price to fit in, to an immigrant who cannot escape his tormentor in his new home country; from a new home with a sinister secret, to the discovery that a long-dead parent’s corpse is perfectly preserved decades later; this collection plumbs the depths of the psyche and dredges up some very modern horrors. READERS ARE OBSESSED 'Stunning' 'Well-plotted and horrifying' 'Visceral, creepy, gory… stays in your head long after reading them' 'It's so satisfying to turn to the next story in an anthology like this and be pretty confident it's going to be a banger… bravo' 'Spine-tingling… I was gripped and it kept me up at night as I just wanted to read one more story' 'Often unusual, always unique… a wildly eclectic cornucopia of horror'

''Outstandingly weird and memorable'' GUARDIAN''Deliciously creepy'' NEW SCIENTISTFear never dies…Featuring stories from Susan Barker, J K Chukwu, Bridget Collins, Mariana Enríquez, Michel Faber, Lewis Hancox, Emilia Hart, Ainslie Hogarth, Robert Lautner, Adorah Nworah, Irenosen Okojie, Lucy Rose, Lionel Shriver, James Smythe, Lavie Tidhar, Francine Toon, Evie Wyld and Louisa Young. These stories from eighteen master storytellers will curdle your blood, haunt your dreams and redefine terror.From a hungry young woman who is not what she seems, to a boy who has taken his mother''s advice a little too seriously; from disfigured girls willing to pay any price to fit in, to an immigrant who cannot escape his tormentor in his new home country; from a new home with a sinister secret, to the discovery that a long-dead parent’s corpse is perfectly preserved decades later; this collection plumbs the depths of the psyche and dredges up some very modern horrors.READERS ARE OBSESSED''Stunning''''Well-plotted and horrifying''''Visceral, creepy, gory… stays in your head long after reading them''''It''s so satisfying to turn to the next story in an anthology like this and be pretty confident it''s going to be a banger… bravo''''Spine-tingling… I was gripped and it kept me up at night as I just wanted to read one more story''''Often unusual, always unique… a wildly eclectic cornucopia of horror''

'Outstandingly weird and memorable' GUARDIAN'Deliciously creepy' NEW SCIENTIST Fear never dies… Featuring stories from Susan Barker, J K Chukwu, Bridget Collins, Mariana Enríquez, Michel Faber, Lewis Hancox, Emilia Hart, Ainslie Hogarth, Robert Lautner, Adorah Nworah, Irenosen Okojie, Lucy Rose, Lionel Shriver, James Smythe, Lavie Tidhar, Francine Toon, Evie Wyld and Louisa Young. These stories from eighteen master storytellers will curdle your blood, haunt your dreams and redefine terror.From a hungry young woman who is not what she seems, to a boy who has taken his mother's advice a little too seriously; from disfigured girls willing to pay any price to fit in, to an immigrant who cannot escape his tormentor in his new home country; from a new home with a sinister secret, to the discovery that a long-dead parent’s corpse is perfectly preserved decades later; this collection plumbs the depths of the psyche and dredges up some very modern horrors. READERS ARE OBSESSED 'Stunning' 'Well-plotted and horrifying' 'Visceral, creepy, gory… stays in your head long after reading them' 'It's so satisfying to turn to the next story in an anthology like this and be pretty confident it's going to be a banger… bravo' 'Spine-tingling… I was gripped and it kept me up at night as I just wanted to read one more story' 'Often unusual, always unique… a wildly eclectic cornucopia of horror'

From the author of the Sunday Times bestseller, Pine, comes a haunting and atmospheric new gothic thriller, set in the brooding Scottish landscape.'Fabulous' Sunday Times'Toon is great on atmosphere' Mail on Sunday'Utterly gripping' Scottish Field'[A] masterclass in suspense' BooksellerIn this corner of Fife, summer nights meant parties on wind-blown beaches, wrapped in hoodies and denim jackets, pretending you weren’t cold in the stubborn evening light.JOANIE, 2013. Desperate to flee the claustrophobia of St Rule, Joanie has been looking forward to her big escape. But at the eleventh hour this dream slips through her hands. Devastated, Joanie falls into the orbit of an enigmatic couple – a pair of charismatic academics at the town’s university – who offer her a new kind of freedom.CAMERON, 2023. When Cameron arrives back in St Rule for Christmas, a question burns in his mind: whatever happened to Joanie? It’s been a decade since he saw his former friend. But as he starts to look for answers, it becomes clear that someone wants to keep this secret buried at all costs. How far should he go in pursuit of the truth?Praise for Francine Toon:'Dark, beguiling, and steeped in menace, Francine Toon spins a brooding mystery which shimmers with unease' Lucy Rose, author of The Lamb'A chilling, slow-burn novel' i Newspaper'A taut, eerie exploration of memory, belief, and the treacherous edges of girlhood. Francine Toon has a knack for getting deep under the skin' Kirsty Logan, author of Things We Say in the Dark‘Toon’s gift for creating an otherworldly atmosphere in small towns with big secrets is present once again in a novel that explores the desire to escape the ordinary’ Scotsman'A menacing, wind-swept thriller that creeps up on you as stealthily as a figure in the dark' Anna Bailey, author of Tall Bones

WINNER of the McIlvanney Prize 2020Shortlisted for Bloody Scotland's Scottish Crime Debut of the Year 2020Longlisted for the Highland Book Prize 2020'Hugely atmospheric, exquisitely written and utterly gripping' LUCY FOLEY, author of The Hunting Party'It's both eerie and thrilling at once, and had me under its spell until the end' SOPHIE MACKINTOSH, author of Blue Ticket and The Water Cure________________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.________________Readers love PINE: ***** 'A beautifully written and incredibly atmospheric debut.'***** 'Francine Toon is an author to watch out for.'***** 'Would recommend to anyone who loves folk horror.'***** 'A perfect spooky Halloween read!'

From the author of the Sunday Times bestseller, Pine, comes a haunting and atmospheric new gothic thriller, set in the brooding Scottish landscape.In this corner of Fife, summer nights meant parties on wind-blown beaches, wrapped in hoodies and denim jackets, pretending you weren’t cold in the stubborn evening light.JOANIE, 2013. Desperate to flee the claustrophobia of St Rule, Joanie has been looking forward to her big escape. But at the eleventh hour this dream slips through her hands. Devastated, Joanie falls into the orbit of an enigmatic couple – a pair of charismatic academics at the town’s university – who offer her a new kind of freedom.CAMERON, 2023. When Cameron arrives back in St Rule for Christmas, a question burns in his mind: whatever happened to Joanie? It’s been a decade since he saw his former friend. But as he starts to look for answers, it becomes clear that someone wants to keep this secret buried at all costs. How far should he go in pursuit of the truth?Praise for Francine Toon:'Dark, beguiling, and steeped in menace, Francine Toon spins a brooding mystery which shimmers with unease' Lucy Rose, author of The Lamb'A chilling, slow-burn novel' i Newspaper'A taut, eerie exploration of memory, belief, and the treacherous edges of girlhood. Francine Toon has a knack for getting deep under the skin' Kirsty Logan, author of Things We Say in the Dark‘Toon’s gift for creating an otherworldly atmosphere in small towns with big secrets is present once again in a novel that explores the desire to escape the ordinary’ Scotsman'A menacing, wind-swept thriller that creeps up on you as stealthily as a figure in the dark' Anna Bailey, author of Tall Bones

Brought to you by Penguin.From the author of the Sunday Times bestseller, Pine, comes a haunting and atmospheric new gothic thriller, set in the brooding Scottish landscape.In this corner of Fife, summer nights meant parties on wind-blown beaches, wrapped in hoodies and denim jackets, pretending you weren't cold in the stubborn evening light.Joanie, 2013. Desperate to flee the claustrophobia of St Rule, Joanie has long been looking forward to her big escape. But on the night of her school graduation this dream slips through her hands.Devastated, Joanie falls into the orbit of an enigmatic couple - Erin and David - who offer her a new kind of escape. Charismatic, older and intellectual, they make Joanie feel alive and important in a way she didn't know was possible.Cameron, 2023. When Cameron arrives back in St Rule for Christmas a question burns in his mind: what ever happened to Joanie? It's been a decade since he saw his former friend, and in truth he hadn't given it much thought - busily building a life.But as he starts to look for answers, it becomes clear that someone wants to keep this secret buried at all costs. How far should he go to pursue the truth?Set amongst the ancient cobblestone of a Scottish coastal town steeped in history, Francine Toon masterfully blends the tension of a mystery with the chill of a modern gothic. This is a story where every shadow holds a secret, and every revelation brings Cameron and Joanie closer to a truth that could shatter their worlds.Praise for Francine Toon:'A literary gothic thriller to chill the marrow' Guardian'Hugely atmospheric, exquisitely written and utterly gripping' Lucy Foley, bestselling author of The Hunting Party'A must-read for fans of eerie gothic fiction' The Skinny'An evocative read which will keep you guessing' Sunday Independent'Both eerie and thrilling at once...had me under its spell until the end' Sophie Mackintosh, Man Booker Prize-longlisted author of The Water Cure'Gripping' Sunday Times Scotland(c) Francine Toon 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025