This was one of the best books I've read this year. It is set in the Scottish Highlands (in the modern day) and focuses on ten-year-old Lauren who lives with her dad on the outskirts of a hamlet. Though the book is told in the third person, the narration is quite clearly through Lauren's eyes. Toon uses child-like similes ("her hair was as black as school shoes") and picks up on the little details which only children really seem to. A truly wonderful narrative.

The plot also has a nice mix of supernatural thriller and provincial town story. My favourite books are highly provincial (i.e. focusing on domestic, rural life with a focus on the role of nature/family in the community). It's unusual to find a book which fits this genre but is also hugely gripping. I read it in an afternoon and was hooked the whole way through.

The only thing I didn't like was the ending. No spoilers, but it felt pretty rushed and like all of Toon's careful characterisation had gone out of the window. The characters were suddenly two dimensional which was pretty disappointing.