I picked up 'Pine' on a whim after seeing it recommended in a indie bookshop’s 'hidden gems' section, and wow, it completely blindsided me. Francine Toon’s debut has this eerie, atmospheric quality that lingers—like fog creeping into your bones. Set in the Scottish Highlands, it blends folklore with a modern missing-person mystery, and the prose is so sparse yet vivid. The protagonist, Lauren, feels achingly real—her loneliness, her strained relationship with her dad, and the way she grapples with the supernatural elements around her. It’s not a fast-paced thriller, but the tension simmers. If you’re into slow burns with emotional depth and a side of spine-tingling unease, this’ll haunt you in the best way.
What surprised me was how Toon uses the landscape almost as a character. The pine forests feel claustrophobic yet vast, mirroring Lauren’s isolation. And that ending? Divisive, but it stuck with me for days. I’d say it’s absolutely worth reading in 2023, especially if you’re tired of cookie-cutter horror or mysteries. It’s more about the mood than the plot twists, though—like if 'The Witch' met 'Twin Peaks' in a gloomy Scottish village. Just don’t expect tidy resolutions; this one’s all about the unanswered whispers.