Please note:

 

The Loney is no longer in print with Tartarus Press...

 

...but it is re-issued by John Murrays.

 

 

The Loney

by

Andrew Michael Hurley

 

Short-listed: James Herbert Award

Winner: Costa First Novel Award

Winner: British Book Industry Debut Novel Award

Winner: British Book Industry Book of the Year

 

The Tartarus Press edition was a sewn hardback of 278 pages, printed lithographically, with silk ribbon marker, head and tailbands, and d/w and decorated boards.

 

First published by Tartarus Press 1st October 2014.

 

ISBN 978-1-905784-69-1

 

Limited to 300 signed copies.

 

 

Blurb:

 

The Loney is a superb new slow-burn British horror novel in the tradition of The Wicker Man.

 

Exploring issues of faith and the survival of older beliefs, Andrew Michael Hurley's beautifully atmospheric and moving novel has at its heart the relationship between two London Catholic boys, Smith and his mute, mentally disabled brother Hanny.

 

The discovery of the remains of a young child during winter storms along the bleak Lancashire coastline leads Smith back to the Saint Jude's Church Easter pilgrimage to The Loney in 1976. Not all of the locals are pleased to see the Catholic party in the area, and some puzzling events occur. Smith and Hanny, the youngest members of the party, become involved with a glamorous couple staying at a nearby house with their young charge, the heavily pregnant Else. Prayers are said for Hanny at the local shrine, but he also inadvertently becomes involved in more troubling rites. Secrets are kept, and disclosed.

 

After the pilgrimage, a miracle of one kind or another occurs. Smith feels he is the only one to know the truth, and he must bear the burden of his knowledge, no matter what the cost.

 

 

Reviews:

 

Film rights sold to DNA Films, with the support of Film4

 

'The Loney is not just good, it's great. It's an amazing piece of fiction.' Stephen King

 

'Not only does Hurley write beautifully, he has the Aickmanesque talent of never exactly telling you what’s going on . . . Modern classics in this genre are rare, and instant ones even rarer; The Loney, however, looks as though it may be both.' Tim Martin, Sunday Telegraph

 

'His sensitive portrayal of Tonto and Hanny's relationship and his insights into religious belief and faith give this eerie tale depth and gravity.' "Starred" review at Publishers Weekly

 

'Here is the masterpiece by which Hurley must enter the Guild of the Gothic: it pleases me to think of his name written on some parchment scroll, alongside those of Walpole, Du Maurier, Maturin and Jackson.' Guardian

 

'A masterful excursion into terror.' Sunday Times

 

'An extraordinarily haunted and haunting novel.' Daily Telegraph

 

'This is a novel of the unsaid, the implied, the barely grasped or understood, crammed with dark holes and blurry spaces that your imagination feels compelled to fill.' Observer

 

'Written with the skill of a poet.' The Times, Books of the Year

 

'An eerie, disturbing read that doesn't let up until its surprise ending.' Daily Mail

 

'An unforgettable addition to the ranks of the best British horror.' Metro

 

'A haunting and ambiguous novel that will keep you up at night.' Daily Express

 

'A tale of suspense that sucks you in and pulls you under. As yarns go, it rips.' New Statesman

 

'A masterclass in spinning out tension.' Financial Times

 

'Hurley delivers a haunting and powerful weird tale about religious faith and how it is used to control and make sense of forces that constantly resist it.' Stefan Dziemianowicz, Locus, January 2015

 

'What I loved about The Loney is that it struck me as the kind of book Robert Aickman might have written if his strange stories had expanded into strange novels. Yes, it’s more narratively linear and “filled out” than Aickman’s work, and possibly Hurley’s portrayal of the novel’s human characters as distinct from the landscape is less contemptuous and alien than some of Aickman’s.' No Time is Passing

 

'Hurley is a terrific writer... That he has honed his talents in short stories shows here, the rhythm of the story is perfect, and the build-up of tension is so well done that your palms will be clammy at just the thought of some of the set pieces.'  Bookmunch

 

'The Lonely, a powerfully written tale of faith, reality and what rises from the gulf between the two ... a novel with rich, intense characters and places you'll not soon forget.' Rick Kleffel at The Agony Column

 

'Hurley has written a dark, disturbing and completely convincing piece of modern Gothic that delivers on all kinds of levels.' Paul StJohn Mackintosh at Teleread

 

'The Loney is a British horror novel that fits into the tradition of the ghost story while not being entirely bounded by it. I found it an absorbing read, with credible characterisation and an intelligent, satisfying plot that evokes the sense of mystery that abounds in the shadier, wilder parts of our little islands...' Supernatural Tales Blog

 

'The Loney is a lovely book, both in its prose and its plotting and its primary characters and even its darkness, which is dished out slowly and carefully.' Goodreads

 

'A beautifully written and thoroughly absorbing work of fiction, The Loney is also a book that touches on themes that are fundamental to the human condition.' Peter Tennant, Black Static

 

Video trailer:

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