"Dark, visceral and disturbing, this highly suspenseful and beautifully written thriller is totally gripping from start to finish. A hugely impressive debut." —Alex Michaelides, author of The Silent Patient and The Maidens
"Louise Brealey's understated narration creates a dark atmosphere well suited to this story . . . Her subtle characterizations enhance the believable and complicated protagonists, as well as various colorful villagers." -AudioFile Magazine
A literary thriller from stunning new talent Greg Buchanan, Sixteen Horses is a story of enduring guilt, trauma, and punishment, set in a small seaside community the rest of the world has left behind.
In Ilmarsh, England, local police detective Alec Nichols discovers sixteen horses' heads on a farm, each buried with a single eye facing the low winter sun. After Veterinary Forensics expert Cooper Allen travels to the scene, a pathogen is discovered lurking within the soil, and many of those who have come into contact with the corpses grow critically ill.
A series of crimes comes to light—disappearances, arson, and mutilations—and in the dark days that follow, the town slips into panic and paranoia. Everything is not as it seems. Anyone could be a suspect. And as Cooper finds herself unable to leave town, Alec is stalked by an unseen threat. The two investigators race to uncover the truth behind these frightened and insidious mysteries—no matter the cost.
A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
July 20, 2021 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9781250804815
- File size: 279846 KB
- Duration: 09:43:00
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Starred review from May 3, 2021
Buchanan’s debut, a dark, ambitious, and highly intelligent thriller, opens with an arresting image. In a farmer’s field, Alec Nichols, a policeman in the English seaside town of Ilmarsh, views 16 submerged horse heads, “all apart, all with only the barest strand of skin on display, all with a single eye left exposed to the sun.” Nichols and a forensic veterinarian, Cooper Allen, begin investigating the ritualistic tableau and end up probing the past and present of Ilmarsh, whose residents appear to be dying from environmental and economic disasters. In spare, poetic prose, the story unfolds mostly linearly—people disappearing, more ritualistic animal torture—with occasional flashbacks to illuminate the inner lives of characters and the history of the place itself. Decades of economic activity (fishing, oil, manufacturing, a once-thriving tourism industry) have been killing the town and poisoning the psyches of the locals: “Dying places produced desperate people. Desperate people were not, as a rule, careful or subtle in their actions.” The story line can be serpentine, but its rewards are worth the effort. This complex, often gothic tale is definitely an eye-opener. Agent: Sam Copeland, RCW Literary. (July)Correction: The first name of character Alec Nichols was listed incorrectly in a previous version of this review. -
The discovery of 16 horses' heads buried in a field outside a declining English seaside town sets off a sequence of troubling and horrific events. D.S. Alec Nichols and forensic vet Dr. Cooper Allen are called in to investigate. Louise Brealey's understated narration creates a dark atmosphere well suited to this story. Her well-paced timing complements the short sentences that are used to build tension in the mystery. Her subtle characterizations enhance the believable and complicated protagonists, as well as various colorful villagers. Brealey's steady narration helps draw out the horror in the plot, particularly during descriptions of animal cruelty. The result is a challenging listen. K.J.P. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
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