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One Came Back: The BBC Book at Bedtime pick you won't be able to put down!
Rose McDonagh
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'One Came Back is the real thing, a concise account of Scottish-set obsession' THE CRITIC
'Dark and devastating . . . a story that haunts you' HEATHER CRITCHLOW
'Intriguing . . . creepy . . . downright unsettling' SHARON BOLTON
On impact, the boy seemed to fold down and disappear, as if maybe he hadn't been there in the first place...
It's New Year's Eve in Edinburgh when Emily sees Nicky. Or at least she thinks she does. He looks, laughs, and moves just like Nicky. But how can that be? Nicky died when they were teenagers, in an accident on a remote road up in the Highlands... didn't he?
A week later, Emily sees the man again. He says his name Nicholas. This man not only looks like an adult version of her friend, but he also knows things that only Nicky should know.
As her encounters with Nicholas become more frequent and her fixation intensifies, the truth becomes murkier, and more unsettling.
Is Emily being haunted, is she going mad - or is something altogether darker going on . . .
One Came Back is a powerfully tense debut novel combining the chill of the modern gothic with the hook of a thriller, exploring the depths of grief, memory, and obsession.
More praise for One Came Back:
'Dark and twisty: like scaling a mountain, and peering over the sheer drop at the edge' JENNA CLARKE
'Compelling and genuinely eerie' RUTH THOMAS
'A gripping mystery . . . poetic and moving' LUCY RIBCHESTER
'A hugely impressive debut. It left me reeling' DEVIKA PONNAMBALAM
'Almost impossible to put it down' CATHERINE LLYOD
Read MorePraise for One Came Back: The BBC Book at Bedtime pick you won't be able to put down!
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Starts intriguing, soon becomes creepy, moves swiftly on to downright unsettling. - Sharon Bolton, author of THE SPLITDark and devastating, with a beautifully realised Highland setting, One Came Back delves into an eerie obsession where nothing is quite what it seems. When Emily sees an old childhood friend in Edinburgh at New Year she is transfixed - because Nicky has been dead for twenty years. McDonagh's prose is spare and intimate, pulling the reader into the claustrophobia of Emily's mind as she becomes fixated on Nicky and the things he seems to know about her. A portrait of limerence and the enduring importance of teenage years and experiences, this is a story that haunts you long after you've left the page. - Heather Critchlow, author of UNSOLVEDI found this compelling and genuinely eerie. There's a fever-dream quality to it but also a directness of gaze which makes the whole story of loss and confused identity feel distinctly plausible. Rose McDonagh has woven such a closely layered and claustrophic tale that I was left guessing all the way through. I didn't see the ending coming but when it did I realised how cleverly she had in fact been leaving a trail to follow. I was so impressed with the way she combines oddness with ordinariness - and how complex and frightening scenes are described with such clear-eyed precision. Apart from anything else, I always approve of novels which don't abandon the small-scale and the hum-drum - which is, of course, exactly what adds to the chilling effect here. - Ruth Thomas, author of THE SNOW AND THE WORKS ON THE NORTHERN LINEOne Came Back is a haunted and haunting gothic thriller about how grief and obsession obscure memory. Creeping, dark and twisty: like scaling a mountain, and peering over the sheer drop at the edge. - Jenna Clake, author of DISTURBANCEA hugely impressive debut. It left me reeling. A mesmerising and powerful ghost story that delves deep into memory and the emotional landscapes of grief. Rose McDonagh is a rare talent and a masterful storyteller. - Devika Ponnambalam, author of I AM NOT YOUR EVEA gripping mystery, that balances its eerie, page-turning plot with poetic and moving insights into grief and the porous boundaries between reality and illusion. McDonagh observes so beautifully the haunting and uncanny coincidences life presents us with. I loved it. - Lucy Ribchester, author of MURDER BALLAD
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