The Torments

The Torments Synopsis

Annie Jackson and her brother Lewis return to investigate the disappearance of a family friend, leading them to spellbinding mystery that digs deep into a past that should, perhaps, remain undisturbed … A chilling gothic thriller from the critically acclaimed author of The Murmurs…

`Annie and her brother, Lewis … find themselves uncovering a world of black magic and murder. A creepy tale with the terrifying legend of the baobhan sith at its coren Observer

`Malone is the master of twists, turns and the unexpectedn Herald Scotland

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Annie surged forward, but she was too slow, too late.

A hand came over and down, and she felt a sharp pain at the back of her neck.

Then all became smoke, and silence.

Hiding from the world in her little white cottage on the shores of a loch, Annie Jackson is fighting to come to terms with the world of the murmurs, a curse that has haunted female members of her family for centuries.

While she is within the ancient, heavy stone of the old dwelling, the voices merely buzz, but the moment she steps outside the door they clamour to torment her all over again, bringing with them shocking visions of imminent deaths.

Into this oasis comes her adoptive mother, Mandy McEvoy, begging for Annie' s help. Mandy' s nephew Damien has gone missing, after dropping off his four-year old son at his mother' s home.

Unable to refuse, but terrified to leave her sanctuary, Annie, with the help of her brother Lewis, is drawn in to a secretive, seductive world that will have her question everything she holds dear, while Lewis' life may be changed forever…

The second book in the critically acclaimed Annie Jackson Mysteries series, The Torments is both a contemporary gothic thriller and a spellbinding mystery that deeps deep into a past that should, perhaps, remain undisturbed…

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Praise for Michael J. Malone

`A tense, creepy page-turnern Ian Rankin, New Statesman

`One of the best books I've read … Dark, tender, human, haunting, compassionate, gripping and rooted in Scotland and its history. A triumphn S.E. Lynes

`His biggest smash hit yet … an assured paranormal thriller in which the paranormal isn' t even the scariest part… n Herald Scotland

`A fine, atmospheric chillern Douglas Skelton

`Mesmeric and suspensefuln Marion Todd

`One of the best books I've read … Dark, tender, human, haunting, compassionate, gripping and rooted in Scotland and its history. A triumphn S.E. Lynes

`Poetic and beautifully craftedn Caro Ramsay

`A beautifully written tale, original, engrossing and scary… a dark joyn The Times

`A deeply satisfying readn Sunday Times

`A fine, page-turning thrillern Daily Mail

`Brilliantly creepy … a spine-tingling treatn Daily Record

`Prepare to have your marrow well and truly chilled by this deeply creepy Scottish horror … A complex and multi-layered storyn Sunday Mirror

`Unsettling, multi-layered and expertly pacedn CultureFly

`Disturbing but compulsive … I loved it' Martina Cole

‘ Both thought-provoking and heartbreakingn Foreword Reviews