Adam Nevill has alway been on my radar ever since reading Apartment 16, and while I've accumulated some of his books, I just never got around to reading them. Until now.
The reason why I kept putting him off is because I know from discussions on his work that his books tend to be slow burns. I know Apartment 16 was. Cunning Folk was no different. And I have to be in a certain mood for slow burns. You'd think, though, that a book opening with a man being tormented by unseen things to the point of committing suicide would hit the ground running, but nope... Nevill is quick to apply the brakes as a new family takes possession of the house. Tom, his wife Fiona, and their daughter Gracey. Oh, and their little dog, too. Right from the start there are misgivings, as the place looks more run-down than he remembers, and as city folk wanting to living the dream of a house in the country, they are really living beyond their means, especially when the Moots, their less than pleasant elderly neighbors, start telling him the things that need to be done. What's they're telling him is all cosmetic work to be done on the outside, which Tom thinks is secondary when compared to making the interior livable for his family, but you can tell he sees the cash register tallying up everything the Moots are listing.
The Moots, we're quick to learn, are unpleasant people, and they make no bones about wanting Tom and his family gone. You immediately start to wonder if maybe they weren't the ones tormenting the man in the beginning, making him so paranoid that he takes his own life. If that's the case, what do they have in store for Tom, Fiona, and... They wouldn't hurt a child, would they? Would they? You'll just have to read and find out.
Nevill takes his time establishing the relationships and all the characters involved, and sometimes you just want to scream, "Okay, they're miserable old people. We get it. Now move the story along." But we bide our time and wait for the big reveal and for the ooey gooey brown stuff to hit the fan. And it does. With what's revealed about the Moots, you have to ask yourself what chance does Tom have against them, since he's basically fighting alone; his wife refuses to see what he sees and believe what he's been told, and she chalks up is "mental instability" on the stress of such are large DIY project. And with the creation of the Moots, Nevill has introduced to the literary world a pair of the vilest people you can imagine. He also ratchets up the tension with each character that's introduced, because after the revelation, Tom realizes how powerless he is against these people, and really doesn't know who he can trust.
If you're in the market for a supernatural thriller, this is definitely one to check out. Final score? 4.5/5 stars. For me it missed being a 5-star read because if the ending. While it's satisfactory, given the build up Nevill has given us, I felt robbed, but he more than made up for it in the scenes that follow.
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