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Fray

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Fray

By: Chris Carse Wilson
Narrated by: Angus King
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About this listen

‘Beautiful, amazing, mesmerising’ ALAN CUMMING

A MISSING PERSON MYSTERY LIKE NO OTHER

I am not gone. Mum is not gone. We are here. We are hidden.

A father who is trying to rescue his lost wife.

Their child, desperately searching the wild forests and dangerous mountains of the Scottish Highlands, not knowing what’s out there.

An abandoned cottage in the remote wilderness, filled with thousands of confusing, terrifying handwritten notes.

And a dark, looming voice who threatens to destroy everything…

‘This hallucinatory debut will grab you’ DAMIAN BARR

‘A dark and atmospheric masterpiece’ VIKKI PATIS

‘Mind-alteringly beautiful writing’ KIRSTIN INNES

‘Chilling and very original … I couldn't put it down' SIMON McCLEAVE

‘Eerie and ethereal, Fray is an unsettling quest in the unforgiving Scottish highlands – utterly spellbinding’ MARION TODD

‘A totally original novel that throws up lots of surprises. The writing is awe-inspiring’ ALEX PINE

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*A FINANCIAL TIMES ‘BEST NEW DEBUT FICTION’ PICK*
*A SCOTS MAGAZINE BOOK OF THE MONTH*
*A COURIER BOOK OF THE WEEK*

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BOOKSELLERS RECOMMEND FRAY

Fray was so much more than I expected. It is beautifully written, you could sit back and sip it like a good wine … I was so caught up in it I couldn't face putting it down … Most certainly recommended, this is a very accomplished debut’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Fray is an exceptional and haunting debut, very reminiscent of the work of Max Porter … I absolutely loved it. Chris Carse Wilson is a highly talented writer and Fray is filled with passages that resonated deeply with me’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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READERS RECOMMEND FRAY

‘A truly unique book, like nothing I’ve ever read before … a thoughtful and beautifully written story, which is simultaneously gripping. This is a must-read.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

‘A twisting tale of grief and mental health that sucked me in from the start and swept me along with it … I couldn’t put it down.’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Amateur Sleuths Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Magical Realism Mystery Suspense Thriller & Suspense Highlander Magic Exciting Fantasy

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Critic reviews

‘Beautiful, amazing, completely mesmerising. I felt like I was inside the character’s head. Fray is right up there for me with other first person books like The Catcher in the Rye and Janice Galloway’s The Trick is to Keep BreathingALAN CUMMING

‘A thriller with a radically unreliable voice … powerful, insistent and dreamlike’ SUZI FEAY, FINANCIAL TIMES, *BEST NEW DEBUT FICTION*

‘Both a tense, dizzying mystery and a complex meditation on love and loss … Fray is a captivating read’ KAI DURKIN, COURIER *BOOK OF THE WEEK* *10/10 REVIEW*

‘A deeply haunting book … The Scottish Highlands have never felt more wild or alive than they do in this … immensely important novel. With echoes of Andrew Michael Hurley’s The Loney, Fray is an insightful story that will stay with you long after you stop turning the pages’ DAWN GEDDES, SCOTS MAGAZINE *BOOK OF THE MONTH*

‘A haunting literary thriller … it offers a new twist on the missing person trope … weird and wild’ TEDDY JAMIESON, HERALD

‘A manic, heart-pounding and electric piece of writing. This is a startling debut’ PAUL McLEAN, LIST

‘An intensely atmospheric literary suspense novel … [that] carries a viscerally moving message about grief and mental health’ NATASHA ONWUEMEZI, BOOKSELLER *APRIL CATEGORY HIGHLIGHTS*

‘Writing as vivid and visceral as walking into a blizzard. In Chris Carse Wilson's hands it's as though the alphabet is a creature that has barely been tamed’ IAN McMILLAN

‘With such a simple yet powerful set-up … The surprise of Chris Carse Wilson's beguiling debut … lies in the sheer weight of hallucinatory malevolence that lurks in its pages … [An] intriguing and unsettling debut’ JESS MOODY, SKINNY

All stars
Most relevant
This is a story that stays with you long after it ends. I found it both intriguing and confusing in equal measure as I was listening, and it was only as I approached its close that I began to appreciate why that was, and also why that was such an important and impactful element of the storytelling. That realisation was also the key that revealed a deeper perspective running throughout the story, which I hadn’t initially noticed but that really opened my eyes and made me want to re-listen once I did, to pick up on the subtle clues I’d missed before. Not the easiest listen at times due to the subject matter, and I found it best enjoyed in smaller portions than I might typically with other books, but all expertly dramatised by the narrator in a way that really brought the powerful style of the author’s writing to life. Highly recommended for anyone who likes to be challenged to look at the world a little differently after finishing a book.

A dark mystery filled with insightful flashes that reveal our inner-selves

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An intense first person narrative that is packed with emotional detail and suspense. I really enjoyed it.

Intense and gripping

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This story is going to stay with me for a long time, such a fantastic listen.

Fantastic

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I really struggled with this, I'm still not sure what happened after it finished. It was very descriptive, overly in places, and seemed to go around in circles. Maybe that was what the author was trying to achieve? I did like the fact we know nothing of the protagonist, even their gender, I've seen a few reviews that say "daughter" but in my mind, it was a son searching.

Rambling,Rambling,Rambling

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