One morning in early November, local detective Alec Nichols is called to attend to a crime scene on Well Farm. The town of Ilmarsh on the UK coast is generally quiet and without incident, so when Alec is confronted with the decapitated heads of sixteen horses buried in a field, each with one eye left exposed, he can’t work out who would have done this or why. With little experience in cases like this, forensic veterinarian, Cooper Allen is called to assist the Ilmarsh police in their investigation.

Everyone in Ilmarsh is a suspect, and when more deaths start to surface it sends the town of Ilmarsh into a deep state of panic and paranoia. When it becomes clear that the murder of the horses is only the start of something much more sinister, Alec and Cooper are put in a race against the clock: they need to solve these mysteries before the very fabric of Ilmarsh crumbles around them. But maybe they are already too late ….

I think the best way for me to sum up Sixteen Horses is as a dark, disturbing tale that unnerves you and leaves you with a lurking sense of disquiet, but which simultaneously challenges you to suspend your belief in reality to buy into the concept completely. I thought that Greg Buchanan did an effective job at crafting an incredibly atmospheric setting with a compelling mystery, but there were things about this book that I just couldn’t quite get on board with.

For one – without spoiling anything – the mystery of the book seemed to go from 0 to 100 very quickly, with a strange about-turn in the middle of the book. I was very confused as to the direction the book was taking, and I wasn’t completely on board with the sudden course adjustment that I felt happened about halfway through the book. In all honesty, it felt a little bit like the author had got to the halfway point of the book and then suddenly decided that the plot he had been working on needed to be chucked and a new plotline brought in. It felt very disjointed, and I found that when this twist happened, my belief in the authenticity of the story became very much suspended. (This became even more the case when the perpetrator is unmasked at the end of the book. I just didn’t buy it.)

The other thing that struck me as odd was the writing style. There were a number of situations where the author opted to break scenes or events into a number of very short, staccato-style passages where the narrator was obscured. A number of other reviewers observe how this may be a necessary stylistic choice to keep the killer’s identity hidden. Personally, I just don’t buy that. Firstly, a large number of the passages are split after a particular line of dialogue, almost like a film or TV show would use dramatic music to cue a revelatory statement. However, then the next passage starts with the same conversation picking up exactly where it left off. So, I don’t see why these passages needed splitting. Secondly, in the obscured-narrator passages: I can understand the narration from the killer’s point of view being vague. But when a passage rambles on for a couple of paragraphs before you focus in on your narrator being “the vet” or “the detective”, I don’t think this adds anything to the obfuscation around the killer’s identity. In fact, it just made the story a bit more difficult to follow.

If I put aside the quirky writing style and the bizarre plot twist, though, I think this book had potential. It had interesting characters who came across as vulnerable and flawed. I felt like Buchanan had crafted a strong cast of deeply troubled characters who were interesting enough to me to keep me reading through the other strangenesses of the book. I also think Buchanan’s prose is striking: although I found the overall style of the book a bit too breathless for me, the actual writing in those passages was very visceral and compelling. I definitely understand why Buchanan is marketed as a “stunning new talent” based on his command of language alone.

Overall, this book was interesting, if a little bit strange. I think the plot wasn’t sufficiently developed, and it strayed a bit too far into the unbelievable. I also think that the concept of the book needed to be fleshed out a bit more. I felt that Cooper being a forensic vet was just a by-the-by, and it wasn’t explored in any great detail. On the whole, I felt compelled to keep reading this book, but I definitely am in no rush to recommend it to friends and family, especially given that there is a theme of animal abuse that runs through the book which made me fairly uncomfortable. Personally, I don’t see the 5-star quality of the book that many others have seen, but I still found it to be a good read with a fairly interesting mystery.

Thanks to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan Mantle for the ARC in exchange for a review!

Honestly I’m very torn about this book. It sits between 2-3 stars for me.
What’s good about this book:
* Stellar prose. Vivid sense of atmosphere and some astute observations on life and death.
* Awareness of animal torture and how it’s not seen as serious as killing people, and awareness of how difficult farming is and how viruses like foot and mouth disease broke farmers and put them into debt.
* Startling images. There is lots of violence in this book, especially animal torture so be warned. But these senses are well researched and thought-provoking.

What I struggled with:
* Plot. The chapters felt heavy. Even though there were snippets from various characters in an attempt to allude to the killer and provide red herrings, the pacing was slow and I couldn’t be gripped.
* Characters felt at a distance. There were so many people, it was hard to keep on top of them. They also weren’t fully formed with conflicting viewpoints. They were very cold, especially Alec who’s a terrible father.
* Holes in characters’ past. We learn that Alec’s wife died, but who raised his son then? It obviously wasn’t him.
* Ghost town. I felt like I was in dystopian world. I couldn’t understand how things worked. Who’s Alec’s boss? Who’s Cooper’s boss? How is she a freelance forensic veterinarian? So many questions.
Ultimately I couldn’t connect with the characters and felt disengaged with this book and almost fell into a reading slump. I admire the author’s efforts and message but the execution wasn’t there. It’s 2.5 from me for efforts.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this arc. I was intrigued by the concept of this novel and was excited to read this. Unfortunately I found this quite confusing and the characters didn’t quite grip me.
This opens with detective Alec following a farmer who’s found sixteen horses beheaded and their heads buried around his farm. Then we have a prologue following a vet called Cooper who works as a forensic scientist dealing with crimes to do with animals. She’s in therapy following the sixteen horses case.
Then time rewinds and we follow Cooper and Alec trying to solve the crime. Interspersed are narratives from other suspects.
This was a convoluted hot mess. There were times when the prose was stunning with a vivid, claustrophobic small-town haunted vibe to it and there was some quote worthy lines. By the village itself felt timeless. I wasn’t sure where in the UK it was supposed to be set. Also the characters weren’t fully fleshed out. They felt vague and ambiguous. There was a teasing of chemistry between Alec and Cooper by then from Cooper’s POV Alec comes across as a lying creep (there was no example of this, why is she thinking Alec is hiding something?) and we later find out he’s a drunk. It’s very weird. Even the sub-plots were quite confusing. The police headquarters itself wasn’t constructed properly. How does things work in this town? I was so confused.
There were some interesting aspect about cruelty to animals and the Croydon Cat Killer, but this wasn’t quite the serial killer read I was expecting. 2/5.

Sixteen Horses by Greg Buchanan is one of the most original crime novels I’ve read. If you’re a fan of literary crime fiction, then you need to read this book. Greg Buchanan is an exciting new voice.

Set in a dying seaside town, Illmarsh, the town and the police are shocked when the corpses of sixteen horses are found buried. Days after the police first come into contact with the horses, people who were there fall desperately ill. What is going on here? What do the murders of the horses mean? And what connection do they have to the dark events that have also taken place in the town?

Sixteen Horses is such a unique crime thriller. It is a stunning debut that will keep you gripped. The atmosphere is very dark and foreboding. It gave me a very uneasy feeling as I was reading it. It seems as though there is no light at all in the village where the events are taking place. The crime is such an unusual one, and it made the book feel very fresh. It’s what made me want to keep reading after I read the opening pages. If you think the opening pages are dark, be prepared, it is about to get a lot darker.

This is not a fast-paced, action-packed crime novel; it is a slow-burner, character-driven novel. I loved Greg Buchanan’s writing style, which pulled me into the story and the setting. Illmarsh itself becomes a character. The opening chapters are so chilling, and I had to know what was going on in the town. Who was behind the crimes that were taking place? It puts all the locals on edge, and I could feel the tension as the novel progressed.

Illmarsh is a town that feels forgotten. It added to the atmosphere. I could picture the town on the coast very well, and Greg Buchanan evokes a real sense of place in his writing. Sixteen Horses is a very immersive book. It will definitely appeal to you if you’re a fan of Chris Whitaker.

I’m really looking forward to seeing what Greg Buchanan writes next. This is a stand-out crime thriller. I am sure that there will be many people talking about it in the months to come. Sixteen Horses is a superb debut which I won’t be forgetting about any time soon.

What a strange and enjoyable book. A crime story, a meditation on the dying sea-front towns and enjoyable on both front.

It is very different from any other crime books out there. The characters are deeply flawed and unusual as is the story. I loved it and this is an author to follow.

Loved the premise, such a good opening hook and I think the idea of centring a crime story around a forensic veterinarian feels really fresh and interesting. So much of the writing was brilliant - evocative, creepy, a real atmosphere to a location that was incredibly well-observed. However I wasn't so convinced by the narrative style - it often felt fragmented in a way that was more confusing than intriguing, and I wasn't invested enough in the main characters for the ending to have the impact it should have.

Thank you to Greg Buchanan, Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Early one morning, sixteen horse heads are discovered on a farm. Cooper, a forensic vet, is drafted in to investigate and soon her and policeman Alec uncover a web of blackmail and abuse. Be warned that animal abuse is a strong theme in this book. Events take a turn when many people suddenly become ill and loved ones go missing. Will the mystery be solved?

This is such a hard book to rate and not the easiest book to read. If you want an easy-to-follow thriller then this is not the book for you. The narratives and timelines jump around a lot. Elements of the story are presented with no characters mentioned so you are left guessing right to the very end. This book is also very unlike anything I have read before for the aforementioned reasons and also because I've never read a book with a forensic vet before. Whilst this was a interesting idea, I do not feel it was fully developed or used to the fullest in the story.

The opening chapter booked me in straight away. Sixteen horses heads buried but for one eye showing was enough to keep me there.
What followed the why how and who seemed to have a complex story behind the opening.

Interesting. gripping but don't lose sight of what is going on this book is really very good.

I loved the concept the characters and in particular "Cooper" bringing life to the story. A bit of the last had to come in to explain the now.

But all in all a good story line. loved it

I thought this book sounded intriguing. Literary - excellent. A thriller - great. However, what wasn't really made clear was just how macabre the central premise is. I am accustomed to reading thrillers, detective novels, police procedurals, etc and they don't normally turn my stomach - this did. I have to say that the writing is excellent. - had it not been so polished it probably wouldn't have affected me in the way it did. That, .though, doesn't diminish the fact that at times the book is very difficult to follow - again, not something new to me, but in this case, just somewhat overdone. This is definitely not for the faint-hearted, it's gruesome in places, very visceral too. If you don't like being affected by a book, give this one a wide berth.

I deliberated for some time over how many stars to award this - I started with two because I didn't enjoy it, then thought that was unfair because the author's style is so good, so changed to four - but in the end I settled on a middling three stars (that's still 60% though - that's pretty good in my book).

Sixteen Horses by Greg Buchanan is dark, very dark.

Set in a windswept isolated English coastal town, 16 horses heads are found buried in a field. As the police investigate dark secrets about the local community start to emerge. The rain keeps falling.

I don’t know where this went as I found it so depressing that I could not bring myself to finish it!

The principle of this book sounded good but reading it was really difficult to understand what was going on. It kept going from what was happening to random paragraphs that you didn't know when it was set or what they related to. It didn't make any more sense at the end either

The setting is Illmarsh, a sleepy forgotten seaside town. First on the scene after the farmer after his daughter is Detective Alec Nicols. What he finds gets him urgently requesting a forensic veterinarian. When Cooper turns up he's surprised as he wasn't expecting a female.

They investigate why someone could do such a thing and if "16" has some sort of meaning. They come across crimes in the community, unexplained disappearances, arson, mutilations and desperate cruelty. Can they believe the words of a local hermit who tells them he saw it all...

The story is twisty and dark but compelling. The characters are multi-layered and I felt I never really knew any of them at all. When I wasn't reading the book I was thinking about it. Which for me, is always the sign of a good read. Would recommend.

Not really sure where to start with this review. To be honest I almost stopped reading because of the graphic scenes early on and the way the chapters jumped around with time and people, but persevered because I felt there had to be something about this less than 200 page novella that made publishers fight over it. I am glad I did, however I am still not 100% sure what to make of it. It started darkly and just kept getting darker, yet the language and stunning writing style got me hooked. Sentences like: “Nothing in her life was what it could have been. This struck her, as she thought of her father’s shoes lying there without feet.” Also, “She was just a little girl, lost in a life of burning men.” Or “It was the problem at the heart of his profession. How to save the animal from the owner.” The book is full of phrases and commentary steeped in imagery.

At first glance, this is a crime novel, but it goes much deeper than that. It is a literary discussion on the dark side of human nature and the damage people do to each other in the name of love or control or desire, or any of a million other rationalities. It is about the death of an already dying town and its people. It is about guilt and the personal demons we all have hidden from others around us and yet the reader never gets close enough to any of the characters to really understand their true motivations. You are still left at the end with the feeling that there is so much more lurking underneath.

I need to go and read something lighter now, and will come back and have another read before it comes out next year. I like books that make me think outside the box and this certainly does that. I will still give it four stars despite my own personal horror of animal abuse.

The premise of this is intriguing and spooky- sixteen horses killed and buried on farmland. Why? Naturally the story spills out further, going in many different directions.

I think maybe this was a bit too visceral for me- which is of course a personal opinion in terms of what works for me in stories. Despite this, I must say that the creepy, haunting atmosphere created through some excellent writing was really excellent. It made me feel a bit melancholy, but if you like that kind of thing, this is for you.

I struggled a bit more when it came to the story itself. As a reading experience it jumped around a lot and I found it hard to engage with some of the characters. It felt a bit too literary for me- I don't necessarily want that in a detective novel.

I think this will ultimately come down to if you enjoy the slightly dreamy, yet weirdly violent, storytelling style. I probably don't, but many will.

My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this novel.

A slow building thriller that will take you on a journey into who killed 16 horses and why they did. Taut, twisty and complex the book is a satisfying read. The truth to the killing can be found in the past so as we go back in time we come to realise the past has a long reach . With rich detail it keeps you captivated until the truth is revealed with a flourish . A well written debut novel that seems anything but.

Sixteen Horses was a bit of a mixed bag for me, if I'm honest.

It's intriguing premise had me quickly invested and speedily reading the first half of the novel.

There was some really well-written extracts too, such as the extract below, which is as equally transfixing as it is disgusting:

'A dead man sits in a room...there is something moving inside his stomach. His right eye is no longer there.
His hunger outlives him. His teeming gut, his microbiome aflame with all the bacteria and symbiotic juices, they carry on. All that life within him continues consuming and breathing until it can breathe no more. He digests himself.'

After half way, however, I really lost interest in this book.

The narrative was very fragmented and at times became hard to follow. It was quite a disjointed reading experience which made it less enjoyable. Although many of the characters weren't 'what they seemed' they weren't fleshed out enough for me to become invested in.

Upon reaching the end I felt that the author had been trying to incorporate a message but it was either one that was ambiguous and unclear, or one that I just didn't care enough to decipher.

Overall, I'm a bit disappointed with this one. It had a very interesting premise, but lacked in execution.

What’s it all about?

In a dying seaside town forgotten by the world, harbours an horrific incident. Sixteen Horses are beheaded, their severed heads and tails left partially buried in a farmers field. How could such a thing happen? Who did it ? why?
This is a story within a story, within a story! Each of the characters having their personal misfortune which develops as the novel unfolds ,and reaches a crescendo at the very end of this disturbing tale.

What’s good about it?

I really enjoyed the intensity of this book, it really kept me guessing about who was responsible and why ? The descriptions were good and added richness to the main narrative. All of the main characters in this story were well developed and believable, especially the relationship between Alec and Cooper. It’s well written and develops at a good pace. I think I have found an Author that will take me to the darkest places of the human mind and thank him for it!

What’s not so good about it?

Nothing about the story or the narrative – its excellent. However, for this particular reader, I found the chapter structure very short and it took me some time to get into the rhythm of the book

Overall

Very good! I would highly recommend.

I didn’t realise this was a sampler so it’s difficult to rate. I found the mystery of the horse’s heads curiosity inducing, so that was enough to keep me reading. I’m less sure how long my curiosity would last given the initial format. The novel has a distant tone as if viewed from afar so it doesn’t draw the reader towards the characters or offer any sense of intimacy. It also switches point of view between characters, an approach I’m not overly fond of. Having said all that it may be that the story is strong enough to overcome these quibbles but the sampler is too short to know one way or the other.

Full novel review:
I would like to thank Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for an advance copy of Sixteen Horses, a stand-alone set in the coastal town of Ilmarsh.

When the heads and tails of sixteen horses are found partially buried in a field DS Alec Nichols is at a loss at the cruelty and motive. Forensic veterinarian Dr Cooper Allen is asked to assist the investigation and gets rather more than she bargained for.

Sixteen Horses is a weirdly compulsive read that I’m still not sure I enjoyed. It draws the reader in with an excellent plot full of twists and hints and becomes a real page turner. I was desperate to know the who and why behind this grandiose statement and the further events. The answer turns out to be rather mundane after all the strange events.

The novel has a more literary tone than I like or want to understand. I assume it is trying to tell me some home truths about the human condition but I wasn’t interested enough to pay attention or attempt to decipher it. The plot’s the thing for me and it’s great. The tone seems distant and fragmented with the dialogue and the characters’ thoughts leaving things unsaid and with no intimacy. The narrative jumps about in both point of view and timeline, making it seem uneven and disjointed. I think this probably reflects most people’s approach to their thoughts and conversations but it’s weird in a novel.

Cooper Allen is the sane character although that may not be true as very little is revealed about her. Alec Nichols has secrets and seems somewhat untethered to reality at times so I’m not really sure what to think about him. It all adds to the atmosphere of uncertainty and ambiguity in the novel.

I think that if it were not for the compelling plot I would have given up on the tone and ungraspable nature of the novel. I’m glad I read it but I’m not sure that I would attempt a repeat performance.

I found this a very confusing story. Lots of suggestions which weren't true. Most of the characters Were damaged in some way. The answers all came out at the end but were still very confusing. Overall the concept of the story was interesting.

I didn’t realise when I downloaded this that it wasn’t the whole book. What a tease! The beginning is so promising that I definitely want to read the rest and find out what happens. Even had the title of the book and the blurb not already told you that there was a grim scene to come, the initial scene-setting really conveyed a sense of the macabre in the atmosphere, the mud, the bleating sheep.
We’re used to our lead detective having a troubled past but the first few chapters give just enough of a glimpse inside Alec’s mind to know that what has happened in his life is out of the ordinary. Introducing Cooper in a therapy session was a deft way of delivering exposition without it being clunky.
What an intriguing start. I look forward to reading more.
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Having been given the opportunity to read the first few chapters of Sixteen Horses back in July, I almost came to wish I hadn’t: it started so well that it was torturous to leave it without knowing what happened next. So, when the full book became available, I wasted no time in taking up the story again.
I like Greg Buchanan’s varied use of language: he intersperses more conventional prose and dialogue with short, sharp descriptions. It’s used to really good effect to evoke the sheer desperation of a faded seaside town used as a dumping ground for people unwanted elsewhere. The descriptions of Ilmarsh put me in mind of Stephen King’s Castle Rock: everyone has secrets, evil lurks. It’s not surprising to have a sense of foreboding at the beginning of a crime thriller but this is proper creepy.
I read this really quickly, keen to find out which of these bitter and damaged people had felt so wronged that they would plot and enact such a brutal campaign. It’s bleak in the extreme but I urge you to read it – I think there’ll be a lot of buzz surrounding its release next May.