Glister

Regular price €21.99
Quantity:
In stock with our UK publisher. 14-28 days
Delivery/Collection within 10-20 working days
14 days return policy Shipping & Delivery
A01=John Burnside
action
animals
Author_John Burnside
book of the year
books fiction
Category=FBA
Category=FF
chess
collection
collusion
contemporary fiction
cozy
cozy mystery
crime
crime books
crime fiction
crime novels
crime thriller
detective
detective novels
eq_bestseller
eq_crime
eq_fiction
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_modern-contemporary
eq_nobargain
fiction
fiction books
german
germany
good books
holiday
horror
horses
literary fiction
murder
murder mystery
murder mystery books
mysteries
mystery
mystery books
new york
noir
novels
paranormal
poetry
police
psychological thriller
relationships
roman
romantic suspense
sci-fi
scottish fiction
social
summer reads
sweden
swedish
thriller
thrillers

Product details

  • ISBN 9780099507840
  • Weight: 192g
  • Dimensions: 129 x 198mm
  • Publication Date: 07 May 2009
  • Publisher: Vintage Publishing
  • Publication City/Country: GB
  • Product Form: Paperback
Secure checkout Fast Shipping Easy returns

The children of Innertown exist in a state of suspended terror. Every year or so, a boy from their school disappears, vanishing into the wasteland of the old chemical plant. Nobody knows where these boys go, or whether they are alive or dead, and without evidence the authorities claim they are simply runaways.

The town policeman, Morrison knows otherwise. He was involved in the cover-up of one boy's murder, and he believes all the boys have been killed. Though he is seriously compromised, he would still like to find out the killer's identity.

The local children also want to know and, in their fear and frustration, they turn on Rivers, a sad fantasist and suspected paedophile living alone at the edge of the wasteland. Trapped and frightened, one of the boys, Leonard, tries to escape, taking refuge in the poisoned ruins of the old plant; there he finds another boy, who might be the missing Liam and might be a figment of his imagination. With his help, Leonard comes to understand the policeman's involvement, and exacts the necessary revenge - before following Liam into the Glister: possibly a disused chemical weapons facility, possibly a passage to the outer world.

A terrifying exploration of loss and the violence that pools under the surface of the everyday, Glister is an exquisitely written, darkly imagined novel by one of our greatest contemporary writers.

John Burnside was among the most acclaimed writers of his generation. His novels, short stories, poetry and memoirs won numerous awards, including the Geoffrey Faber Memorial, Saltire Scottish Book of the Year and, in 2023, he received the David Cohen Prize for a lifetime’s achievement in literature. In 2011 Black Cat Bone won both the Forward and the T.S. Eliot Prizes for poetry. He died in 2024.

More from this author