The gothic richness that imbues Strachan's writing is haunting as it is beautiful, and reminiscent of the wonderfully dark tales that inspired me to become a writer. The Unrecovered is a rare gem of gothic literature, and the meticulous melding of historical fiction into the narrative makes its horror all the more captivating

A. M. Shine

Immersive, beautifully written, and with an intriguing setting, The Unrecovered builds towards an hallucinatory climax

Michelle Paver

Creeping unease gives way to abject horror in this dark tale of dreadful inheritance and inexorable fate. Strachan is a formidable talent, weaving virtuoso sentences and deft allusions through this compelling historical nightmare

Martin MacInnnes, author of Booker Prize longlisted In Ascension

A formidable and deftly crafted nightmare, from a time of universal war, stretching backwards and forwards over the generations and across the map. The latest haunting in a classic Scottish tradition derived from Stevenson and Hogg

Iain Sinclair

In this beautifully written and compulsive debut, Strachan weaves the horrors of WW1 with the shadow of a dreadful legacy. Dark, intelligent and profoundly moving, I devoured this stunning debut in two sittings. I will be thinking about this story and its characters for some time

Rebecca Netley, author of The Whistling

Mark your calendars for February – The Unrecovered by Richard Strachan is an astonishing debut. A multilayered and gripping exploration of grief, trauma and atonement taking in Robert Browning, the Crusades, Peter Pan, colonialism and spooky hounds: complex, compelling and eerie

Naomi Kelsey, author of The Burnings