Into the woods.
Count to ten.
Only one of us comes home again.
– The Counting Game
[ About The Counting Game ]
1995, Ireland. Panic grips the village of Drumsuin when a teenage girl goes missing in the nearby forest.
Saoirse is not the first girl to disappear in those woods. And when it’s revealed she was playing the Counting Game that day – a ritual believed to ward off the forest’s evils – old superstitions send the community into turmoil.
One person saw what happened to Saoirse. But 9-year-old Jack won’t tell the Gardai. Freya, an English psychotherapist with her own history of grief, is brought in to help the investigators break his silence.
As the race to find Saoirse alive accelerates, can Freya make Jack talk? Why is he keeping the forest’s secrets? And who is hell bent on driving Freya out of Drumsuin before the truth is discovered?
[ My Review ]
The Counting Game by Sinéad Nolan published June 19th with Harper North (Harper Collins). It is described as ‘a deeply haunting, atmospheric and emotional mystery, from an unmissable new voice in Irish crime fiction, perfect for fans of Tana French, Erin Kelly and Belinda Bauer‘.
When thirteen year old Saoirse goes missing while playing a game with her younger brother Jack, Drumsuin village is left disturbed and in a state of panic. As search parties scour the surrounding countryside, the focus is on the local woods where Saoirse was last seen. Jack and Saoirse had been playing quite an unsettling game, called The Counting Game, one that they had learnt from their now deceased mother, when Saoirse disappeared. She is not the first teenager to go missing in this area so the local police are extremely concerned for her safety.
Jack has difficulty communicating, unable to vocalise what he may have seen. He expresses himself via his artwork which has some very disconcerting and dark imagery portrayed there. As speed is of the essence a decision is made to bring in a psychotherapist to assist in the case. Freya specialises in investigating missing children so her expertise is welcomed by most folk. She quickly immerses herself in the village, staying at the local hotel and starts to delve into Saoirse’s family background.
Suspicion is rife among the villagers with many believing that something sinister is at play in the darkness of the forest. Rumours abound of a creature hiding in the shadows but Freya is dismissive, convinced that this is just a product of the overactive imagination of some locals. With dark secrets and hidden pasts, the truth slowly starts to reveal itself but will Freya be able to find Saoirse before it’s too late?
There were a few curious plotlines in this tale that I did question, and I had to suspend belief a little, but I was willing to do this to see where it all ended. Freya is a well cast character. She has grit, with a hidden strength, but she also has a very vulnerable side that is sensitively portrayed. Sinéad Nolan is a trained psychotherapist which adds a layer of authenticity to the relationship that develops between Jack and Freya, with his voice depicted clearly and credibly. The otherworldly spin added an extra eerie element to the tale.
The Counting Game is an atmospheric and sinister read, a solid debut from a new voice in Irish crime fiction.
[ Thank you to Harper Collins Ireland for a copy of The Counting Game in exchange for my honest review ]
[ Bio ]
Sinéad Nolan grew up playing between the forests and beaches of leafy County Dublin, Ireland. She holds a degree in Creative Writing from University of Derby and a Masters in Newspaper Journalism from Nottingham Trent University. She has been a regular freelance feature writer for the Sunday World, the Irish Independent and has had short stories shortlisted for the Momaya Press Awards and the Francis McManus awards for RTE Radio.
Apart from writing, her other profession is Counselling and Psychotherapy. She works in private practice as a BACP Registered Counsellor in central London. In the moments she is not writing, she enjoys watching true crime documentaries, travelling and reading. She lives with her husband and three food-obsessed cats in London.
