The Cunning Man

Point Horror Unleashed

by Celia Rees

Finn's not at all sure about the Salt House. Overlooking Westwater Bay, it brings back all her nightmare fears of drowning. Of the ghosts of the dead reaching for her.… And Westwater is dangerous. Countless seafarers have drowned here, their ships lost—broken on the vicious Viper Rocks. Lured by the wrecker's false lights, summoned by the dark enchantments of cunning men—masters of storms and tides. Or so the legends say.…

Genres: Horror, Young Adult, Supernatural, Teen, Fiction

Paperback

First published June 16, 2000

About the author

Celia Rees (born 1949) is an English author of children's, YA and Adult fiction.

She was born in 1949 in Solihull, West Midlands but now lives in Leamington Spa with her husband. Rees attended University of Warwick and earned a degree in History of Politics. After university, she taught English in Coventry secondary schools for seventeen years, during which time she began to write.

Since then, she has written over twenty YA titles. Her books have been translated into 28 languages. She has been short listed for the Guardian, Whitbread (now Costa) and W.H. Smith Children’s Book Awards. She is a regular tutor for the Arvon Foundation. She has been Chair of the Children’s Writers and Illustrators Group and on the Society of Authors’ Management Committee.

Her first book for adults, Miss Graham's Cold War Cookbook, was published by HarperCollins in July, 2020.

Reviews

[Rhiannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pros:
- Some good creepy/disturbing moments.
- I enjoyed the setting, it had a lot of potential to be interesting.

Cons:
- Overall not scary enough for something that presented itself as a YA horror/thriller.
- There was no confrontation between the protagonists and the villain, there also wasn't a moment where the main character worked out what was actually happening.
- It ultimately felt heavily edited in order to stay under 200 pages and with that it feels like a lot was lost.

[Kirsty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Re-read this for Teenage Scream podcast (lovingly dissecting the best and worst of 90s teen horror):

https://soundcloud.com/teenagescream

[Louise Hagwall ISGR · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really good and I enjoyed it a lot! It's a bit different though.....it's not exactly a thriller even though the cover looks like it, just a little spooky in some parts. However I still recommend it along with all other books by Celia Rees.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well read audiobook. Supernatural and creepy elements.

[Breña · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was passiert?
Die 16-jährige Finn verbringt den Sommer mit ihrer Mutter und ihren beiden Brüdern an der Waliser Küste. Doch während die beiden Jüngeren sich am Strand amüsieren, quälen Finn Alpträume, so dass sie das Meer meidet. Ausserdem findet sie Mike, den ihre Brüder anscheinend vergöttern, herablassend und unsympatisch. Und seine Erzählungen von Strandräubern, Schiffswracks und Sturmbeschwörern beunruhigen sie auch. Doch schneller als Finn sich versieht entdeckt sie Mikes gute Seiten und die Ereignisse überschlagen sich.

Meine Meinung
Das Buch war eine hervorragende Alternative zum abendlichen Fernsehprogramm - kurzweilig, nett geschrieben, spannend. Man weiß recht schnell, wer auf welcher Seite steht und man kann sich denken, wohin die Geschichte führt, aber am Ende bereut man nicht das Buch gelesen zu haben. Rees versteht es, das Meer bedrohlich erscheinen zu lassen und durch die alten Geschichten und Legenden eine etwas gruselige Stimmung zu verbreiten.

[Tell me a story (Emma) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this book but didn't finish it because I couldn't get drawn into the book. Didn't love it, didn't hate it. Just found it quite dull actually. So I'll stick with 3 stars because it wasn't a badly written story just not really enough to drag me in.

[Rae's Reading Corner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book, slightly thrilling and shocking at parts but not as much as I wished there would be. Still very enjoyable to read, read in one day.

[Georgia Newman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely LOVE this book. I read it over, and over, and over again. Its scary, spooky story catches me up and doesn't let me go.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this for our podcast Teenage Scream, which dissects the best (and worst) of 90s Teen Horror.

https://soundcloud.com/teenagescream

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was solid, fine nothing special or demanding. Yeh.

[Lemon Y. Juicer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yeah ngl, this book was kinda ass, probably skip this one.

[Anastasiya M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fynn, her mother and two brothers are spending time at Salt House.

As Fynn deals with her anxieties about being close to the sea again, living in Westwater Bay isn’t helpful.

You can read the full review here: https://sincerelyyoursannie.com/2021/...

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about a girl called Finn following her after her family moves to a small beach side town.
It was an alright book but not one Celia's best I don't think, though it was entertaining and I enjoyed the Myths!

[Shannan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book with an interesting storyline. I found that one of the most enjoyable aspects of the novel was the independence of the characters, from the first to the last page, contradictory of the stereotypical teenage romance.

[Libby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Compared to Celia Rees' other books, not good. It's not historical fiction [:o] and I found it pretty tedious to read through.

[Jacqui · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up as I had read several of Celia's other books and I was disappointed which was a shame.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

An intriguing plot but ultimately I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Some good tension, but it fizzled out a bit at the end.

[Chris Evett · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gwael.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spooky.

[Emma Ingleton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the author this was a bit too werid for me but was good enough to give you a chill