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Black Cairn Point
Two survivors, one terrible truth.
Heather agrees to a group camping holiday with Dougie and his friends because she's desperate to get closer to him. But when the two of them disturb a pagan burial site above the beach, she becomes certain that they have woken a malevolent spirit. Something is alive out there in the pitch-black dark, and it is planning to wreak deadly revenge.
One year later Heather knows that she was very lucky to escape Black Cairn Point but she is still waiting for Dougie to wake from his coma. If he doesn't, how will she prove her sanity, and her innocence?
A chilling and atmospheric thriller from unflinching and award-winning writer Claire McFall.
Heather agrees to a group camping holiday with Dougie and his friends because she's desperate to get closer to him. But when the two of them disturb a pagan burial site above the beach, she becomes certain that they have woken a malevolent spirit. Something is alive out there in the pitch-black dark, and it is planning to wreak deadly revenge.
One year later Heather knows that she was very lucky to escape Black Cairn Point but she is still waiting for Dougie to wake from his coma. If he doesn't, how will she prove her sanity, and her innocence?
A chilling and atmospheric thriller from unflinching and award-winning writer Claire McFall.
258 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2015
224 people are currently reading
6689 people want to read
About the author
Claire McFall
12 books305 followersClaire McFall's work is, in essence, all about first love and difficult decisions. Her novels take straightforward romantic narratives and hurl them into unusual and extreme settings, blurring accepted genre boundaries and creating new sub-genres of her own. She then charts her characters' reactions to these unfamiliar situations and the new and confusing feelings that beset them in a hyper-real, engaging, deeply poignant and literary manner. Claire is a former teacher from Scotland who now lives in sunny Colorado with her husband, two children, and pooch, Jazz.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 468 reviews
July 29, 2015
A roller coaster of lies, betrayal, dark beliefs and suspicion.
I can not believe what I have just read.
I have had chills down my spine whilst reading this novel. Claire is a master at creating atmosphere that leaks of the page and seeps into the world of the reader during the reading experience!
INCREDIBLE
I can not believe what I have just read.
I have had chills down my spine whilst reading this novel. Claire is a master at creating atmosphere that leaks of the page and seeps into the world of the reader during the reading experience!
INCREDIBLE
December 1, 2023
omg this was such a wild ride! I LOVED the ending!!
really good thriller, loved that it was set in Scotland!
really good thriller, loved that it was set in Scotland!
January 6, 2020
Review updated on 1/6/20...
I teach writing at a College, so I truly hate giving less-than-positive feedback to a published author. It's painful. But this book has a lot of issues and was extremely challenging to even finish. I appreciate the ARC, but I will definitely not be recommending it. Here's why:
Two stars
The concept for this work is interesting: a young woman goes camping with several of her friends over her love interest's birthday weekend. While there, the characters experience varying degrees of sinister events. There's no spoiler here - thanks to the title and to the fact that the chapters alternate between "Then" and "Now" - but the m.c. is "the last witness" and apparent sole survivor of this trip.
Aside from the concept, I really struggled with this read. The descriptions are long-winded and odd. Until I hit close to the 65% mark, I was so bored with the incredibly slow pace: so much description and so little action. It's also extremely challenging to connect with any of the characters or to build concern for their wellbeing. Some seem weirdly unaffected by what is happening to them (I'm keeping this spoiler-free, but I did NOT feel like this issue was somehow resolved in the final pages of the novel). The big twist at the end just made me laugh. These characters do not seem equipped to handle even the most basic challenges, let alone pull off a ruse of this magnitude.
I am appreciative of the ARC and of the writing style, but overall, I feel like this novel should be sacrificed and left in the cairn.
I teach writing at a College, so I truly hate giving less-than-positive feedback to a published author. It's painful. But this book has a lot of issues and was extremely challenging to even finish. I appreciate the ARC, but I will definitely not be recommending it. Here's why:
Two stars
The concept for this work is interesting: a young woman goes camping with several of her friends over her love interest's birthday weekend. While there, the characters experience varying degrees of sinister events. There's no spoiler here - thanks to the title and to the fact that the chapters alternate between "Then" and "Now" - but the m.c. is "the last witness" and apparent sole survivor of this trip.
Aside from the concept, I really struggled with this read. The descriptions are long-winded and odd. Until I hit close to the 65% mark, I was so bored with the incredibly slow pace: so much description and so little action. It's also extremely challenging to connect with any of the characters or to build concern for their wellbeing. Some seem weirdly unaffected by what is happening to them (I'm keeping this spoiler-free, but I did NOT feel like this issue was somehow resolved in the final pages of the novel). The big twist at the end just made me laugh. These characters do not seem equipped to handle even the most basic challenges, let alone pull off a ruse of this magnitude.
I am appreciative of the ARC and of the writing style, but overall, I feel like this novel should be sacrificed and left in the cairn.
May 24, 2016
This was such an addicting plot line!
July 19, 2018
DNF
It couldn't be worse. Super boring. Lack of events. Definitely not thrilling at all.
It couldn't be worse. Super boring. Lack of events. Definitely not thrilling at all.
February 7, 2022
This one I tried I dont like leaving bad or rude reviews because I always wanted to be a writer but yeah this one I was bored and all the characters annoyed me by the time of the reveal I didnt even care Im sorry nice cover though.
January 10, 2020
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight .
Truth time, mystery/thrillers are so impossible to review, like how do I even!? I feel like anything I say is going to spoil stuff! There's even a book that I want to compare it to, but even that would be too much info. I think there's a discussion post in here somewhere, actually. I digress.
So, what kind of non-spoilery stuff can we talk about? Hm. Let's see.
• The location is awesome. The author does a great job of setting the atmosphere for some creepy shenanigans, and Black Cairn Point is the perfect setting. It's secluded, and not within cell phone service range of course. And the group camping there is eerie from the start. When Dougie, Heather's friend and love interest, takes a burial artifact, things definitely feel ominous.
• The characters were... oh gosh I don't even think I can talk about them because of the questions it brings up! But suffice it to say, I didn't always like them. But sometimes I did, especially Dougie, and I felt some empathy for Heather. We'll leave it at that.
• The ending maybe was a little rushed? I had some questions, basically. Some things that I would have liked to know more about. But based on my vagueness, there were certainly twists and surprises in the book, so you can be prepared for those!
Bottom Line: Definitely a surprising book with a great setting and atmosphere that I would have just liked wrapped up a bit more.
Truth time, mystery/thrillers are so impossible to review, like how do I even!? I feel like anything I say is going to spoil stuff! There's even a book that I want to compare it to, but even that would be too much info. I think there's a discussion post in here somewhere, actually. I digress.
So, what kind of non-spoilery stuff can we talk about? Hm. Let's see.
• The location is awesome. The author does a great job of setting the atmosphere for some creepy shenanigans, and Black Cairn Point is the perfect setting. It's secluded, and not within cell phone service range of course. And the group camping there is eerie from the start. When Dougie, Heather's friend and love interest, takes a burial artifact, things definitely feel ominous.
• The characters were... oh gosh I don't even think I can talk about them because of the questions it brings up! But suffice it to say, I didn't always like them. But sometimes I did, especially Dougie, and I felt some empathy for Heather. We'll leave it at that.
• The ending maybe was a little rushed? I had some questions, basically. Some things that I would have liked to know more about. But based on my vagueness, there were certainly twists and surprises in the book, so you can be prepared for those!
Bottom Line: Definitely a surprising book with a great setting and atmosphere that I would have just liked wrapped up a bit more.
December 4, 2021
**This review may have some spoilers near the end**
This book is definitely something. 5 friends decide to go camping in the Scottish woods. It's a night of drinking, telling spooky stories and sitting around the camp fire. One thing leads to another, and Martin ends up missing. From then - it just goes one by one till Heather is the only person left.
Let me just get it out of the way, I was not expecting supernatural elements when I began this book, so it's definitely something that caught me off guard. I wasn't mad at it, but I wasn't really thrilled. This book has a good way of being creepy, and Heather does a great job at setting a dark feeling. The writing wasn't too bad, but I did find myself bored at times because nothing interesting was happening. The ending was very, very shocking. Like I had to re read it 5 times to make sure I understood what was being said. I think the ending is the reason I rated this a 3 star, instead of a 2.
On the other hand, I wish we could have gotten a real picture of what happened in the woods. I think the ending was very abrupt, but I know it was done for a shocking aspect. I did enjoy it, but I wish we could know the real version of things and how they went down.
This book is definitely something. 5 friends decide to go camping in the Scottish woods. It's a night of drinking, telling spooky stories and sitting around the camp fire. One thing leads to another, and Martin ends up missing. From then - it just goes one by one till Heather is the only person left.
Let me just get it out of the way, I was not expecting supernatural elements when I began this book, so it's definitely something that caught me off guard. I wasn't mad at it, but I wasn't really thrilled. This book has a good way of being creepy, and Heather does a great job at setting a dark feeling. The writing wasn't too bad, but I did find myself bored at times because nothing interesting was happening. The ending was very, very shocking. Like I had to re read it 5 times to make sure I understood what was being said. I think the ending is the reason I rated this a 3 star, instead of a 2.
On the other hand, I wish we could have gotten a real picture of what happened in the woods. I think the ending was very abrupt, but I know it was done for a shocking aspect. I did enjoy it, but I wish we could know the real version of things and how they went down.
April 5, 2020
Reeling!! What. Even. Happened
December 27, 2019
NOW THAT IS AN ENDING!
November 14, 2020
THIS IS ONE OF THOSE STORIESS THAT GRIPS YOU UNTIL THE VERY END. WITH A SURPRISE ENDING. WELL WORTH READING
February 4, 2021
5 friends go camping in the Scottish hills and are killed off by??? an awakened demon or one of the survivors? For readers that love the twist and turns.
May 11, 2023
Haha I don’t know why but this book terrified me and it’s a teen YA thriller lol
January 3, 2021
Huge spoilers towards the end of this review cause I'm salty I actually read the whole damn thing.
The characters lacked depth, the ending was rushed and didn't fit the build up of the story whatsoever, there were sexist and stereotypical character tropes that had me rolling my eyes, and it was really just boring until about halfway through when Martin disappeared and stuff finally started happening.
The entire book is basically an unreliable narrator spinning a supernatural fable in the first person and we get a bombshell "twist" ending that was so ridiculous and contrived I literally laughed and rolled my eyes. SURPRISE the entire thing was an elaborate lie, nothing for sure actually happened in the book except 3 people are dead, and the reason why is Heather and Dougie randomly decided to make a blood sacrifice to a pagan god and this cockamamie yarn is their way out of a life prison sentence. What. The. Fuck.
Twist endings are fine. But this just was lazy and rushed. The one thing I'll give it: Heather isn't lying when she says she believes in demons and devils. Of course she does. Why else would she "sacrifice" her friend in cahoots with her wannabe lover and shove his body in an ancient mound, then murder the other two friends because they didn't have the decency to be too wrapped up in other not to notice the obvious foul play, then spend a year in a psychiatric hospital utterly failing to convince the psychiatrist she isn't an insane murderer, and still get off scott free because she let loose some white girl tears and her wannabe lover miraculously awakens from a coma after a year to testify on her behalf? Ugh. Just. Ugh. Five hours of my life I won't get back.
The characters lacked depth, the ending was rushed and didn't fit the build up of the story whatsoever, there were sexist and stereotypical character tropes that had me rolling my eyes, and it was really just boring until about halfway through when Martin disappeared and stuff finally started happening.
The entire book is basically an unreliable narrator spinning a supernatural fable in the first person and we get a bombshell "twist" ending that was so ridiculous and contrived I literally laughed and rolled my eyes. SURPRISE the entire thing was an elaborate lie, nothing for sure actually happened in the book except 3 people are dead, and the reason why is Heather and Dougie randomly decided to make a blood sacrifice to a pagan god and this cockamamie yarn is their way out of a life prison sentence. What. The. Fuck.
Twist endings are fine. But this just was lazy and rushed. The one thing I'll give it: Heather isn't lying when she says she believes in demons and devils. Of course she does. Why else would she "sacrifice" her friend in cahoots with her wannabe lover and shove his body in an ancient mound, then murder the other two friends because they didn't have the decency to be too wrapped up in other not to notice the obvious foul play, then spend a year in a psychiatric hospital utterly failing to convince the psychiatrist she isn't an insane murderer, and still get off scott free because she let loose some white girl tears and her wannabe lover miraculously awakens from a coma after a year to testify on her behalf? Ugh. Just. Ugh. Five hours of my life I won't get back.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 12, 2020
I liked the idea and concept of the book but the execution was a bit off for me. The ending/grand reveal completely ruined the book for me. It felt like the author took an unoriginal cop-out answer instead of trying to connect all of the dots. I also didn’t like how an idea or concept would be introduced in the book and later abandoned which was confusing. I also had an issue with the writing during action sequences because it was hard to follow then. However, I really enjoyed the tone that the author was able to set with the story and the book felt pretty creepy a lot. Overall, I really wanted to enjoy the book but the ending and some lacking technicalities ruined it for me.
October 25, 2022
This book...wasn't my favorite. I don't mind a slightly unreliable narrator, but this? Too much. Mrs. McFall fed us this perfect, angelic Heather. But instead, in the end, we find out she's nothing like that. But it doesn't let us learn what the real Heather is like.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 29, 2019
Not as exciting as I hoped but I was not expecting that ending. RTC!
February 21, 2025
Truth is like love; it’s universally lauded and admired, and most of the time it just causes pain and makes trouble for people.
Nihilistic young man erases memories for profit, except even he doesn’t profit by his business. Well-told fantasy fiction about mental powers which may not be a gift—to the user or his customers.
He was looking straight at me, the way an arrow looks at a target.
Stream of consciousness tale from a decidedly imperfect and unreliable narrator. Clues are hidden among the narrator’s hopes and fears, gradually building a picture which even he doesn’t grasp until it catches him.
To try and rationalise all this in terms of right, wrong, good, evil, is just naïve; the very worst things we do, after all, we do for love, and the very worst pain we feel comes from love.
Nihilistic young man erases memories for profit, except even he doesn’t profit by his business. Well-told fantasy fiction about mental powers which may not be a gift—to the user or his customers.
He was looking straight at me, the way an arrow looks at a target.
Stream of consciousness tale from a decidedly imperfect and unreliable narrator. Clues are hidden among the narrator’s hopes and fears, gradually building a picture which even he doesn’t grasp until it catches him.
To try and rationalise all this in terms of right, wrong, good, evil, is just naïve; the very worst things we do, after all, we do for love, and the very worst pain we feel comes from love.
March 6, 2017
Oooo! A nice solid 4 star read for me :D
Video review: https://youtu.be/j1EnE_cRS4A
Video review: https://youtu.be/j1EnE_cRS4A
November 20, 2024
A big wtf on this one from me. This was easily a 5 star best book ever until the end and now I’m just sick. It was supposed to be devastating but so good, now it’s just devastating and bad bad bad. I hate it. Genuinely. Only gets 2 stars because of how gripping it was until the end absolutely ruined it. I definitely do not recommend this book. I hate to be a hater on writing but honestly wtf. Very disappointing conclusion.
Read
March 8, 2021This was another skim for me. The premise sounded so promising, but I just couldn’t get into it. I ended up skipping to the end and reading the last couple chapters and, no spoiler, but I’m glad I didn’t waste my time on it considering that ending...
August 5, 2021
It's gripping, but I found the ending somewhat lacking.
Read
July 14, 2021This book was weird (granted, I didn't read the synopsis before picking it up.)
This tells the story of Heather and a trip she took with her best friend and some mutual friends. As the story goes on, you realize that things start happening to the people on the trip one by one. It's quite obvious that Heather is an unreliable narrator, so I was kind of confused as things were happening. Even though I finished the book, I still can't tell you what really happened.
I didn't like any of the characters, and I really didn't care what happened to them. I was still invested though, so it was weird.
This tells the story of Heather and a trip she took with her best friend and some mutual friends. As the story goes on, you realize that things start happening to the people on the trip one by one. It's quite obvious that Heather is an unreliable narrator, so I was kind of confused as things were happening. Even though I finished the book, I still can't tell you what really happened.
I didn't like any of the characters, and I really didn't care what happened to them. I was still invested though, so it was weird.
January 19, 2025
I enjoyed this read, it kept you guessing on her sanity and the two being in on it and the connection to both of them being into the history of sacrificial stuff connected their interest in death. Probably more like a 3.5
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 24, 2025
This book had so much potential to be better than it was, it just falls short. Throughout the book, it pretty much stays a slow flat line that’s kind of boring, the ending spikes in excitement just a tad bit before crashing back out. The ending is rushed and over with quickly, not really doing justice to the story or really balancing out how slow the story was.
The book follows five friends who go camping on an isolated beach in Scotland. As the story goes, one night around the camp fire the friends start to tell ghost stories to each other. The next day, one of the ghost stories seems to becoming true. One by one the friends start to disappear and weird things are happening at camp. With no phones, injuries, and bad weather the friends are left all alone to deal with a ghost story come to life. You follow along through the main character Heather. The book switches from her POV from then (a year ago when they were at the camp) to now (where she is in a mental hospital). You follow along from her then and now point of view to see what happened to her friends and why they think she may have had a hand in it. In my opinion the now POV is a lot of filler that didn’t necessarily add to the book it kind of just dragged it.
I am definitely trying to give the book grace in the aspect that the author is based in Scotland, because there’s a lot of grammar and conversation errors that I’m not sure come from her writing or the editing of the book, either way there’s times that the wrong words are in sentences and it either becomes confusing to read you have to double back and make sense of what’s trying to be said, or it just flat out does not make sense. Also a lot of the dialogue like the audience of the book is meant to be young adult, but the way it’s set up is just not how teenagers and young adults would be speaking. I know that’s a little nit picky but the way the characters speak isn’t really a reflection of the audience at times.
I will say that the ending somewhat saves this book from being a total flop, because it is such a twist. But it can’t completely save the book from overall being slow and boring. It stays a slow burner and the small peak of activity within the ending doesn’t make up for everything else being so slow and somewhat boring. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend reading this book!
The book follows five friends who go camping on an isolated beach in Scotland. As the story goes, one night around the camp fire the friends start to tell ghost stories to each other. The next day, one of the ghost stories seems to becoming true. One by one the friends start to disappear and weird things are happening at camp. With no phones, injuries, and bad weather the friends are left all alone to deal with a ghost story come to life. You follow along through the main character Heather. The book switches from her POV from then (a year ago when they were at the camp) to now (where she is in a mental hospital). You follow along from her then and now point of view to see what happened to her friends and why they think she may have had a hand in it. In my opinion the now POV is a lot of filler that didn’t necessarily add to the book it kind of just dragged it.
I am definitely trying to give the book grace in the aspect that the author is based in Scotland, because there’s a lot of grammar and conversation errors that I’m not sure come from her writing or the editing of the book, either way there’s times that the wrong words are in sentences and it either becomes confusing to read you have to double back and make sense of what’s trying to be said, or it just flat out does not make sense. Also a lot of the dialogue like the audience of the book is meant to be young adult, but the way it’s set up is just not how teenagers and young adults would be speaking. I know that’s a little nit picky but the way the characters speak isn’t really a reflection of the audience at times.
I will say that the ending somewhat saves this book from being a total flop, because it is such a twist. But it can’t completely save the book from overall being slow and boring. It stays a slow burner and the small peak of activity within the ending doesn’t make up for everything else being so slow and somewhat boring. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend reading this book!
January 8, 2020
I really enjoyed The Last Witness by Claire McFall. What should have been a get away for five friends at the beach turns in to a suspense filled paranormal nightmare.
When Heather and her friend's Emma, Dougie, Martin and Darren make camp on the beach at Black Cairn Point it quickly becomes apparent that some of them have other thoughts in mind. Finding that Emma and boyfriend Darren wanted to take sometime alone the others set out for castle ruins Dougie had told them about. What they find there is not a castle but a pile of rocks with a small entrance.
Taking an artifact Dougie found from the rocks entrance the group heads back to camp for the night. No one knew what waited for them tomorrow. One by one they each begin to disappear. Heather is sure it has to be a curse for taking the artifact from the ruins.
Claire McFall builds the suspense slowly, letting it creep in to your subconscious, putting you on edge. Perfect blends of supernatural and historical keep the story moving at a brisk pace. The story moves between Heather's present and the camping trip.
I did feel that the ending was lacking. I got the what, but not really the why of how it all ended. Really wish there had been a little more there.
Over all really well written. Perfect for suspense fans or those who like a good ghost story.
When Heather and her friend's Emma, Dougie, Martin and Darren make camp on the beach at Black Cairn Point it quickly becomes apparent that some of them have other thoughts in mind. Finding that Emma and boyfriend Darren wanted to take sometime alone the others set out for castle ruins Dougie had told them about. What they find there is not a castle but a pile of rocks with a small entrance.
Taking an artifact Dougie found from the rocks entrance the group heads back to camp for the night. No one knew what waited for them tomorrow. One by one they each begin to disappear. Heather is sure it has to be a curse for taking the artifact from the ruins.
Claire McFall builds the suspense slowly, letting it creep in to your subconscious, putting you on edge. Perfect blends of supernatural and historical keep the story moving at a brisk pace. The story moves between Heather's present and the camping trip.
I did feel that the ending was lacking. I got the what, but not really the why of how it all ended. Really wish there had been a little more there.
Over all really well written. Perfect for suspense fans or those who like a good ghost story.
February 23, 2023
The Last Witness by Claire McFall was an okay book. I gave it 3 stars because I wasn’t intrigued, and I didn’t want to keep reading throughout the book. I felt it was boring until the last five pages of the book. Within the last five pages the whole book was flipped upside down and thrown for a curveball. Which I didn’t expect at all. The author did an amazing job at keeping the secret until the end and I had no clue what was happening when she told us the secret.
As I think she did a well at keeping it a secret I wish that she would’ve dropped more hints of what was going to happen later in the book and foreshadow it a little bit just to make me wonder and be more interested to keep reading. On the front cover it says “3 never came back. 2 survived. 1 knows the truth.” I am confused by this statement because the way I interpreted the book there are two people that know the truth, Heather and Dougie. On the other hand Dr.Peterson could be the one who knows, but he suspects that Heather killed all three of them and attempted to murder Dougie which is not what happened. I wish that she would’ve spent more time of them talking about the lie, so we would have inside information rather than being told that at the very end. Overall, this book had more good than bad, so I gave it 3 stars.
As I think she did a well at keeping it a secret I wish that she would’ve dropped more hints of what was going to happen later in the book and foreshadow it a little bit just to make me wonder and be more interested to keep reading. On the front cover it says “3 never came back. 2 survived. 1 knows the truth.” I am confused by this statement because the way I interpreted the book there are two people that know the truth, Heather and Dougie. On the other hand Dr.Peterson could be the one who knows, but he suspects that Heather killed all three of them and attempted to murder Dougie which is not what happened. I wish that she would’ve spent more time of them talking about the lie, so we would have inside information rather than being told that at the very end. Overall, this book had more good than bad, so I gave it 3 stars.
October 9, 2023
I did enjoy my time reading it, but it was also quite lackluster. It was an easy read which is probably why I gave it three stars.
I usually love an unreliable narrator but this just fell short. The twist was somehow entirely out of left field and really felt like it had not been considered throughout the writing of the first half of the novel. It left a lot unexplained.
I just really wanted more from the ending of this.
I usually love an unreliable narrator but this just fell short. The twist was somehow entirely out of left field and really felt like it had not been considered throughout the writing of the first half of the novel. It left a lot unexplained.
I just really wanted more from the ending of this.
October 21, 2024
What could have been an interesting spooky supernatural story turned into a twist that was unexpected and random!! I did not like the ending, which felt like whiplash as it went from “a spirit/monster did it” to “we murdered three people and got away with it, now let’s make out in a cemetery next to our victims graves.” I wish the author would have stuck to the scary and interesting spooky legend in the dark cairn on a camping trip idea. We did not need the psychiatrist plot either. It would have been more of an interesting read if the author stuck to either the murder plot line or the spirit plot line but not both!! Read only to be scared at the beginning/middle of the book, but expect a poopy ending (reveal??!) smushed into the last three pages. It read like a typical “cabin in the woods” tale with stereotypical characters to match. Otherwise, I enjoyed the beginning but will not be reading this again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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