?Here?s hoping Beonging brings Butlin back into the public eye. It?s certainly up to the job... a gripping read - a real page-turner? Guardian ?On the cover of this slim but extraordinarily powerful novel Iain Banks, Irvine Welsh, Ian Rankin and Alan Warner all rave about Ron Butlin, and on this evidence it?s clear why. Belonging is a remarkable book, a seemingly simple tale of wanderlust told in precise, sparing prose, yet with a devastating emotional impact to rival much weightier and more-lauded tomes . . . Butlin expertly bring[ s] his landscapes alive with incredible vivacity . . . a terrible psychological heart of darkness which is as terrifying as it is compelling. Harrowingly honest . . . this is a truly moving piece of work.? Doug Johnstone in The List ?An assuredly told but undeniably shocking tale, Belonging is a masterclass in how to portray deep emotion with seemingly simple prose . . . Butlin is much-touted by other authors, and here his use of description and dialogue is amazingly and deceptively powerful, as he examines with brutal frankness what it means to belong.? Gail Williamson in The Big Issue ?As a fast page-turner, Belonging is hard to beat . . . Lovers of fast-paced mysteries will find nothing lacking in Belonging. It takes the finest features of the suspense novel, and combines them with the 20-something metaphyics of Alan Warner. The result is both mesmerising and serious? Peter Burnett in Scotland on Sunday ?Butlin is a novelist capable of making the improbable ring true . . . remarkable powers of description . . .compellingly written? Allan Massie in The Scotsman ?Like a dystopian James Bond, Ron Butlin's third novel ranges between picture-postcard locations only to find horror and dissolution waiting at every turn... Just as [ Butlin] can write, and pick off his characters, so handling of plot is deft . . . There is much to praise in Belonging, not least Butlin?s unflinching gaze into the nature of relationships . . . understated and emotionally affective writing.? James W. Wood in The Scottish Review of Books. ?One of Scotland?s most probing writers.? Laurence Wareing in The Herald ?For all it is gripping, precipitous read, the writing a model of clarity and resonance, Belonging is a very odd book that haunts long after it?s done? It is an unusual and profundly pessimistic vision. The point is that, artistically, it convinces. We can live with it because of the quality of the writing, the flickers of wit, the tension and uncertainty? Independent ?The horror invoked in Belonging is akin to the nightmares of The Shining and The Towering Inferno? Butlin creates a tense and acute claustrophobia? Sunday Herald
