It all started after the fire had consumed their home, their possessions, everything in the world they had but each other. At least they all still had each other. That is they did have each other, until the goblin boy showed up. He was there waiting for them, he had always been there, had always been waiting and now he had thought he had found what he was waiting for. Only he was wrong, and his mistake was going to cost a life.

The nightmares were vivid and all consuming. Upon waking the horrid dreams would become nothing more then a phantom memory, a vague recollection of something unpleasant leaving only an all mighty hunger in its wake. After food and the bright light of day those bad dreams could almost be forgotten, almost be dismissed, that is until the nightmare became a reality.

Taken Away is a contemporary story of the bonds of brotherly love, it is a haunting ghost story that will send shivers down your spine, it is compelling mystery of the past affecting those in the present. Whatever way you approach this story you will find a well written, entertaining and intelligent read that will stay with you long after you have finished this book. A story that all ages will enjoy. ( )

teen/adult fiction; ghost story (Irish). The beginning was much spookier than the end (goblin ghost boy has possessed his twin brother!) and I liked the way the plot developed, but once you figure out what's happened, who everyone is, and what Patrick needs to do, there's not much to do but wait (or skim read) until the story concludes itself. ( )

I found Into the Grey by Celine Kiernan to be a well paced ghost story about twin brothers as they come face to face with the supernatural. After their senile grandmother burns down their house, Patrick and Dom, along with their family move to a seaside cottage. Once there, the boys start to have unusual dreams and strange encounters. The story involves both the death of another little boy, many years previously and the horrific death of a soldier during WW I.

As all these incidents come together we learn that there are connections to this family from the past. This is the village that their gran grew up in and the house was the home of her closest friends. As one twin falls to a ghostly possession, the other, Patrick, finds himself struggling to bring his twin back and put these troubled spirits to rest. With the help of an older local man, Patrick works through the distress and fear that these ghosts are experiencing in order to help them find a lasting peace.

Into the Grey is a chilling, atmospheric story that explores both love and loss in a touching way that draws on sibling love, family strengths and sheer determination to travel into the grey of beyond and right old wrongs. At times the story felt a little uneven, but overall this was a very well done ghost story with strong Irish ties. ( )

It took forever for me to get into this story. I thought what is this? Eventually when the story got to a part where I learned about the two set of brothers is when I began to enjoy it. Such a weird book though. ( )

This was VERY exciting at the end and I enjoyed the parallel stories, but I wasn't as scared as I hoped I'd be. Not a bad little ghost story though. ( )