-THE SUMMER WE ALL RAN AWAY by CASSANDRA PARKIN - A fantastic debut novel by Cassandra Parkin, her first but hopefully not her last. The story has chapters from Now and chapters from Then. In 'Now' we meet Davey, badly beaten and clearly at the end of his tether; not knowing where to turn he makes his way drunk and randomly to Cornwall; guided by a light across the water he makes his way to a house where he collapses on the doorstep to be taken in by an odd bunch of people who offer him a place to stay, no questions asked as long as he returns the no question favour. Sixteen year old Priss is one of the residents of the house; feisty and curious she and Davey investigate the strange house, part of which is shut off. Convinced that at least one of the other residents is a murderer, Priss is determined to unravel the mystery of the older residents Kate, Tom and Isaac. 'Then' starts off with the story of Jack Laker, a musician and recovering addict but as the novel progresses 'Then' becomes everyone's story and we find out why everyone has ended up at this big house in the middle of nowhere and what has drawn them there as their secrets become known...and why there is a panther on the loose! I found this a very easy story to become involved and interested in. The characters were intriguing without being fantastical and I found I wanted to read on to find out more about them and their stories. Whilst Tom's story was surprising, both Davey's and Priss' stories and characters were especially compelling and I had a lot of empathy with them. The Now and Then of the telling works well and ties both past and present nicely together. I was a bit disappointed that we didn't find out what happened after the secrets were out; I felt there were loose ends that maybe could have been tied up a little better to allow for a proper new beginning for all the characters as I did feel most readers would want to know how all the stories ended and know that they could begin again. All in all though I did enjoy it and found the writing very good and very thoughtful, you could certainly get into the mindset of Tom, Priss and Davey. I'd definitely look out for another novel by Cassandra. Thanks to netgalley for the chance to review this book.