Publication Date: September 23, 2025
Returning to the Northern Isles of Skara Skaill, a bereaved son takes up with two young brothers living outcast on the village streets and moors of Skara Heath, and after running afoul of the corrupted local authority, they band together in a struggle both ancient and new, a struggle of land, loss, and fabled fortune—long lost to the fog of history.
A storm is coming to the island of Skara Skaill. Squatting in their derelict home, two wayward brothers, Rory and Tito, are driven off and forced to shelter alone on the island’s empty barrens. Fending for themselves, they fall in with two strangers—one, Innes Mackie, returning from exile on the mainland upon the death of his father, and the other, a stranded seasonal worker eager to start a new life. After stumbling upon answers to the island’s buried past, the four are drawn into an ancient history of secrets and lies, long hidden by the lawless powers that run Skara Skaill. At its heart, this lightning-quick adventure story, told in a lean, touching, cinematic style, is about loss, loyalty, and the truest meaning of kinship. Echoing the island’s distant fable, The Ballad of Innes of Skara Skaill reveals both the secrets buried within us, and those hidden beneath our feet.
The Ballad of Innes of Skara Skaill serves as the center of a mysterious treasure hunt.
Author Faulkner Hunt builds an eclectic cast of characters in The Ballad of Innes of Skara Skaill. Two brothers, who seemingly belong everywhere and nowhere, provide a sense of adventure as they roam seeking food.
When they pair up with two strangers, one of whom has returned to the island after an absence, they embark on a quest to make sense of discoveries tied to the island’s past. In the meantime, the Earl of Marwick is determined to put his hands on the fabled riches hidden on the island.
Even the animals depicted in the story play significant roles, especially the moor pony rescued from the bog. The author proves skillful at setting the atmosphere, whether it’s a cold, biting wind or a recitation of oral history around the fire.
The Ballad of Innes of Skara Skaill introduces compelling characters drawn together by circumstance.
Faulkner Hunt was born and raised in the Gulf Coast town of Beaumont, Texas. His parents named him after William Faulkner and as a child his favorite room was his father’s library, filled floor to ceiling with books and old stringed instruments and vines growing through the walls. After graduating from University of Texas, he moved to New York, then to California. With his wife Annie and their four children, Faulkner lives in an 18th century Connecticut farmhouse built by a Nehantic Indian chief where, at bedtime, he could be found reading to his four children every word of every classic adventure story ever written, out loud, with accents.
