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Speaks The Nightbird - By Robert McCammon
Feb. 26th, 2009 09:35 amFount Royal is dying. Withering crops, horrible weather, mysterious fires, gruesome murders: and all because of her. The witch! Or is it? A traveling magistrate and his young clerk have arrived to try Rachel Howarth on the charges of murder and witchcraft. If found guilty she will burn. But Matthew Corbett isn't so sure he believes in witchcraft or that the woman he meets in the gaol is guilty. Matthew soon finds himself racing to uncover the truth of the evil plaguing Fount Royal and to prove Rachel's innocence before time runs out.
Wow! Book-gasm indeed. This is my first book by Robert McCammon and I must say that I was (am) very impressed. The story held me from the first words to the last. Its now several days and two books later and I still find myself thinking about it. To me that is the sign of a very good book. This is historical fiction, which we all know is a favorite of mine. McCammon captured the feel of colonial America as well as the religious fervor and witchcraft hysteria prevalent around 1700. The mystery that is central the the novel is well crafted as well. Several times I was sure I knew what was really going on only to find a few pages later how wrong I was! I like being kept on my toes like that. It makes for a more enjoyable read.
Fair warning to those who might pick this one up (and I strongly recommend that you do) - this is a long book. I read the mass market paperback version that is split into two volumes. Total it was about 900 pages. If you are expecting something to read for a couple of hours and be done this is not the book. There are no wasted words here IMO. And every one of those 900 pages was totally worth it!
Another fair warning. I found this book in the Horror section. And in a way it is horror but not in the way I was expecting. It could have just as easily been shelved in Mystery/Thriller or Fiction. If doesn't really fit any of the genre labels.
I can't think of anything else to say without going into spoiler territory so let me just say that I recommend this one big time. There is a follow-up book featuring Matthew Corbett. I already have my copy of Queen of Bedlam and it is in the TBR pile.
Wow! Book-gasm indeed. This is my first book by Robert McCammon and I must say that I was (am) very impressed. The story held me from the first words to the last. Its now several days and two books later and I still find myself thinking about it. To me that is the sign of a very good book. This is historical fiction, which we all know is a favorite of mine. McCammon captured the feel of colonial America as well as the religious fervor and witchcraft hysteria prevalent around 1700. The mystery that is central the the novel is well crafted as well. Several times I was sure I knew what was really going on only to find a few pages later how wrong I was! I like being kept on my toes like that. It makes for a more enjoyable read.
Fair warning to those who might pick this one up (and I strongly recommend that you do) - this is a long book. I read the mass market paperback version that is split into two volumes. Total it was about 900 pages. If you are expecting something to read for a couple of hours and be done this is not the book. There are no wasted words here IMO. And every one of those 900 pages was totally worth it!
Another fair warning. I found this book in the Horror section. And in a way it is horror but not in the way I was expecting. It could have just as easily been shelved in Mystery/Thriller or Fiction. If doesn't really fit any of the genre labels.
I can't think of anything else to say without going into spoiler territory so let me just say that I recommend this one big time. There is a follow-up book featuring Matthew Corbett. I already have my copy of Queen of Bedlam and it is in the TBR pile.
