Customer Reviews

Speaks the Nightbird: Evil Unveiled, Vol. 2

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Très bon livre.L`auteur nous livre une bonne histoire bien racontée et bien menée sur fond historique.C`est le début des enquêtes d`un nouveau personnage Matthew Corbett.

Having read "Swan Song", a fantastic novel by this author in the horror genre, I was surprised to see that he had turned his hand to historical fiction. Since it is one of my favorite genres, I decided to take a chance and read it. Well, I was not disappointed. This is a well-executed work of historical fiction. It is clear that the author did his research, as the book is steeped in period detail. Moreover, the dialogue rings true, and the characters are well-developed. The author vividly depicts the setting about which he is writing, weaving a tapestry of events that rivets the reader to the pages of this book until the last one is turned.

The setting for the story is colonial America, at the very end of the seventeenth century. It appears that the swampy town of Fount Royal in the Carolinas is having its share of troubles, which range from crop failures to murder. The citizens have decided that witchcraft is afoot, and they believe that Rachel Howarth, the beautiful and exotic looking widow of one of the recently murdered men, is the witch that is causing all their troubles. They have thrown her into the town's jail to await trial by the territory's magistrate, Isaac Woodward.

Assisted by his very capable and highly intelligent clerk, Matthew Corbett, the Magistrate presides over the trial. Matthew, however, believes Rachel to be innocent, despite the mounting evidence against her. So, he decides to make some independent inquiries of his own in order to ascertain exactly what is afoot in Fount Royal. What he discovers is certainly evil, but it is a miasma of evil not of the kind derived from supernatural portents. There is more going on behind the scenes in Fount Royal than one would ever have bargained for. The only question is whether Matthew will be able to resolve the mystery in time to save Rachel from being burnt at the stake as a witch.

The reader should be aware that this is a two part opus. This book necessitates the reading of the second, "Speaks the Nightbird-Volume II: Evil Unveiled", in order to have all the pieces come together. They are not stand alone books. The reader should have the second book on hand, because after one finishes the first, one can hardly wait to read to the second book. While the second volume is not as good as the first, it is, by necessity, a must read, All in all, however, this two part opus is a well-written and highly enjoyable work of historical fiction by a master storyteller.

I have always maintained that there are three great modern American horror writers: Stephen King, Peter Straub, and Robert McCammon. King and Straub, of course, have been churning out books of varying quality for the last twenty-five years - but McCammon inexplicably vanished from the scene ten years ago and hasn't been heard from.

Until now.

And he marks his return with a different kind of horror story. At the turn of the 18th century a magistrate and his clerk ride toward a recently established village in the Carolinas to deal with a charge of witchcraft. But all is not as it seems. I won't spoil the plot except to say that if you're a McCammon fan this novel is not what you're expecting; but it's great nonetheless.

If you haven't realized it already this novel has been split into two separate books. Part I is titled "Judgement of the Witch" and part II is "Evil Unveiled". The two books need to be read in order to avoid any confusion.

Vol 2. Evil Unveiled is the 2nd half of Speaks the Nightbird. Vol 1. Judgement of the Witch, was the first half. Both books are the wonderful recent additions from the fabulous mind of Robert McCammon. A sordid look at America's past. Particularly the during the time of the Witch hunts in the 1600's. An excellent mystery is underfoot when an innocent woman is charged for the crime of Witchcraft. A young law clerk (filling-in for the ailing Judge Woodward) is faced with discovering the truth. During which time (no pun intended), the bodies start to drop. The writing style and the characters are well drawn and memorable. Makes you truly appreaciate the concept of "innocent until proven guilty." Enjoy! P.S. this book reminds me of John Barth's "The Sot Weed Factor." Also a great read, very satirical.

The second volume is more enjoyable than the first, because our suspicions of the genre have been confirmed: this isn't horror fiction, this is a mystery novel in the cosy Agatha Christie vein (once you look past the very rare examples of sadistic violence).

In Volume One the characters and situation were established (I'd said of the first half that it "essentially parades its whodunnit-style suspects before us,") and in Volume Two the red herrings are dealt with by our intrepid detective hero, as he works his way toward discovering the real killer.

McCammon is, as always, a graceful and articulate writer, and this is a satisfying conclusion to his novel--particularly enjoyable, once the reader settles into the genre, is his occasional subverting of expectations. One can easily imagine further volumes, should McCammon decide to make his hero a recurring detective, and I'd look forward to them (I don't know of any circa 1700 detectives in New York, but it would be a fun read!)

Note: This is really about a 3 and a half starrer for me--a 3 star ranking from me is actually fairly good, I reserve 4 stars for tremendously good works, and 5 only for the rare few that are or ought to be classic; unfortunately most books published are 2 or less.

This was a very long book but worth every page. It was my first book by Mr McCammon but, I'm sure, not my last.

The author can weave a tale! I loved it all, from all the descriptions to the intrigues and the Indians.

It starts as a tale of witchcraft but ends up being much more. I love the way the tale starts on the periphery and works its way in and, at the end, all the threads come together in a beautiful tapestry.

Great book!

I have always maintained that there are three great modern American horror writers: Stephen King, Peter Straub, and Robert McCammon. King and Straub, of course, have been churning out books of varying quality for the last twenty-five years - but McCammon inexplicably vanished from the scene ten years ago and hasn't been heard from.
Until now.

And he marks his return with a different kind of horror story. At the turn of the 18th century a magistrate and his clerk ride toward a recently established village in the Carolinas to deal with a charge of witchcraft. But all is not as it seems. I won't spoil the plot except to say that if you're a McCammon fan this novel is not what you're expecting; but it's great nonetheless.

If you haven't realized it already this novel has been split into two separate books. Part I is titled "Judgement of the Witch" and part II is "Evil Unveiled". The two books need to be read in order to avoid any confusion.

Poor Robert McCammon--he's so good at his best (Boy's Life) that when he falls somewhat short of his own, very high bar, he gets faulted for it.

Others have recounted the plot. What's good about this book is he doesn't patronize his audience with lengthy exposition regarding its historical setting, he expects his readers to be literate and well-educated; he has a whiz-bang opening to get you into his story (and it's needed, as the story drags in the middle of volume one, which essentially parades its whodunnit-style suspects before us); he's a graceful and articulate writer.

The characters could be a little more compelling, the emotional stakes a little higher, but it's a good read once you commit to it. If you enjoy McCammon, you know you'll like this well enough--and if you've never read him, this isn't a bad place to begin; see if you like it, and know that greater delights await.

Note: a 3 star ranking from me is actually fairly good; I reserve 4 stars for tremendously good works, and 5 only for the rare few that are or ought to be classic; unfortunately most books published are 2 or less.

I've always like Robert McCammon books and up until now had determined that Swan Song was my all time favorite of his. Not any longer....this book kept me captivated from beginning to end. I recommend to anyone who LOVES a great story done by a wonderful storyteller.

I've been a fan of Robert McCammon since the beginning -- I even liked his clinkers like Baal and Nightboat. He's a terrific writer. Unfortunately, this latest effort is sub par for him.

I don't know if he's just rusty or if he's trying to stretch too hard to break into a new genre (since there was tremendous resistance from his editors and the publishing world in general to having him write anything other than horror) but Speaks the Nightbird is just awful! The author tries to use the vernacular of the time, but he fails in some spots and it's distracting to the narrative. But more than that, the plot creeps along at a snail's pace -- I was horrified at the end of the book to find out that there was actually a SECOND novel to read to complete the story!! That wouldn't have actually been a bad thing if the first volume ended with some sort of cliffhanger or climax -- no such luck. It just meanders along aimlessly and then the reader is surprised with an end note encouraging them to buy the second volume to find out what happens! If the book was originally meant to be 1100 pages, then it should have been published as such. What a disappointment -- I can't believe I waited 10 years for this.

Just terribly disappointing in every aspect.