- New!!
From Smoky Mountain News, November 6, 2002
- Click here to read the review by Gary Carden.
- New!!
From Acriedel's Journal, September 2, 2004
- Click here to read the review.
-
From Midwest Book Review, April 2, 2008
- Click here to read the review.
- Review by Daniel Allen.
- From Lena Public Library Book Review Blog, January 2, 2008
- Click here to read the review.
- Review by Christy Lockstein.
- From A Motley Collection of Thoughts, December 1, 2007
- Click here to read the review.
- From Sandstorm Reviews, February 5, 2007
- Click here to read the review.
- From Craig's Book Club
- Click here to read the review by Craig Clarke.
- From Book Loons
- Click here to read the review of Book 1 by Martina Bexte.
- Click here to read the review of Book 2 by Martina Bexte.
- From Louisville Cardinal Online
- Click
here to read the review.
- From Buried.com
- Click here to read the review.
- From Electric Velocipede, Issue 4, May 2003
- Click here to read the review by Bill Braun.
- From Sabledrake Magazine, May 2003
- Click here to read the review.
- From Chuck Wendig,
Entertainment Geekly, May 06, 2003
- Click here to read the review.
- From Chris Fletcher, The Late Late Show, April 9, 2003
- Click here to read Chris Fletcher's 5-star review.
- From Ryan MacMichael, Laze.net, January 12, 2003
- Click here to read Ryan MacMichael's comments.
- From the Montgomery Advertiser, Montgomery, AL, December 31, 2002
- In an article entitled "Best reads of 2002," three
Montgomery Advertiser readers selected Speaks the Nightbird.
Click here to read the comments.
- From the web site Baryon Online
- Click here to read a review by Jim Brock.
- From the BookSense 76 for January/February 2003
- Speaks the Nightbird was selected one of the 76 best books in
America out of 2,000 nominations by the independent booksellers of
BookSense.com.
SPEAKS THE NIGHTBIRD, by Robert McCammon (River City Press, $27.95,
1880216620; Sept.) "Our staff and customers call this one of the best books
they've ever read. McCammon has recreated 16th century Carolina in his
mainstream look at a beautiful and brilliant foreign woman on trial as a
witch." -- Jake Reiss, The Alabama Booksmith, Homewood, AL
- From the web site Horror World, December 2002:
- Click here to read a review by Wayne C. Rogers.
- From author Gary A. Braunbeck, October 15, 2002:
- Click here to read the review by Gary A. Braunbeck.
- From Rocky Mountain News, Denver, CO, September 20, 2002:
- Click here to read the "Grade: A" review by
Mark Graham.
- From The Clarion-Ledger, Jackson, MS, September 24, 2002:
- Click here to read the review by JC Patterson.
- From The Courier, Conroe, TX, September 13, 2002:
- Click here to read
the review by Bev Vincent. Thanks to
Bev Vincent for
providing the scan.
- Bev now has a site, Onyx Reviews, collecting all of his book reviews, including
his review of
Speaks the Nightbird.
- From Shots eZine, September 2002:
- Click here to read
the review by Ali Karim. Thanks to Ali and
Shots eZine
for providing the review.
- From The Poisoned Pen Raves, August 28, 2002:
-
McCammon, Robert. Speaks the Nightbird (River City $30 Signed).
As a great fan of Boy's Life ($7.99), like Tom, I am thrilled to get this
after such a long hiatus. McCammon deliberately chose a small press. The
dark and atmospheric story is set along Carolina's Colonial seacoast where
a pair of investigators is sent to a settlement to inquire into a young
woman's arrest for witchcraft. If you think this is Salem revisited, guess
again, it's a crime novel with the usual root of all evil, but doesn't
spare us the grim realities of frontier life. Highly recommended.
Publishers Weekly adds: "A trial for witchcraft proves the tip of an iceberg
of intrigues in McCammon's absorbing historical mystery, the first newly
published novel in 10 years from the bestselling author who rivaled Stephen
King in the 1980s with such supernatural novels as Usher's Passing
and Baal. A compulsively readable yarn. McCammon's loyal fans will
find his resurfacing reason to rejoice. Those who enjoyed the author's last
three novels (MINE; Boy's Life; Gone South), studies
of the human condition that transcended genre labeling, will snap this one
up, too."
- From Stephen King:
"Given Rick McCammon's ten-year silence, I was curious about
NIGHTBIRD...eager for a new dose of one of America's truly fine
story-tellers...delighted it was a BIG dose...and nervous, too. 'Cause
writing novels is NOT like riding a bike--you can forget how to do it.
Twenty pages in, I forgot everything but the book itself.
"...an excellent story, full of tension and suspense...
"Speaks the Nightbird is a rarity in popular fiction, a book
that manages to be thoughtful as well as entertaining—think
'Burn, Witch, Burn' crossed with Arthur Miller's
The Crucible.
"...The week I spent listening to the nightbird every evening
between eight and eleven was a very fine one."
- From bestselling author Sandra Brown:
- "No one can paint word pictures as vividly as Robert McCammon
and never has his palette had such depth as in Speaks the
Nightbird...the story is as timely as today. It's about superstition,
prejudice, good and evil, hatred and love. Told with matchless insight
into the human soul, this novel makes for a deeply satisfying read.
- From Library Journal, June 15, 2002 (Starred review!):
McCammon, Robert.
Speaks the Nightbird
River City Pub. Sept. 2002. c.676p.
ISBN 1-880216-62-0; $27.95
After a ten-year absence from publishing, McCammon (Boy's Life)
returns with this historical novel of colonial Carolina. In 1699, legal
clerk Matthew Corbett accompanies magistrate Isaac Woodward to Fount
Royal, where he has been summoned to decide whether a witch is living
in the newly established settlement. The two are immediately thrown
into danger, even before they reach the town. And once there, they must
deal with the inhabitants, some of whom stand to gain if Rachel, the
accused, is executed. Soon it becomes obvious to Matthew that everyone
has secrets, even the magistrate. In the end, he alone must try to
unravel the mysteries. While many of McCammon's prior novels dealt
with the supernatural, his latest contains horrors that are more real.
McCammon also provides extensive historical detail, re-creating the
legal procedures, medical practices, and everyday existence of the time.
The language and situations are often disturbing, especially because
many of the accusations against Rachel are sexual in nature, but
McCammon tells a compelling story that should find a wide readership.
Highly recommended for popular fiction collections. —Joel W. Tscherne,
Cleveland P.L..
- From Chet Williamson:
-
I finished Speaks the Nightbird this morning, and just wanted to say
how much I enjoyed it. It's a splendid piece of work, with a marvelous
plot, a setting that comes to total life, and thoroughly believable
characters. It's so good to see Rick McCammon back with a new novel,
especially one as involving and entertaining as this. The 676 pages seemed
to fly by. Though not a horror novel, McCammon's taste for and talents at
creating the horrific is well-served here, and horror fans won't be
disappointed. In fact, I can't imagine anyone being disappointed in this
wonderful story.
Chet Williamson
GoreZone Message Board, June 12, 2002
- From Locus, August 2002:
- Click here to read the review
by Bill Sheehan. Thanks to Bev Vincent for providing the scan.
- From Publishers Weekly Online, August 5, 2002:
-
MYSTERY
Speaks the Nightbird
Robert McCammon
River City Publishing
700 pages
Hardcover $27.95
1-880216-62-0
In Colonial South Carolina, the settlement of Fount Royal awaits the
arrival of a magistrate from Charles Town who will decide the fate of
accused witch Rachel Howarth. The year is 1699, poised on the brink of a
new century. Settlements on the edge of the wilderness teeter between
civilization and savagery. Into this cauldron marches Magistrate Woodward,
a true judge, a fair and honest man. With his clerk, Matthew, Woodward
traverses the territory between Charles Town and Fount Royal, through
"a joyful day for frogs and mudhens," but for the two travelers,
"chill rain coiled chains around the soul." So this tale of
mystery and moral courage begins, crafted by McCammon, author of Gone
South. The trembling boundary of the eighteenth century comes alive, seen
through the discerning eye of Matthew. Fount Royal customs, clothing, and
beliefs are shown in every scene. For example, one townswoman intends to
sell locks of the accused witch's hair as good fortune charms, and seeks to
capitalize on the burning of the witch by selling cakes and pies at the
event. In this woman's house, a nest of wasps hangs above her dining table
to rid her home of the ever-present mosquitoes. The mayor's home offers
colonial meals, from "coarse-grained jonakin bread that tasted of
burnt corn" to "toss 'em boys," greasy roast chicken.
Still, in every corner of the town lies the shadow of Rachel Howarth.
People are so afraid of the hooked claw of Satan that many have
abandoned Fount Royal. However, is Rachel truly a witch, or is she a
pawn in an elaborate and desperate game? Matthew sees pieces of the
puzzle that don't fit, and asks questions that find no answers.
Woodward frets about his clerk. He sees Matthew's search for truth as the
pursuit of a "nightbird," sure that Matthew's desire to prove
Rachel is not a witch will lead Matthew to ruin. Try as he might, Woodward
can't dissuade his young clerk from the reckless pursuit of Matthew's
nightbird.
Speaks the Nightbird is rendered in vivid scenes with exquisite
historical detail, dropping the reader into the fictional dream, and right
into the dawn of the eighteenth century, a time when reason seeks to
overcome superstition. Caught in this dilemma is Matthew, who asks why it
was only the English citizens, not the German or slave population of Fount
Royal, who witnessed Rachel performing unspeakable acts? Why are pearls and
gold pieces found in the bellies of turtles? Each clue stacks upon another
as Matthew races to discover the truth, only to find that truth wears many
faces, and the nightbird he chases propels him to his own soul. (September)
Carol Lynn Stewart
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