Adept: Death of an Adept [Paperback]

Katherine Kurtz (Author), Deborah Turner Harris (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 27, 2004 | Series: Adept (Book 5)

Sir Adam Sinclair, the mystic historian known as the Adept, has emerged victorious from his encounters against the forces of darkness. But now he faces the most unthinkable crime imaginable against his kind: murder.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Pouring old wine into new bottles once again, Kurtz and Harris serve up another vintage dark fantasy in this fifth adventure about reincarnated Adept Adam Sinclair and his efforts to contain ancient occult forces simmering beneath the civilized veneer of contemporary Scotland. Sworn to uphold "a code of spiritual morality which is, itself, a reflection of the Divine Will," Sinclair, Peregrine Lovat and other mystically endowed members of the Hunting Lodge square off against black Adept Francis Raeburn, still licking his wounds after his defeat in Dagger Magic (1995). They also take on the Lodge of the Lynx, a cabal of evildoers determined to channel the demonic energies of Taranis, Lord of Lightning. Kurtz and Harris have become so comfortable with their characters and the details of their lives that they dither leisurely for the first half of the novel, juxtaposing Adam's lengthy preparations for his Stateside wedding to Ximena Lockhart against Raeburn's equally protracted execution of the Druidic rites that will summon terrors from the Outer Darkness. But once Adam returns to Scotland from his American sojourn, the tug-of-war between the armies of light and darkness escalates into a full-blown battle. The secrets of freemasonry, the Knights Templar and Scottish myth are deployed like campaign strategies; psychometry, scrying, astral projection and other armaments in the occult arsenal are unleashed with wild abandon. Although stamped from the same template as the black magic novels Dennis Wheatley wrote a half-century ago, this tale packs thrills that will appeal to discerning modern readers.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The fifth volume in the popular Adept series maintains the high standards of Kurtz and Harris' classic reworking of the occult detective theme. The evil adepts of the Lodge of the Lynx have returned to the fray, trying by devious and foul means to revive a medieval Scots sorcerer-nobleman who is alleged to have the power to bind elementals themselves. The body count is considerable before the Lodge and its odious leader, Francis Raeburne, meet a well-deserved fate, and that count nearly includes Adam Sinclair and several of his friends. Fortunately, Sir Adam survives to marry his beloved Ximena at last, and readers will enjoy the same elegance, wit, folkloric and occult scholarship, brisk pacing, and flavor of contemporary Scotland that have distinguished this book's predecessors. Sir Adam and friends may yet achieve the popularity of Manly Wade Wellman's John the Balladeer. If and when they do, it will be deserved. Roland Green --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Ace (April 27, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441004849
• ISBN-13: 978-0441004843
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #699,959 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An fine successor to Dion Fortune's "Dr. Taverner" stories, April 28, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Reed City, Michigan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adept: Death of an Adept (Paperback)

In every one of Ms. Kurtz's "Adept" books, there comes a moment of such overwhelming mythic beauty that I get watery-eyed, or cry. "The Death of An Adept" is no exception, and for me, it is when the young psychic artist Peregrine finally gains his wings as a magical adept in his own right. Every book in this series is a fine successor to the occult fiction of Dion Fortune, combining hermetic principles effectively with skillful and dramatic storytelling and a high moral sense. Here, as previously, we see that evil is its own punishment, and that a good heart, and one annealed by self-discipline and fine training, can overcome many (supernatural) obstacles.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Quaint Ol' Occult Detective Goes Sharp-Edged, April 9, 2005

By 

J. H. Minde "Everything I need is right here" (Boca Raton, Florida and Brooklyn, New York) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Adept: Death of an Adept (Paperback)

DEATH OF AN ADEPT is the fifth, the latest,(and thus far, the last) volume in THE ADEPT series. Hopefully, authors Kurtz and Turner Harris will reincarnate the series at some point in the future, as it is engaging and highly enjoyable. DEATH OF AN ADEPT, moreover, moves the series in new directions.

DEATH OF AN ADEPT finally sees Sir Adam Sinclair marry his lady love, Dr. Ximena Lockhart. The two settle into married domesticity at Strathmourne House where they are soon under attack by The Lodge of The Lynx, their nemesis throughout the series.

Several Adepts do die in the course of the story, and in some particularly unpleasant ways. It appears that Kurtz and Turner Harris have finally realized that mere self-centered selfishness such as we've seen before in the series does not equate with real evil, and have redrawn their bad guys, particularly Francis Raeburn, as corrupt and sociopathic---in a word, vile.

Peregrine Lovat and his wife Julia are almost overcome by an occult device known as a "Hand of Glory" made from the body parts of a gibbeted criminal. Sir Adam himself is captured by Raeburn and used as the sacrificial victim in a particularly detailed and gruesome Black Mass. Raeburn reanimates the spirit of the nefarious William de Soulis, a Scottish sorcerer of the 1700s who wreaks havoc in his new incarnation.

DEATH OF AN ADEPT is a tale noir far more than any of its predecessor novels. There are even a few four-letter words sprinkled into the dialogue, something that hasn't happened before in this series, which always had the quaint and proper air of the drawing room about it.

DEATH OF AN ADEPT is both a modern murder mystery and a gothic horror tale. Kurtz and Turner Harris do a fine job here. It's a shame they haven't continued the series as of yet, because here, embryonically, we have a syncretic "Profiler Meets Dracula" theme which opens up all kinds of fascinating possibilities for this already well-established series and its characters.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Followup, November 27, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Adept: Death of an Adept (Paperback)

I started reading the Adept because K. Kurtz wrote it and I liked her Deryni series. I had no idea how good it was. Since that first book, I have continued to read and be impressed. Death of an Adept keeps the standard of the Adept series has high as ever. It is a fitting end to the series of events that started in book 1. I loved it. I usually get bored with book series after awhile, but The Adept is proving to be the exception. I can't wait for the next book. Here's hoping that The Adept series continues to hit new heights.