Beyond the Shroud, a Wraith: The Oblivion novel (Hardcover)

by Rick Hautala (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews
First hardcover dark fantasy entry in what looks like a series to be called Wraith: The Oblivion, by the Maine author of 13 horror novels. The astral plane has a long and vivid history in nonfiction studies of the paranormal. Hautala, however, keeps to suspense clich‚s when his hero, David Robinson, wakes up dead in the Shadowlands. Killed when hit by a truck, David is now a wraith, and the Shadowlands is peopled with fearful shapechangers, the worst being the barking barghests and the slavers who want to cart David off in chains and dump him into the forges of Stygia. And then there are the Ferrymen, who, like Charon, will take you to a far shore that may be either horrible or a place of transcendent peace- -one can't tell about these Ferrymen's promises. David is looking for Karen, his child, whose death five years earlier contributed to his divorce from Sarah, a research librarian. David is (or was) a suicidally depressed midlist mystery writer whose last three books slid to oblivion and whose agent has just dumped him. Unless you're a witty stylist like the late Kingsley Amis, the basic facts about David promise little toward generating an interesting hero--which he's not. Meanwhile, back in the world of the living, Sarah seduces Tony Ranieri, a law student ten years her junior and a dreary stud who possesses one of the three lost knives of Jack the Ripper, which have disappeared from a museum. The knife has savage powers and demands blood, preferably Sarah's--a danger of which David, temporarily slipping back into our world, tries unavailingly to warn her. Eventually, he himself gets the knife, whose power can bring oblivion in the Shadowlands. . . . Murky, but not perky. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Description
David Robinson's life has taken several bad turns. First, his daughter dies. Then his marriage crumbles and his career as a mystery writer falls apart. But after he is killed in a hit-and-run accident, David quickly learns that he will face his most harrowing challenges as a wraith in the Shadowlands. And David soon learns that power is a blade that cuts two ways.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 295 pages
• Publisher: White Wolf Publishing (March 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565049349
• ISBN-13: 978-1565049345
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,911,993 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Depends on your viewpoints, August 5, 1999

By A Customer

If you are looking for a rock em sock em....this is not the book for you. If you are looking for an emotionally taut peice of work, this is right up there in quality. I disagree wholeheartedly with the person from from Kirkus. David IS an intersting hero who continually strives to save his daughter and become a better stronger man in himself. There is character development on both sides of life as well as action scattered like garnish. When I met Rick Hautala he said that there were supposed to be stories for all three knives, but white wolf dropped the idea. I personally am upset by this, I want to see the story conclude!!! Write white wolf and let them know that it should be given the ability to FINISH!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dark and heavy and awesome . . .Wagnerian!, September 15, 1998

By A Customer

If Wagner were alive, he might write an opera about this one!

David is in the underworld with all its terror and mystery. But he can still see the world of the living, where he discovers his widow (ex-wife, actually) is in danger. Their daughter, also in the land of the dead, has dangers of her own which her father must overcome.

I was drawn in by the characters and challenges and the mystery of "the other side."