Nightwing [Import] [Hardcover]

MARTIN CRUZ SMITH (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 254 pages
• Publisher: THE HARVILL PRESS (1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0002715481
• ISBN-13: 978-0002715485
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Martin Cruz-Smith's novels include Stalin's Ghost, Gorky Park, Rose, December 6, Polar Star and Stallion Gate. A two-time winner of the Hammett Prize from the International Association of Crime Writers and a recipient of Britain's Golden Dagger Award, he lives in California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AN HONEST TO GOD CREEPY STORY, June 5, 1999

By 

RMurray847 "afilmcritic.com" (Albuquerque, NM United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Nightwing (Mass Market Paperback)

Smith is a favorite of mine. I must admit I was skeptical with this book. (A horror story about bats.) But it was totally convincing. The hero (as typical in Smith books) is reluctant and flawed, but very interesting. The details of Native American life are great, the landscapes are beautifully evoked, and the bats are very interesting. The scene about midway through when the bad guy is remembering a particularly bad trek he and his father made through a cave is unbelievably creepy. Months later, I still remember it and shudder. YOU MUST READ IT!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Book, February 13, 2007

By 

Stuart Ball - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nightwing (Unbound)

I felt compelled to write this review after seeing the negative nature of the other posts. Why are there only four reviews anyway? It is not hard to be critical of "Nightwing" when you consider it next to Smith's other works. It isn't a particurly complex plot and the protagonist (though you get several different first person accounts) is somewhat flawed. And not in the traditional "likable tragic hero" sense, he is more just passive and melancholy. Once into the book, though, you do begin to develop a connection.

In the story vampire bats come across the Mexican border into American Indian country, and various bedlam ensues for our characters. Smith actually presents a supringly plausible plot for a novel involving migratory, ravenous bats.

It should be noted that the novel is not exclusively a bat adventure. The stoic Indian protagonist battle against the bats forces him to make hard choices about his identity and the future of his culture. I really did enjoy reading this book. In the last twenty pages I came to realize I had developed more empathy for the characters than I thought. Might not be Smith's best, but the bredth of what he attempts on the subject of personal identity is commendably ambitious.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars does not measure up to the Arkady Renko series, but it's fun, October 13, 2000

By 

Orrin C. Judd "brothersjudddotcom" (Hanover, NH USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Nightwing (Mass Market Paperback)

Without a doubt, the worst movie I ever had the displeasure of paying to see, Nightwing turns out to be a fine thriller. It's Stephen King by way of Tony Hillerman as plague ridden vampire bats descend on a Hopi reservation.

Replete with a lone hero tribal policeman, corrupt Indian politicians, a mad scientist, bigoted evangelists & a vengeful shaman, this early effort from Martin Cruz Smith does not measure up to the Arkady Renko series, but it's fun.

GRADE: C+