Customer Reviews

Rituals

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

The author got off to a nice start, creating some mystery and a potential war between good and evil witches. This we find out is in fact NOT the story line. Instead it is (Spoilers ahead) about evil powerless humans versus mostly powerless good witches.

Then the characters ALL start acting incredibly stupid. At no point am I convinced that ANYONE, good, bad, or simply nuetral has enough brains to pull off any of the lies they supposedly are telling. They ALL do the stupidest possible things. The good guys take no weapons, magic, or even some muscle to confront the bad guys. The bad guys, like the old Batman tv show, try to trap and/or hold their opponents for riduclously long amounts of time instead of killing them out right.

The characters all fail Bad-guys 101.
The good-guys know they have allies in the rest of the world but make zero attempt to contact them.

Buy this book ONLY if when your daughter is kidnapped because she was a witch you would NOT go to the police and say:
"My Daughter was kidnapped by a group of fanatic Christians because someone found out she went to a wicca meeting. I demand that you rescue her before they burn her for religous reasons."

The Salem Witch Trials: a sad piece of American history. But it couldn't happen again, right? That is the idea posed by Ed Gorman's novel Rituals. In it, witches are merely regular people (women, of course, men can only be "carriers") who are born with special "secret" powers that bloom after puberty (shades of Carrie) and fizzle out during adulthood only to partially resurrect themselves during old age. Direct descendants of the persecutors of Salem are hunting down the witches' descendants in an attempt to completely destroy them.
Our focus, however, is on a small cache of characters in Hastings Corner. Laura and Abby were best friends who had the power to heal. Separated by their marriages, they managed to stay close. Now Laura is dead, as is Abby's daughter. They both had the power; is there a pattern?

Though probably best known for his rough-and-tumble mystery and western characters, Gorman shows off his sensitive side in Rituals. Most of the proceedings are seen from the points of view of the female characters, and even Cam is painted as a really nice guy, someone who was an insensitive jerk and messed up once but is now very understanding. I never doubted the truth of these people, though I take their behaviors into question now and then.

The plot itself depends on a flimsy act of restraint, that is repeatedly reinforced, but that could easily be overcome with a simple lie, solving most if not all of the characters' problems. Also, the ending, unfortunately, takes much too long to actually happen, even though some parts feel rushed, as if some cutting was done and some tightening attempted, but was just not fully successful. Nevertheless, Rituals is immensely readable, especially at the beginning, when I didn't want to put it down.

This is just another great book from Ed Gorman, a different
witch thriller and fast ride, well worth the time. Gorman
still has the goods and takes the time to get it right.

From the dawn of time, the human race was split into two sub-species. One is the Normals while the other is the minority Witches, who have extra sensory powers involving telekinesis, telepathy, healing, and mind control. The Witches did whatever was necessary to hide their powers from the Normals, but as evidenced by the Inquisition, the Salem witch trials and other purging events, they were not always successful.

The refugees who escaped the Salem witch trials moved to the remote and conservative town of Hastings Corner. Following them were the witch hunters, who also settle there in order to kill witches when one surfaces. This mission passed down from father to son and in the present their target is Greer Caine, the daughter of a woman they killed. Dr. Abby Stewart, who lost her own child to the witch hunters, and Greer's father vow to keep the child safe no matter how many come after her.

Ed Gorman has written an exciting paranormal thriller that illustrates the effects of blind prejudice on a group of people with uncommon characteristics. The Witches must hide, not because they are evil and want to harm the rest of the humanity, but because history has shown man kills when he fails to understand. Rituals is Mr. Gorman at his spectacular best.

Harriet Klausner

Many of Gorman's strengths are on display -- vibrant characterization, fluid dialogue, and the ability to write high-stakes, bravura scenes that rend the reader's heart. However, the main premise is implausible and the plot structure is needlessly byzantine. Also this work contains a lot of writerly vamping -- as if Mr. Gorman's contract called for 200 more pages than this story would intrinsically support, so he filled it up with needless viewpoint shifts to unimportant minor characters. If you haven't read the Sam McCain books -- go read one of those first.

Ed Gorman, always a master writing stylist, works in the horror vein, essentially a modern update to the Salem (MA) witch trials and hunts long ago blooding the region. Hastings Corner, located outside of Boston, is the suburban setting this tense fable plays out in. Two groups of witch hunters, a traditional one relying on trials and the newer one on computers, stalk and exterminate today's witches. Interestingly enough, the majority of the witches, as seen in the protagonist Dr. Abby Stewart, serve mankind in good, positive ways. The evil corruption is seen in the witch hunters who "brainwash" captive witches into executing their murderous agenda. Greer Morgan, the daughter of Abby's best friend, becomes the next target to take out. This storyline absorbs you, even if you're not yet a fan of the genre, and the modern prose remains accessible. No weird science or odd names are used. These witches are "normal" and could be your next-door-neighbor. A seamless, enjoyable story.