Customer Reviews

THE TRICKSTER.

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Definitely one of the best horror novels I've ever read! Muriel Gray does a fantastic job capturing pure evil as well as the beauty of nature, love and the fascinating spiritual beliefs of the Native Canadians. She takes over where Stephen King and Dean Koontz leave off. Absolutely brilliant! Not only was my "hunger" for a good horror story satisfied, I was also moved to tears when it was all over. Read it, you will definitely not regret it!

If you like horror stories, you'll like this book. It has enough hideous murders to make Stephen King cringe, and the story pays meticulous attention to the characters and their lives, in a picture perfect Canadian ski town. I particularly liked the story mechanism which took the reader back to earlier in the century, when railroad workers unwittingly unleash the being that is the trickster.

However, there are a few flaws in the story, and they are quite serious ones. First and foremost is the author's continuing message of childhood sexual abuse amongst native Canadian families. If this is an important part of the plot, then so be it, but I think it is seriously overdone and takes away from some of the suspense, not to mention adding to the general distaste the reader may feel. Sometimes a little subtlety goes a long way.

Secondly, our hero/prime suspect's son suspects that there is sonething wrong with his father, and this is manifested throughout the novel as fear, until almost the end when he completely turns his thoughts around. Somehow any value that this plot device has had up to that time is lost at this point.

The ending is jumbled, but this appears to be standard fare with horror books that deal with the supernatural. Perhaps authors have difficulties articulating the end of a horror they have worked so hard to create.

But criticisms aside, this is an interesting read, and it kept me appropriately engrossed for a few days. The author is a talented writer, and I look forward to anything else she may write.

So hunky that even men have fallen in love with him, Native Canadian Sam Hunting Wolf is in denial about his Indian heritage. Nevertheless, he is a powerful shaman whose spirit and energy is being used by a malevolent force known as "The Trickster" to slaughter his way through the small ski town of Silver. Sam's got to get in touch with his roots fast, before he's the only one left to ski those slopes.

Muriel Gray is a wonderful addition to the horror genre. I also enjoyed her "Furnace." But here she's written a fast paced, engaging story with characters you really care about. The origin and reason for the Trickster's resurfacing is a bit muddled, but otherwise this was a fun book.

As to the above title, the Trickster possesses animals in order to do his stalking, which makes for some really spooky scenes. When kitty starts using some very bad language it's time to leave the house!

Muriel Gray's "The Trickster" is a little bit of horror thrown in with a whole lot of Native Canadian (ironically, my book's back cover refers to them as Native Americans despite the fact that the book is not set in America) mysticism and theology.

Gray does a good job of building up the plot, making the "Trickster" scary and real, but fails to deliver when it comes down to fully explaining the Trickster's weaknesses, his true goals and how a Kinchuinick Shaman is supposed to defeat him. The follow through at the end failed to materialize. It became a muddled mess that confused this reader.

Final grade: B-

A terrific novel with a disappointing ending. 420 pages to lay the groundwork to an anti-climatic ending. There is so much redeeming writing here, that I hate to dissuade anyone from reading this tale. This is my first read of work by Muriel Gray. I paln on reading more of Ms. Gray's work, but am not 100% sold yet!

The main character, Sam Hunt, wants to be a
"normal" guy. He loves his wife and kids,
which represent the type of life he's always dreamed of having.
He however, is a Native Canadian, who wants to
forget his past.

The trouble starts when people are being murdered in
strange and bizarre ways. At the same time, Sam is having mysterious
blackouts. It is only through remembering his true nature
and owning his past that Sam can become whole
and stop the string of frightening murders.

By weaving together events of past and present,
along with Native Canadian myth Muriel Gray has
created a gripping story that kept me turning pages all night. Excellent Story! Can't wait for her next book

The fact that this book is a fast read is about the best thing I can say about it. But just because it's fast, don't think for a minute you're going to get anywhere by the end! Especially not with the mediocre characterization and a muddled plot full holes as big as the train tunnel that's one of the book's settings. Plus, it's needlessly brutal, even for the horror genre (there's a reacurring motif of bodies and heads cleaved in half. I'm not sure if it was intentional or not) If you're looking for a good Native American horror novel, pick up "Crota" by Owl Goingback instead.

I don't often read horror novels, but I was attracted to this by the fact it's written by Muriel Gray, a well-known Scottish TV presenter. I was surprised at first, because to my mind it read very much like a Stephen King novel (but clearly not all the reviewers here agree with that - judge for yourself). After getting over that I found it a very enjoyable read, at times terrifying! I've visited the area the novel is set and it was quite evocative of place and atmosphere. I thought her characterisation of Sam Hunt was quite believable, although I'd like to know what aboriginal Canadians would think of it. As others have noted, the book has some of the errors of a first time novelist, but this only increases my anticipation of her next novel.

Reviews that compared this horrible mess to Stephen King induced me to continue reading long after I wanted to put it aside. I kept hoping it would all come together for me. It never did. The only similarity to King is the graphic violence. But unlike King, it's not redeemed by fitting into a compelling story with characters you care about. Characters were built up for chapters and then discarded with one or two sentences.The ending never reconciles "reality" with the supernatural, so major plot points are left hanging. Don't waste your time or money on this.

One of the best books I have read.The characters where so real. It was a horror & a love story in one. I fell in love with Sam Hunt.