Windwalker [Mass Market Paperback]

Natasha Mostert (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 5, 2005

Justine is a photographer with a tragic past. When she takes a job as thecaretaker for an old Palladian mansion, she finds herself becoming obsessed with the last family to own the house -- particularly the oldest son. Driven to photograph the house and the family's personal possessions, Justine is more intrigued than frightened to discover strange images appearing in her pictures, ghostly images she knows she didn't record. Even more unsettling, it seems like someone is stalking her, watching her.

Halfway around the world, Adam writes letters to a woman he's dreamed about since he was a child, but has never met. One day he sees her picture in a magazine -- it's Justine. That she's living in his old family home is a coincidence he cannot ignore. Drawn to his mystery woman, Adam leaves his exile in South Africa and risks all to satisfy his yearning for her.

Adam believes he and Justine are truly soul mates -- but if neither of them are able to overcome their pasts, how can they have a future?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Mostert's second novel (after The Midnight Side)—an adept mix of suspense, romance and the supernatural—Justine, a troubled and self-destructive photographer, becomes the caretaker for an abandoned English mansion with a dark secret: nine years earlier, one of the inhabitants murdered his own brother. Justine is both horrified and intrigued by the house's history, and as she begins to research it further, she feels an inexplicable connection between herself and Adam, the murderer. Adam, who's been living for the past nine years as a professional diamond diver in a remote African village, is a strong believer in destiny, and the moment he sees a photograph of Justine, he's certain that they're soul mates. The overarching story of these two lost souls gravitating toward one another contains many subplots, including a local minister/stalker who's obsessed with Justine and an over-the-top villain who enjoys clubbing baby seals. Though these secondary story lines tend to be unconvincing, they ensure that Justine and Adam's occasionally tedious love story is always action-packed. Agent, Robert Gottlieb. (Apr.)

From Booklist

Justine is a renowned photojournalist with an interest in architecture. Adam fled his English country mansion after an argument led to the death of his brother. Adam now lives in the desolate wasteland that is Namibia's coast, while Justine has retreated to brooding Paradine Park--which just happens to be Adam's ancestral home--after the devastating loss of her beloved elder brother in a fire. The resulting hauntingly elegant tale of a doomed love between two lost souls is rife with Eastern mysticism and concepts of destiny, reincarnation, and redemption. But readers of traditional romance, be warned: Mostert's novel of suspense features palpably evil characters who wantonly destroy baby animals, and there is no blissful union at the tale's conclusion--although happiness together in another life is clearly indicated. Lynne Welch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Tor Paranormal Romance (April 5, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765349299
• ISBN-13: 978-0765349293
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,035,450 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gothic (in the old sense) romance, July 24, 2006

By 

ColleenKG "Cleen" (St. Charles, MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Windwalker (Mass Market Paperback)

If one inspects Natasha Mostert's website, one can grasp that with her education and background in language & music that she is trying to evoke a mood more than tell a formulaic romance in Windwalker. She is writing a bit more intelligently & with a lot more research than the average romance writer. In fact, this novel is actually a modern retake of a brooding gothic romance & it is likely the error of US distributors to dub it a romance. The UK book cover seen on Mostert's website is much more evocative of the book than the US cover (sand dune, wolf, pensive woman). Windwalker uses the environment as a character in the book via description like the carribean in Wide Sargasso Sea or the moors in Wuthering Heights. The love story is doomed, well at least in their present lives, but this book offers a lot to a reader willing to explore the african desert & some of the history behind what a soul mate is. If you like Bronte, The English Patient or tragic love stories, then I recommend this book to you. If you prefer a quick romance that doesn't require you to think, then you will be frustrated with this book. I agree that Mostert needed just a little more lingering with a few plot lines to smooth this effort a bit (although I am a skimmer & I might have missed a bit). All in all, I was impressed enough to write a review & this book has the scaffolding to make an excellent movie that could be as picturesque as Titanic, The English Patient or The Sheltering Sky.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I Just Didn't Care, October 19, 2005

By 

Nicole H. "Nicole H." (WA State) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Windwalker (Mass Market Paperback)

Justine Callaway and Adam Buchanan are two people deeply unsatisfied with their lives and burdened with guilt from their past actions. Adam is exiled in the country of Namibia after murdering his own brother; Justine moves into his family's home to get away from everyone she knows after the death of her brother in a fire she caused.

And so it goes on. This novel is over-the-top, from the overbearing mother, to the stalker, to the evil arch-nemesis who clubs baby seals, and finally to the whirlwind romance that would never occur between two people at the speed and intimacy and situation as it does in this book.

Also unfortunate is the attention given to detail in this novel. We are given a bunch of meaningless descriptions of the landscape and the house rather than learning why the characters are the way they are. I was interested in Justine's relationship with her brother, but the backstory was summary, not description. Whereas the description of the house was huge, yet not very relevant to the plot.

I would not read this book again, nor do I recommend spending money to buy it. I gave it two stars because I could finish it, and there wasn't anything glaringly awful about it, which is my criteria for one star.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I Can't Believe How Bad This was!, April 17, 2005

By 

merry "mary" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Windwalker (Mass Market Paperback)

I don't buy books if I don't think I'll like them.
Imagine my chagrine at this book I could scarcely finish!
I think it is one of the worst things I've forced myself to finish because I paid retail for it.
The lead characters are self indulgent people who caused the death of their siblings either on purpose or unintentionally.

These aren't people I felt sorry for or rooted for in any way.