From Publishers Weekly
Brilliant is as brilliant does, and Ford's first excursion into enigmatic, offbeat speculative fiction in seven years bids fair to win him yet another World Fantasy Award, as did The Dragon Waiting. In this mesmerizing near-future scenario, most of Earth's technologyDman's "magic"Dhas been destroyed by the immortal Elves who once coexisted with primitive hominids, then vanished back into the parallel universe of Elfland. When the Elves return a generation after JFK's assassination, they witness, horrified, what man has become, and they strike out in panic, blasting most of Chicago. Young paramedic Danny Holman, heading toward Chicago's Elf-gang-ridden heart, saves the life of a young woman wounded severely in a drive-by shooting. The mysterious Mr. Patrise rewards Danny with a new identityD"Doc Hollownight"Dand a job as house medic to Patrise's web of underground nightclubs. Danny also gets involved in Patrise's clandestine operations against Whisper-Who-Dares, the loathsome Elf who fuels his insatiable lust for power by flaying humans alive, feeding off their unspeakable agonies. Whether human, minor Elf nobility (the Ellyon) or Highborn Urthas Elves, Ford's generous cast of characters continually surprises, intrigues and pulses with life, a tribute to his power as a storyteller. Haunting, puzzling, even unsettling and deliberately obscure, this improvisatory jazzlike riff of good and evil in the context of a most unusual growing-up story is bittersweet as first love and loss, a minor-key elegy for the death of youth and innocence. (Jan.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
When he stops to administer first aid to a gunshot victim, paramedic Danny Holman steps out of his old life and into a bizarre underworld of fast-talking, magic-wielding elves who dub him Doc Hallows and promise him a future beyond his wildest dreams. Ford depicts a modern-day world inhabited by supernatural creatures who enjoy fast cars, hard liquor, and the sound of money even as they keep alive the old traditions of fairy curses and otherworldly magic. By turns violent and funny, the latest novel by the author of The Dragon Waiting delivers a rapid-fire modern fantasy suitable for most libraries.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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