Speaks the Nightbird (Hardcover)

~ Robert McCammon (Author) "Came the time when the two travellers knew night would catch them, and shelter must be found..." (more)
Key Phrases: six gold buttons, deformed knee, bleeding bowl, Fount Royal, Rachel Howarth, Madam Howarth (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A trial for witchcraft proves the tip of an iceberg of intrigues in this absorbing historical mystery, the first newly published novel in 10 years from McCammon (the book was written in the mid-'90s), a bestseller in the 1980s with such supernatural novels in the Stephen King tradition as Usher's Passing and Baal. Set in 1699 in Fount Royal, a coastal settlement in the colonial Carolinas, this latest unfolds the adventures of magistrate Isaac Woodward and his assistant, Matthew Corbett, who have been summoned to the struggling town to adjudicate in the trial of Rachel Howarth, a young widow accused of deviltry that is blamed for murders, wretched weather and other calamities driving settlers away. Though town leaders press for swift execution, Matthew is persuaded by Rachel's dignity and fortitude that she's innocent. Using skills honed living by his wits as an orphaned child, he pursues inconsistencies in testimony and throwaway clues and uncovers an elaborate plot involving pirate booty, animal magnetism and deadly deceit at the highest levels of town organization. This robust tale is as historically detailed as it is long, and its recreation of an era where superstition held its own with enlightenment is among its strongest achievements. Anachronisms, improbably fortuitous coincidences and private dramas that make Fount Royal seem a pre-Revolutionary Peyton Place lard the plot, but Matthew's race against time to save Rachel with the rudimentary tools to hand makes a compulsively readable yarn. McCammon's loyal fans will find his resurfacing reason to rejoice. (Sept.) Forecast: Those who enjoyed the author's last three novels (Mine; Boy's Life; Gone South), studies of the human condition that transcended genre labeling, will snap this one up, too. But McCammon also lost readers with these novels because in them he turned away from the horror themes that made his reputation. This latest could well gain him new fans, but it won't win back any horror readers.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

After a ten-year absence from publishing, McCammon (Boy's Life) returns with this historical novel of colonial Carolina. In 1699, legal clerk Matthew Corbett accompanies magistrate Isaac Woodward to Fount Royal, where he has been summoned to decide whether a witch is living in the newly established settlement. The two are immediately thrown into danger, even before they reach the town. And once there, they must deal with the inhabitants, some of whom stand to gain if Rachel, the accused, is executed. Soon it becomes obvious to Matthew that everyone has secrets, even the magistrate. In the end, he alone must try to unravel the mysteries. While many of McCammon's prior novels dealt with the supernatural, his latest contains horrors that are more real. McCammon also provides extensive historical detail, re-creating the legal procedures, medical practices, and everyday existence of the time. The language and situations are often disturbing, especially because many of the accusations against Rachel are sexual in nature, but McCammon tells a compelling story that should find a wide readership. Highly recommended for popular fiction collections. Joel W. Tscherne, Cleveland P.L.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 726 pages
• Publisher: River City Publishing; 1St Edition edition (September 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1880216620
• ISBN-13: 978-1880216620
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (117 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #742,775 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Return of the Mac!, January 22, 2003

By	C. Fletcher (California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Robert McCammon is back, with one of his best novels ever. "Speaks the Nightbird" is the kind of book that really deserves a grass-roots, word-of-mouth campaign. If you read "Boy's Life" and it meant something to you, you owe it to yourself to pick up "Speaks the Nightbird."

The story concerns an aging legal magistrate and his young clerk who come to the small Carolina village of Fount Royal at the close of the 17th century to decide the facts in a case of reputed witchcraft.

Matthew Corbett, the magistrate's sharp-minded young clerk, is not sure he believes in witches, despite the accepted wisdom of the day. Corbett is a young man determined to see the world with his own set of eyes. This is good news for Rachel Howarth, the alleged witch, but not such good news for the young clerk himself. Matthew's determination to make up his own mind about the case runs him afoul of many of Fount Royal's most prominent residents. The villagers, who have come to blame recent deaths and failing crops on the accused witch, would like nothing more than a speedy, fiery solution to their troubles.

What Matthew wants is the truth, no matter how slippery and elusive it proves to be. A boy on the cusp of adulthood, Matthew suspects that the decisions he makes in Fount Royal will ultimately be the proof of the man he is to become. What Matthew soon discovers, however, is that the road to truth and decency is bound to be a hard and lonely one. Even the magistrate, a normally fair and level-headed man who has often served as a father figure for the boy, is so mired in the "facts" of the case that he is unable to lend Matthew a helping hand.

On the surface, "Speaks the Nightbird" is a neatly contstructed, involved mystery that will draw you in with its many beguiling twists and turns of plot. But at its heart, "Nightbird" is--like "Boy's Life" before it--really a moving coming-of-age tale. McCammon concerns himself here with the thorny interior struggles waged for the prize of personal integrity; he imbues his characters and prose with a poignant decency that is sorely missing from much of today's popular fiction.

"Speaks the Nightbird" is an elegantly written, often riveting historical drama that also operates as a clever whodunit and an intriguing character study. It's also one of McCammon's best.

Robert McCammon is so clearly at the top of his form in "Speaks the Nightbird" that it would be a shame if he never fully came out of retirement. But the decision to write or not to write is always a personal one. All that McCammon's fans can do is savor the words he's already written, and of course hope for more.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You will not be disappointed, January 31, 2003

By	Tyler Tanner (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

McCammon fans will be surprised and entertained by his latest novel about a witch trial set in North Carolina in 1699. The characters are developed, it is rich in detail and the pace is quick. All the qualities that earned him such a loyal fan base are here. His use of dialog has never been used for effectively. Prepare yourself for some late night reading. Those worried that this is not a scary book, be at ease. McCammon creates some wonderfully intense and macabre scenes and proves that some aspects of humanity are more frightening than anything supernatural. In retrospect, it's similar aspects and the attention to relationships in his stories that made "Mystery Walk", "Wolf's Hour" and others that much better. After reading this, I looked on his website where he states that he "got bored" with writing horror. This latest entry is a great way to cross over into historical fiction. I just hope his publisher and fans allow him to do so. Great reading and I look forward to his next, whatever the genre.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WARNING: READ THE FINE PRINT !, October 28, 2003

By	R. Couger "philosopher for hire" (east west nowhere, TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Speaks the Nightbird, Vol. 2: Evil Unveiled (Mass Market Paperback)

First off, SPEAKS THE NIGHTBIRD, is a wonderful piece of writing. The characters and setting will stay with long after you have put the book down. I'm a little suprised that when it was published last year it didn't get more notice. Although, A READER, couldn't understand how people might think Vol. 2 was a sequel, understand that it is not. For those of us that read the book when it came out it can be a little confusing. I recieved an email saying a sequel was coming out. I went to a book store and asked and was handed vol. 2. I didn't examine it very closely. It seemed odd that there would be a sequel but.....I thought he was going to quit writing. I'll take what I can get. It wasn't until I got home that I realized what I'd paid 8 bucks for. If you haven't read any of SPEAKS THE NIGHTBIRD, rush out and buy it. But if you read the hardback when it came out, know that Vol. 2 is merely the second half of the original novel.