FFB - The Talisman

#2 in the Night Hunter series by Robert Faulcon [Robert Holdstock](1983)

Dan Brady witnessed the abduction of his wife, daughter and son at the hands of Satanists, who  took them for undisclosed purposes. They left him for dead in the first book, The Stalking. Yet he survived and discovered there was a dark organisation, Arachne, literally hell-bent on using his daughter’s nascent psychic powers.

In this book, Brady’s search for his family takes him to Norfolk, the fenlands where an ancient curse has been awakened by the enemy. The atmosphere that Faulcon creates is definitely spooky, and you’re certainly left guessing who is innocent and who is a depraved follower of Arachne.

It’s a tale told at a pell-mell pace and a worthy successor to the first book; gruesome and graphic in places. The origin of the Talisman is haunting and tragic, providing Brady with one more crucial yet confounding piece of the jigsaw.

Compelling storytelling: I’ve started #3, The Ghost Dance.

Note: Faulcon seemed to have a fixation with the letter ‘A’ when choosing characters for this story: Alison, Angela, Andrew, Agnes, Anita and Alan!