Published in 1984, the fourth book in the Night Hunter
series of six by Robert Faulcon (Robert Holdstock) begins with a candle-lit
dinner evening that changes into something ‘other’. Archaeologist Colin Saville is
alarmed to find his daughter’s bedroom is unexpectedly cold for the season.
There’s an interloper – a psychic force, disclosed as Daniel Brady. A fiery death follows.
In the first book of the series, Brady’s wife, son and daughter were
abducted and he was left for dead by individuals of a Black Magical bent. Since
recovering he has devoted his life to tracking down his family and wreaking
vengeance on the followers of an entity called Arachne. This is his latest
foray, but Brady gleans little from Saville to help in his quest.
Meanwhile, in the west country, ghost-hunter Geoff Cochrane has been
called in by a few farmers to exorcise a ghost that has appeared on their land
near Pitthurst wood. Cochrane’s daughter Nancy is aware of her father’s
‘talent’ and has a latent ability herself. Cochrane discovers an underground
shrine, and one of the farmers inadvertently unleashes a powerful and deadly
influence.
Dan is called out by police superintendent Sutherland, who
investigated the original abduction. Apparently, another family was attacked
and by chance the invaders abruptly stopped and were summoned away to
Pitthurst. Dan sets off to investigate and eventually meets up with Cochrane
and they join forces.
The shrine serves a purpose. It is one of many, however.
Each one requires the living essence of people to be drained and absorbed by an
evil embryo from the ancient past.
Dan and Geoff find themselves besieged in the farmhouse
while Geoff’s daughter is somewhere out there, at risk. More deaths are
inevitable, with plenty of blood and gore; the suspense elements are ratcheted
up and the showdown is epic. In the end, Dan saves one innocent life and
obtains a few snippets of information to give him hope, enabling him to continue the search
for his family.
A few quest series can be sustained over many books – the
Dumarest saga being one – but most should be limited, and I feel that
restricting Daniel Brady’s quest to six novels was probably the right decision.
I’ll be following his progress in the next book, The Hexing.
The earlier books have been reviewed in this blog on the following dates:
#1 The stalking - 21 August 2015
#2 The Talisman - 20 November 2015
#3 The Ghost Dance - 27 November 2015
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