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A review by divapitbull
Night After Night by Phil Rickman
3.0
3 1/2 stars
Night After Night is the 3rd book set in Phil Rickman's Cold Calling world (which can get a little confusing since the first 2 books were originally written under the pen name of Will Kingdom). It could possibly be read as a stand alone - but I wouldn't recommend it. Like all of Rickman's books that I have read, Night After Night is an atmospheric and character driven slow build to a mystery that is both mundane and subtly supernatural. A large part of the enjoyment is steeped in an understanding and appreciation of the characters and their history. I am not giving Night After Night my usual Phil Rickman 5 stars because the book centers around 2 characters - Grayle Underhill and Cindy Mars-Lewis that never really captured my attention. Marcus Bacton plays a small supporting role and his adorable bull terrier with the psychotic eyes - Malcolm - gets honorable mention for sitting at Marcus's feet.
Night after Night seemed to start off even slower than expected. The first half of the story was an introduction to new characters and a lot of (dare I say somewhat tedious) background information to support the possible haunting at Knap Hall. None of the new characters really grabbed me, except for the 1 that I decided I really liked and then several pages later he was really dead. It wasn't until 50% in on the kindle that things started to heat up and get interesting; and we didn't hit the "un-put-down-able" point until the 80% mark.
The essence of the story is that Grayle gets "volunteered" to research for a reality TV show based on a presumably haunted house - so instead of Big Brother - it's Big Other. The producer Leo Defford has a preconceived idea (thanks in part to Grayle's research) as to the nature of the haunting; but that was just scraping the surface. The more information that comes out, the less Defford wants to know. And then naturally the actually live characters have their own drama going on which is superimposed over the supernatural elements.
In summary - a somewhat weak installment in the Cold Calling world - but if there is another I will certainly read it.
Night After Night is the 3rd book set in Phil Rickman's Cold Calling world (which can get a little confusing since the first 2 books were originally written under the pen name of Will Kingdom). It could possibly be read as a stand alone - but I wouldn't recommend it. Like all of Rickman's books that I have read, Night After Night is an atmospheric and character driven slow build to a mystery that is both mundane and subtly supernatural. A large part of the enjoyment is steeped in an understanding and appreciation of the characters and their history. I am not giving Night After Night my usual Phil Rickman 5 stars because the book centers around 2 characters - Grayle Underhill and Cindy Mars-Lewis that never really captured my attention. Marcus Bacton plays a small supporting role and his adorable bull terrier with the psychotic eyes - Malcolm - gets honorable mention for sitting at Marcus's feet.
Night after Night seemed to start off even slower than expected. The first half of the story was an introduction to new characters and a lot of (dare I say somewhat tedious) background information to support the possible haunting at Knap Hall. None of the new characters really grabbed me, except for the 1 that I decided I really liked and then several pages later he was really dead. It wasn't until 50% in on the kindle that things started to heat up and get interesting; and we didn't hit the "un-put-down-able" point until the 80% mark.
The essence of the story is that Grayle gets "volunteered" to research for a reality TV show based on a presumably haunted house - so instead of Big Brother - it's Big Other. The producer Leo Defford has a preconceived idea (thanks in part to Grayle's research) as to the nature of the haunting; but that was just scraping the surface. The more information that comes out, the less Defford wants to know. And then naturally the actually live characters have their own drama going on which is superimposed over the supernatural elements.
In summary - a somewhat weak installment in the Cold Calling world - but if there is another I will certainly read it.