The Night Birds
A Novel
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- 12,99 €
Publisher Description
The next gripping, atmospheric horror novel from New York Times bestselling author Christopher Golden, set in a deteriorated, half-sunken freighter ship off the coast of Galveston, TX.
Charlie Book and Ruby Cahill have history. After their love ended in heartbreak years ago, they never expected to see each other again.
Now, as part of his work for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Book lives aboard the Christabel, a 19th century freighter half-sunken off the shore of Galveston. Over many years, a massive forest of mangrove trees has grown up through the deck of the ship, creating a startlingly beautiful enigma Book calls the Floating Forest. As a powerful storm churns through the Gulf, he intends to sleep on board as usual.
But when he arrives at the dock, he’s stunned to find Ruby there waiting for him. And she’s not alone. With her are a mysterious woman and her infant child, asking Book to hide them safely aboard the Christabel while they're on the run. Only it isn’t the police who are after them, it’s a coven of witches the woman, Mae, has fled, stealing away the helpless infant for whom the coven had hideous plans…or so Mae claims.
It’s lunacy and Book wants nothing to do with it. But after the way he and Ruby ended things, and the unspoken pain between them, he can’t refuse. Yet even as he brings them out to the ruined ship and its floating forest, there are shadowed figures looming back in Galveston, waiting out the storm. And despite the worsening wind and rain, the night birds are flying, scouring the coastline for their prey.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Golden (The House of Last Resort) showcases his gift for eerie scene setting in this outstanding horror novel with an unusual location: the Christabel, a partially sunken freighter off the Texas coast that's overrun with vegetation. The mangrove trees that make up this "floating forest" have created a unique ecosystem, which is being studied by Charlie Book, of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and three colleagues. Despite an imminent storm headed for Galveston, Charlie still intends to sleep on the Christabel, which he's made his home for the duration of the study. That plan's disrupted by a surprise encounter with his ex-girlfriend, Ruby Cahill, who seeks refuge aboard the vessel. Ruby's on the run from the people who'd murdered her sister, Bella, and desperate for a haven for herself, Bella's girlfriend, Mae, and Bella's infant son, Aiden. Despite Ruby's reluctance to provide details, Charlie agrees to take them in—only to find himself also under threat from something possibly supernatural that pursues them and which has caused birds in the area to act strangely and aggressively. Golden spins this setup into a tense, atmospheric thriller. John Connolly fans will be riveted.