Book Review – The Night Birds by Christopher Golden

I’ve accidentally picked up many books about witchcraft this year. Not that I’m complaining.

This novel follows Charlie Book, a man living on an old ship to study the mangrove trees that grow on it. His ex arrives with her dead sister’s baby begging for a place to stay. Once on the ship, they are surrounded by women hell bent on making a human sacrifice out of the infant. It’s a long dark night from then on during a storm.

Christopher Golden always gets his characters. He combines backstory with the present in such a way that they always connect, even when the characters have to fight for survival. There might not be much of an arc for them, but it’s enough for you to root for them and that’s the important part.

What’s so terrifying about this book is that it takes witchcraft from old European folklore instead of what Americans view witchcraft as (no wicked witches of the west here). He writes about a coven of dark wielders who cannot be redeemed for their fate is tied to the evil being they conjured. Defeating this demon means killing someone Charlie loves and that is what gives this book its heart.

I might have liked a little more character development of the smaller characters, but I’m okay without it too. This novel is unrelenting and fast paced. Not a word wasted on small moments. A good read if witchcraft and gore are your thing.

4 out of 5 stars.