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The Prodigy: The Ghost Stories of Noel Hynd - Number 4
Rolf Geiger leads a charmed life. Handsome and charismatic, he has seen his awesome talents as a piano virtuoso rewarded with worldwide fame, fabulous wealth and the love of a woman he adores.
But Rolf is about to learn that genius has an enormous price. Poised to embark on a stunning world tour, he is slowly and savagely tormented by the spirit of his recently deceased mentor, Isador Rabinowitz. From far beyond the grave, Rabinowitz's spirit returns to torment Rolf day and night, filling him with a paralyzing fear unlike any he has previously known. Rolf descends into a mental hell that is too terrifying to imagine.
Now, prompted by a ghost, dark impulses rise up in Rolf. He must fight for his sanity, his humanity and his very soul. He is locked in a horrific dance of death with his dark angel, a spirit that commands him to pay one final price for greatness --- to murder the woman he loves.
“Noel Hynd is one of the few authors that have succeeded showing us what we sense in the deepest reaches of our minds. He is a master because he is willing to go where we don’t want to go in regards to the supernatural.”
—Tobe Hooper, Director of Poltergeist, Salem’s Lot and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
But Rolf is about to learn that genius has an enormous price. Poised to embark on a stunning world tour, he is slowly and savagely tormented by the spirit of his recently deceased mentor, Isador Rabinowitz. From far beyond the grave, Rabinowitz's spirit returns to torment Rolf day and night, filling him with a paralyzing fear unlike any he has previously known. Rolf descends into a mental hell that is too terrifying to imagine.
Now, prompted by a ghost, dark impulses rise up in Rolf. He must fight for his sanity, his humanity and his very soul. He is locked in a horrific dance of death with his dark angel, a spirit that commands him to pay one final price for greatness --- to murder the woman he loves.
“Noel Hynd is one of the few authors that have succeeded showing us what we sense in the deepest reaches of our minds. He is a master because he is willing to go where we don’t want to go in regards to the supernatural.”
—Tobe Hooper, Director of Poltergeist, Salem’s Lot and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
303 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1998
13 people are currently reading
102 people want to read
About the author
Noel Hynd
62 books218 followers I've been a published novelist for longer than I care to admit, since 1976. I'm frequently asked, however, how I first got published. It's an interesting story and involved both Robert Ludlum and James Baldwin, even though neither of them knew it --- or me --- at the time.
My first agent, a wonderful thorughly perofessional gentleman named Robert Lantz was representing Mr. Baldwin at the time. This was around 1975. Balwin, while a brilliant writer, had had some nasty dealings with the head of Dell Publishing. Dell held Jimmy's contract at the time and he could not legally write for anyone else until he gave Dell a book that was due to them. Nonetheless, he refused to deliver a manuscript to Dell and went to Paris to sit things out.
The book was due to The Dial Press, which Dell owned. Baldwin was widely quoted as saying....and I'm cleaning up the quote here, "that he was no longer picking cotton on Dell's planatation."
The book was due to The Dial Press. The editor in chief of The Dial Press was a stellar editor who was making a name for himself and a fair bit of money for the company publishing thriller-author Robert Ludlum. A best seller every year will do that for an editor. Anyway, Baldwin fled New York for Paris. The editor followed, the asignment being to get him to come happily back to Dial. As soon as the editor arrived, Baldwin fled to Algeria. Or maybe Tunisia. It hardly mattered because Baldwin was furious and simply wouldn 't do a book for Dell/Dial. The editor returned to NY without his quarry. Things were at a standstill.
That's where I entered the story, unpublished at age 27 and knowing enough to keep my mouth shut while these things went down. I had given 124 pages of a first novel to Mr. Lantz ten days eariler. Miraculously, his reader liked it and then HE liked it. It was in the same genre that Ludlum wrote in and which the editor at Dial excelled at editing and marketing.
My agent and the editor ran into each other one afternoon in July of 1974 in one of those swank Manhattan places where people used to have three martinis for lunch. The agent asked how things had gone in Europe. The editor told him, knowing full well that the agent already knew. The next steps would be lawyers, Baldwin dragged into US Courts, major authors boycotting Doubleday/Dell, Dial, maybe some civil rights demonstrations and.......but no so fast.
Mr. Lantz offered Dial the first look at a new adventure/espionage novelist (me). IF Dial wanted me after reading my 124 pages, he could sign me, but only IF Baldwin was released from his obligations at Doubleday. I was the literary bribe, so to speak, that would get Jimmy free from Dial. It seemed like a great idea to everyone. It seemed that way because it was. Paperwork was prepapred and paperwork was signed. Voila!...To make a much longer story short, Dial accepted my novel. The editor instructed me on how to raise it to a professional level as I finished writing it over the next ten months. I followed orders perfectly. I even felt prosperous on my $7500 advance. He then had Dial release Mr. Balwin from his obligation. Not surpringly, he went on to create fine books for other publishers. Ludlum did even batter. Of the three, I'm the pauper but I've gotten my fair share and I'm alive with books coming out again now in the very near future, no small accmplishment. So no complaints from me.
That''s how I got published. I met Ludlum many times later on and Baldwin once. Ludlum liked my name "Noel" and used it for an then-upcoming charcter named Noel Holcroft. That amused me. I don't know if either of them even knew that my career had been in their orbits for a month 1975. They would have been amused. They were both smart gifted men and fine writers in dfferent ways. This story was told to me by one of the principals two years later and another one confirmed it.
Me, I came out of it with my first publishing contract, for a book titled 'Reve
My first agent, a wonderful thorughly perofessional gentleman named Robert Lantz was representing Mr. Baldwin at the time. This was around 1975. Balwin, while a brilliant writer, had had some nasty dealings with the head of Dell Publishing. Dell held Jimmy's contract at the time and he could not legally write for anyone else until he gave Dell a book that was due to them. Nonetheless, he refused to deliver a manuscript to Dell and went to Paris to sit things out.
The book was due to The Dial Press, which Dell owned. Baldwin was widely quoted as saying....and I'm cleaning up the quote here, "that he was no longer picking cotton on Dell's planatation."
The book was due to The Dial Press. The editor in chief of The Dial Press was a stellar editor who was making a name for himself and a fair bit of money for the company publishing thriller-author Robert Ludlum. A best seller every year will do that for an editor. Anyway, Baldwin fled New York for Paris. The editor followed, the asignment being to get him to come happily back to Dial. As soon as the editor arrived, Baldwin fled to Algeria. Or maybe Tunisia. It hardly mattered because Baldwin was furious and simply wouldn 't do a book for Dell/Dial. The editor returned to NY without his quarry. Things were at a standstill.
That's where I entered the story, unpublished at age 27 and knowing enough to keep my mouth shut while these things went down. I had given 124 pages of a first novel to Mr. Lantz ten days eariler. Miraculously, his reader liked it and then HE liked it. It was in the same genre that Ludlum wrote in and which the editor at Dial excelled at editing and marketing.
My agent and the editor ran into each other one afternoon in July of 1974 in one of those swank Manhattan places where people used to have three martinis for lunch. The agent asked how things had gone in Europe. The editor told him, knowing full well that the agent already knew. The next steps would be lawyers, Baldwin dragged into US Courts, major authors boycotting Doubleday/Dell, Dial, maybe some civil rights demonstrations and.......but no so fast.
Mr. Lantz offered Dial the first look at a new adventure/espionage novelist (me). IF Dial wanted me after reading my 124 pages, he could sign me, but only IF Baldwin was released from his obligations at Doubleday. I was the literary bribe, so to speak, that would get Jimmy free from Dial. It seemed like a great idea to everyone. It seemed that way because it was. Paperwork was prepapred and paperwork was signed. Voila!...To make a much longer story short, Dial accepted my novel. The editor instructed me on how to raise it to a professional level as I finished writing it over the next ten months. I followed orders perfectly. I even felt prosperous on my $7500 advance. He then had Dial release Mr. Balwin from his obligation. Not surpringly, he went on to create fine books for other publishers. Ludlum did even batter. Of the three, I'm the pauper but I've gotten my fair share and I'm alive with books coming out again now in the very near future, no small accmplishment. So no complaints from me.
That''s how I got published. I met Ludlum many times later on and Baldwin once. Ludlum liked my name "Noel" and used it for an then-upcoming charcter named Noel Holcroft. That amused me. I don't know if either of them even knew that my career had been in their orbits for a month 1975. They would have been amused. They were both smart gifted men and fine writers in dfferent ways. This story was told to me by one of the principals two years later and another one confirmed it.
Me, I came out of it with my first publishing contract, for a book titled 'Reve
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 14, 2011
I am about 1/3 of the way through this book. So far I am not impressed. The story is slow, jumping around in time, and I do not care about the characters. I am debating with myself whether or not I should finish this book.
So I am on page 106, and I decided not to continue reading this book. I very rarely give up on a book, but this one just isn't interesting me.
So I am on page 106, and I decided not to continue reading this book. I very rarely give up on a book, but this one just isn't interesting me.
April 21, 2012
Another great book from Hynd!
June 1, 2022
I can say with great certainty, that I was tempted to stop reading this book perhaps about 20% into the story. I was bothered by some themes and tropes that I do not see as super acceptable today, namely the excessive sexual themes at the beginning of the story, and also the strong sexual behaviorisms of some characters. But I think those two aspects of the story were appropriately lowered toward the middle of the story.
I suppose that those aspects were necessary for the exposition of the story, to give context to everything before the drama. Also, I recognize that this book 1) was published in the 90s and 2) follows the life of a "rock star" pianist, which both affect the nature of the lives of the characters.
This story was a bit wild, a bit strange, more specifically, a bit strange in regards to the take on the nature of musicians. As a person familiar with contemporary music culture, I was surprised to hear that Geiger was regularly swarmed on stage by fans for his great performances, like rock stars of the past decades. I'm curious as to what Noel Hynd knows about the music industry.
I suppose that those aspects were necessary for the exposition of the story, to give context to everything before the drama. Also, I recognize that this book 1) was published in the 90s and 2) follows the life of a "rock star" pianist, which both affect the nature of the lives of the characters.
This story was a bit wild, a bit strange, more specifically, a bit strange in regards to the take on the nature of musicians. As a person familiar with contemporary music culture, I was surprised to hear that Geiger was regularly swarmed on stage by fans for his great performances, like rock stars of the past decades. I'm curious as to what Noel Hynd knows about the music industry.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 5, 2025
Another great ghost story by Hynd
This fourth book in the series of ghosts stories by Noel Hung is a great story. It is very musically enhanced throughout the entire story. There are many music references that some readers may find a burden, but I really enjoyed the book.
This fourth book in the series of ghosts stories by Noel Hung is a great story. It is very musically enhanced throughout the entire story. There are many music references that some readers may find a burden, but I really enjoyed the book.
October 24, 2015
A First class horror story!
This was a very frightening and eerie book, that really gave me nightmares. Author Noel Hynd has a way of taking a scary idea and making it sound so believable. That combined with his terrific and well developed characters make for a really fine story that stays with you long after that last page. This is the second horror story that I have read by this author, and I am waiting for two more to arrive in the mail. The book is about a great concert pianist named Rolf Geiger who had been a child prodigy and mentored by the world's then greatest pianist Rabinowitz. Upon Rabinowitz death, Geiger set out to establish himself as the greatest living pianist. But he was haunted by the ghost of the evil and mean spirited Rabinowitz, which got worse and worse. Was the malevolent spirit real or was it a product of Geiger's tortured mind? Or, maybe a combination of both. I was extremely impressed with the author's knowledge of the world of the concert pianist, including the details of music and the playing of the piano, which further led to the realism of this story. It was obvious that he must have spent a tremendous amount of time researching for his book. Noel Hynd has now become one of my most favorite authors! My only problem is the careless typos and grammatical errors. The book is much too good for those kind of errors. Possibly the errors are due to the conversion process to digital? I don't know, but I loved the book much to much to grade down for those careless mistakes.
This was a very frightening and eerie book, that really gave me nightmares. Author Noel Hynd has a way of taking a scary idea and making it sound so believable. That combined with his terrific and well developed characters make for a really fine story that stays with you long after that last page. This is the second horror story that I have read by this author, and I am waiting for two more to arrive in the mail. The book is about a great concert pianist named Rolf Geiger who had been a child prodigy and mentored by the world's then greatest pianist Rabinowitz. Upon Rabinowitz death, Geiger set out to establish himself as the greatest living pianist. But he was haunted by the ghost of the evil and mean spirited Rabinowitz, which got worse and worse. Was the malevolent spirit real or was it a product of Geiger's tortured mind? Or, maybe a combination of both. I was extremely impressed with the author's knowledge of the world of the concert pianist, including the details of music and the playing of the piano, which further led to the realism of this story. It was obvious that he must have spent a tremendous amount of time researching for his book. Noel Hynd has now become one of my most favorite authors! My only problem is the careless typos and grammatical errors. The book is much too good for those kind of errors. Possibly the errors are due to the conversion process to digital? I don't know, but I loved the book much to much to grade down for those careless mistakes.
May 20, 2015
Strange, but interesting!
December 31, 2019
Better than I thought it would be.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews