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Wakening the Crow
Oliver Gooch comes across a tooth, in a velvet box, with a handwritten note from 1888 to say it’s a tooth from the boy Edgar Allan Poe. He displays it in his new bookshop, and names the store Poe’s Tooth Books.
Oliver took the money from his small daughter Chloe’s accident insurance and bought a converted church to live in with his altered child and wife. Rosie hopes Chloe will came back to herself but Oliver is secretly relieved to have this new easy-to-manage child, and holds at bay the guilt that the accident was a result of his negligence. On a freezing night he and Chloe come across the crow, a raggedy skeletal wretch of a bird, and it refuses to leave. It infiltrates their lives, it alters Oliver’s relationship with Rosie, it changes Chloe. It’s a dangerous presence in the firelit, shadowy old vestry, in Poe’s Tooth Books.
Inexorably the family, the tooth, the crow, the church and their story will draw to a terrifying climax.
Oliver took the money from his small daughter Chloe’s accident insurance and bought a converted church to live in with his altered child and wife. Rosie hopes Chloe will came back to herself but Oliver is secretly relieved to have this new easy-to-manage child, and holds at bay the guilt that the accident was a result of his negligence. On a freezing night he and Chloe come across the crow, a raggedy skeletal wretch of a bird, and it refuses to leave. It infiltrates their lives, it alters Oliver’s relationship with Rosie, it changes Chloe. It’s a dangerous presence in the firelit, shadowy old vestry, in Poe’s Tooth Books.
Inexorably the family, the tooth, the crow, the church and their story will draw to a terrifying climax.
256 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2014
2 people are currently reading
382 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Gregory
20 books92 followersStephen Gregory (b. 1952) was born in Derby, England, and earned a degree in law from the University of London. He worked as a teacher for ten years in various places, including Wales, Algeria, and Sudan, before moving to the mountains of Snowdonia in Wales to write his first novel, The Cormorant (1986), which won Britain’s prestigious Somerset Maugham Award and drew comparisons to Poe. The book was also adapted for film as a BBC production starring Ralph Fiennes. Two more novels, both set in Wales, followed: The Woodwitch (1988) and The Blood of Angels (1994). After the publication of The Blood of Angels, he worked in Hollywood for a year with Oscar-winning director William Friedkin (The Exorcist). More recently, he has published The Perils and Dangers of this Night (2008), and his new novel, The Waking That Kills, will be published in late 2013.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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May 16, 2025
An Anonymous Bit of Bone...
Without Belief It Was Nothing
WAKENING THE CROW
by Stephen Gregory
5 stars. Oliver Gooch and his seven year old daughter Chloe were on their daily outing in Nottingham...
As usual...
They stopped in at Mr Heap's Oddities and Occult Treasures. As they were leaving, Heaps pushed a small velvet box into Gooch's hands...
The box had a story...
It contained a bicuspid tooth with an old hand-written letter claiming the tooth was from the mouth of young Edgar Allan Poe...
Abruptly, Chloe broke loose from her father and ran into the street where she was hit by a passing car, sustaining a head injury, which left her mute...
With Chloe's insurance payout...
Gooch bought an old renovated church tower. The family used the upper stories as living quarters...
While Pudgy novelist wannabe Gooch...
... turned the first story into a bookstore, he called Poe's Tooth Bookshop, where he displayed the tooth with its letter and sold strange and occult books...
One night...
Father and daughter found a scraggly starveling crow sheltering from the extreme weather in their clock tower...
The crow added to the Poe-like ambiance of the bookshop for the customers, so it was allowed to fly around freely in the store...
However, afterward...
The family began to unravel. Gooch's wife wanted her daughter to recover from her injury and talk again...
But...
Gooch hoped that she remained mute forever. Gooch had a secret, and Chloe knew what that secret was...
Additionally...
Gooch, experiencing writer's block, became a heavy drinker, dragging his wife Rosie down with him on his boozy path...
Their marriage escalated downhill at a break-neck speed after the crow maimed Rosie one night...
Was the crow a starveling seeking refuge for the winter, or was it another little piece of Poe?...
And the tooth...
Was it a good luck charm or just a bit of Monkey's Paw kind of bad luck?...
It was the belief that mattered. An anonymous bit of bone, with questionable provenance, is nothing without belief...
Stephen Gregory is one of my favorite authors, and if you're a fan of his THE CORMORANT, you'll probably like this story. The protagonist, Oliver Gooch, was not entirely likable (but I still rooted for him).
As Gooch sank to the depths with his drinking, I was reminded of that old movie, The Lost Weekend, and when he dragged his wife Rosie along with him, I was reminded of another old movie, The Days of Wine and Roses.
I would classify this book as a bit noir with hints of the supernatural. IMHO, it's well worth a read, and I highly recommend it!
Without Belief It Was Nothing
WAKENING THE CROW
by Stephen Gregory
5 stars. Oliver Gooch and his seven year old daughter Chloe were on their daily outing in Nottingham...
As usual...
They stopped in at Mr Heap's Oddities and Occult Treasures. As they were leaving, Heaps pushed a small velvet box into Gooch's hands...
The box had a story...
It contained a bicuspid tooth with an old hand-written letter claiming the tooth was from the mouth of young Edgar Allan Poe...
Abruptly, Chloe broke loose from her father and ran into the street where she was hit by a passing car, sustaining a head injury, which left her mute...
With Chloe's insurance payout...
Gooch bought an old renovated church tower. The family used the upper stories as living quarters...
While Pudgy novelist wannabe Gooch...
... turned the first story into a bookstore, he called Poe's Tooth Bookshop, where he displayed the tooth with its letter and sold strange and occult books...
One night...
Father and daughter found a scraggly starveling crow sheltering from the extreme weather in their clock tower...
The crow added to the Poe-like ambiance of the bookshop for the customers, so it was allowed to fly around freely in the store...
However, afterward...
The family began to unravel. Gooch's wife wanted her daughter to recover from her injury and talk again...
But...
Gooch hoped that she remained mute forever. Gooch had a secret, and Chloe knew what that secret was...
Additionally...
Gooch, experiencing writer's block, became a heavy drinker, dragging his wife Rosie down with him on his boozy path...
Their marriage escalated downhill at a break-neck speed after the crow maimed Rosie one night...
Was the crow a starveling seeking refuge for the winter, or was it another little piece of Poe?...
And the tooth...
Was it a good luck charm or just a bit of Monkey's Paw kind of bad luck?...
It was the belief that mattered. An anonymous bit of bone, with questionable provenance, is nothing without belief...
Stephen Gregory is one of my favorite authors, and if you're a fan of his THE CORMORANT, you'll probably like this story. The protagonist, Oliver Gooch, was not entirely likable (but I still rooted for him).
As Gooch sank to the depths with his drinking, I was reminded of that old movie, The Lost Weekend, and when he dragged his wife Rosie along with him, I was reminded of another old movie, The Days of Wine and Roses.
I would classify this book as a bit noir with hints of the supernatural. IMHO, it's well worth a read, and I highly recommend it!
December 12, 2014
Stephen Gregory is a genius! Let me tell you why.
First, here is the set up for this story:
"Oliver took the money from his small daughter Chloe's accident insurance and bought a converted church to live in with his altered child and wife. Rosie hopes Chloe will came back to herself but Oliver is secretly relieved to have this new easy-to-manage child, and holds at bay the guilt that the accident was a result of his negligence. On a freezing night he and Chloe come across the crow, a raggedy skeletal wretch of a bird, and it refuses to leave. It infiltrates their lives, it alters Oliver's relationship with Rosie, it changes Chloe. It's a dangerous presence in the firelit, shadowy old vestry, in Poe's Tooth Books.
Inexorably the family, the tooth, the crow, the church and their story will draw to a terrifying climax."
This tale is a lot more complicated than the synopsis makes it out to be. There is a sense of creeping, building dread that, at times, becomes intense. You know something is coming but you can't get a handle on what it will be.
There are several-I'll just call them "uncomfortable moments" sprinkled throughout this book. The reader ends up off balance, questioning, confused. Wait, is that normal? What's he doing? Is that a European thing? I would love to say more about this, but I can't without spoilers. Suffice it to say this book has a lot of WTF moments, and my opinion is that the author masterfully placed them there just to mess with us.( So yeah,genius ! )
This story also seems to be an homage to Edgar Allan Poe himself, so much so that...well I can't say. It all becomes mixed up: Poe, the tooth, the crow, heavy drinking and guilt. What's real? What's not? You're going to have to read it to find out.
I am now a full fledged Stephen Gregory fan. The Cormorant blew me away and this novel is right up there on that same level. Mr. Gregory produces beautifully written, literary, atmospheric stories that resonate with the reader. I will be thinking about Poe's Tooth Bookshop and that crow for a long, long time.
Highly recommended for not only fans of horror, but also for fans of literary fiction and psychological tales. This book is not easily categorized, but it's worth reading, if only to watch a genius at work.
I received this eARC from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review and this is it.
First, here is the set up for this story:
"Oliver took the money from his small daughter Chloe's accident insurance and bought a converted church to live in with his altered child and wife. Rosie hopes Chloe will came back to herself but Oliver is secretly relieved to have this new easy-to-manage child, and holds at bay the guilt that the accident was a result of his negligence. On a freezing night he and Chloe come across the crow, a raggedy skeletal wretch of a bird, and it refuses to leave. It infiltrates their lives, it alters Oliver's relationship with Rosie, it changes Chloe. It's a dangerous presence in the firelit, shadowy old vestry, in Poe's Tooth Books.
Inexorably the family, the tooth, the crow, the church and their story will draw to a terrifying climax."
This tale is a lot more complicated than the synopsis makes it out to be. There is a sense of creeping, building dread that, at times, becomes intense. You know something is coming but you can't get a handle on what it will be.
There are several-I'll just call them "uncomfortable moments" sprinkled throughout this book. The reader ends up off balance, questioning, confused. Wait, is that normal? What's he doing? Is that a European thing? I would love to say more about this, but I can't without spoilers. Suffice it to say this book has a lot of WTF moments, and my opinion is that the author masterfully placed them there just to mess with us.( So yeah,genius ! )
This story also seems to be an homage to Edgar Allan Poe himself, so much so that...well I can't say. It all becomes mixed up: Poe, the tooth, the crow, heavy drinking and guilt. What's real? What's not? You're going to have to read it to find out.
I am now a full fledged Stephen Gregory fan. The Cormorant blew me away and this novel is right up there on that same level. Mr. Gregory produces beautifully written, literary, atmospheric stories that resonate with the reader. I will be thinking about Poe's Tooth Bookshop and that crow for a long, long time.
Highly recommended for not only fans of horror, but also for fans of literary fiction and psychological tales. This book is not easily categorized, but it's worth reading, if only to watch a genius at work.
I received this eARC from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review and this is it.
October 22, 2016
Oliver Gooch is given a tooth from an old man and with the tooth comes a handwritten note from 1888 that says that the tooth is from the boy Edgar Allan Poe. Oliver displays the tooth in his new bookshop and names the bookshop Poe's Tooth Books. The bookshop is located in an old converted church where Oliver lives with his wife Rosie and daughter Cloe. Cloe hasn't been herself since she was hit by a car 9 month's earlier and it's thanks to the insurance money that they could buy the old church. Cloe hasn't said a word since the day she was hit by the car and Rosie hopes that she will snap out of it, but Oliver, who's neglect of Cloe feels guilty about the accident, likes the new Cloe who is so much easier to handle.
Then one cold night he and Cloe finds a crow, and the crow refuses to leave the old church and slowly its presence in the old church starts to affect the family...
How can you not be drawn into a book that starts with: “Cloe had her tongue stuck on Robin Hood's thigh”. I mean WTF? This book managed to draw me into the story from the first page. This was not a, oh perhaps I will get into the story after a while, and I was immensely grateful for that since the last two fiction books I read was pretty hard to get through.
Stephen Gregory writes fantastically great. You wonder, is the tooth cursed, or is everything that happens just coincidence? Is Oliver drinking too much (well yes) and hallucinating? What the hell is wrong with the crow? Is the tooth really Poe's and is it connected to the crow? Is the crow Poe? Will Cloe get better? What the hell is going on? Perhaps Oliver is going mad...
Towards the end the story lost a bit of speed, I really felt that this is Oliver drinking himself mad and everything is in his head, and I had no idea how the hell Gregory would be able to finish this off well. But he did it, he manages to write an ending that made me question everything I thought during Oliver's drunken nights.
It's a great book and I'm looking forward to reading more from Stephen Gregory!
Disclaimer: The quote I used from the book may not end up in the finished version of the book!
Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!
Then one cold night he and Cloe finds a crow, and the crow refuses to leave the old church and slowly its presence in the old church starts to affect the family...
How can you not be drawn into a book that starts with: “Cloe had her tongue stuck on Robin Hood's thigh”. I mean WTF? This book managed to draw me into the story from the first page. This was not a, oh perhaps I will get into the story after a while, and I was immensely grateful for that since the last two fiction books I read was pretty hard to get through.
Stephen Gregory writes fantastically great. You wonder, is the tooth cursed, or is everything that happens just coincidence? Is Oliver drinking too much (well yes) and hallucinating? What the hell is wrong with the crow? Is the tooth really Poe's and is it connected to the crow? Is the crow Poe? Will Cloe get better? What the hell is going on? Perhaps Oliver is going mad...
Towards the end the story lost a bit of speed, I really felt that this is Oliver drinking himself mad and everything is in his head, and I had no idea how the hell Gregory would be able to finish this off well. But he did it, he manages to write an ending that made me question everything I thought during Oliver's drunken nights.
It's a great book and I'm looking forward to reading more from Stephen Gregory!
Disclaimer: The quote I used from the book may not end up in the finished version of the book!
Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!
April 6, 2015
WAKENING THE CROW is the second book I've read by author Stephen Gregory, and once again I'm giving his outstanding writing and imagination a solid five stars. His words flow with such poise and precision that I was immediately drawn into the world of Oliver Gooch, and "Poe's Tooth Books".
Gregory uses a creeping sense of dread--so subtle--that you don't even realize how completely engrossed you are as you're being sucked into the storyline. As Oliver puts together the events in his life over the course of the last year, a seemingly simple thought crosses his mind; "Everything is connected." In reality, this statement is so much deeper with its implications. It puts into words all of the sorrow, horrors, misfortune, coincidences, and changes that have been occurring around him.
At the beginning of the tale, an elderly bookseller gifts to Oliver a tooth--rumored to be that of the boy Edgar Allan Poe. To Gooch, this tooth "...was an essential link in the chain of events which had brought us all to this place, at this time."
Oliver is not without ghosts of his own. His daughter Chloe had suffered a bump on the head that--while leaving her a smiling husk, devoid of her former overbearing personality--leads to the monetary means of pursuing his own dreams. In Oliver's own words, "...the guilt I felt when that shameful, recurring thought came cringing and fawning and wheedling into my brain, like a craven cur skulking in the shadows...that I liked Chloe more as a simpering angel than I had when she'd been herself."
His own attitude towards their daughter was constantly at odds with his wife, Rosie's. "I pondered the paradox that Rosie prayed every waking moment for Chloe to come back, and yet I was dreading her return."
The relentless, yet subtle build up leads to a dramatic conclusion that I never saw coming--I was so caught up in the storytelling.
I will be hunting down all of the works I can find by this author!
Highest recommendation!
Gregory uses a creeping sense of dread--so subtle--that you don't even realize how completely engrossed you are as you're being sucked into the storyline. As Oliver puts together the events in his life over the course of the last year, a seemingly simple thought crosses his mind; "Everything is connected." In reality, this statement is so much deeper with its implications. It puts into words all of the sorrow, horrors, misfortune, coincidences, and changes that have been occurring around him.
At the beginning of the tale, an elderly bookseller gifts to Oliver a tooth--rumored to be that of the boy Edgar Allan Poe. To Gooch, this tooth "...was an essential link in the chain of events which had brought us all to this place, at this time."
Oliver is not without ghosts of his own. His daughter Chloe had suffered a bump on the head that--while leaving her a smiling husk, devoid of her former overbearing personality--leads to the monetary means of pursuing his own dreams. In Oliver's own words, "...the guilt I felt when that shameful, recurring thought came cringing and fawning and wheedling into my brain, like a craven cur skulking in the shadows...that I liked Chloe more as a simpering angel than I had when she'd been herself."
His own attitude towards their daughter was constantly at odds with his wife, Rosie's. "I pondered the paradox that Rosie prayed every waking moment for Chloe to come back, and yet I was dreading her return."
The relentless, yet subtle build up leads to a dramatic conclusion that I never saw coming--I was so caught up in the storytelling.
I will be hunting down all of the works I can find by this author!
Highest recommendation!
November 6, 2014
This was an eARC from NetGalley.
A masterpiece of dark fiction that weaves psychological horror with hints of the supernatural in a tale of a flawed family, fractured by tragedy, only to have their lives and sanity shattered by the presence of a carrion crow.
Just a crow. Simply that, and nothing more.
Or is it? There lies the rub.
Gregory invokes the unquiet ghost of Poe, in the figure of a small boy whose shadow looms large, yet deftly manages to surpass the power of Edgar's darkest imaginings in this fine example of literary horror.
Highly recommended.
A masterpiece of dark fiction that weaves psychological horror with hints of the supernatural in a tale of a flawed family, fractured by tragedy, only to have their lives and sanity shattered by the presence of a carrion crow.
Just a crow. Simply that, and nothing more.
Or is it? There lies the rub.
Gregory invokes the unquiet ghost of Poe, in the figure of a small boy whose shadow looms large, yet deftly manages to surpass the power of Edgar's darkest imaginings in this fine example of literary horror.
Highly recommended.
March 13, 2015
4.5*
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Oliver Gooch is finding himself fulfilling some of his lifelong dreams, all due to compensation money given to him and his family after his daughter Chloe's accident. He opens up a book shop after buying a renovated church and is given a tooth claimed to be from Edgar Allan Poe when he was a boy. Oliver displays the tooth as the centre piece of the shop but is the gifted tooth a good luck charm or is it cursed. As Oliver gets ready to open up his shop he comes across a bedraggled looking crow that becomes a permanent fixture in his shop and home, it's presence soon begins to change the dynamics of the family causing their lives to slowly unravel.
I don't know where to start with this book, the sense of dread and impending doom was intense and there were so many moments in the book where I cringed at what might happen next. This read was so uncomfortable at times, the author managing to keep everything just off kilter enough to stop me feeling at ease with what I was reading.
There is so much beautiful imagery used that it made the disturbing scenes all the more effective, lulling me into a false sense of security before pulling the rug out from under me completely. I like to think it takes a lot to shock me as a reader and I was caught out on several occasions with the author setting up a beautiful scene only to do something so unexpected with it that it would stop me dead in my tracks, stunned at the outcome.
I'm only going to talk about one character, Oliver, I've never felt so conflicted with a character before. The author does an incredible job of setting him up as a believable, decent human being but then starts to pull at the threads of this, causing doubt, confusion and disbelief when he acts contrary to how he was first presented. I ended up hating him, his selfishness and acts as a father and husband were at times disgusting. A lot of my uncomfortable moments in this book came from his actions or thoughts. I'm not sure what to make of the ending, as everything is told through Oliver' s POV, I don't really trust that he's a reliable narrator.
An absolutely cracking read, it's a slow burn and it took me until about 1/3 in before it started picking up but this is well worth reading especially for those that love quiet, psychological horror.
Highly recommended.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Oliver Gooch is finding himself fulfilling some of his lifelong dreams, all due to compensation money given to him and his family after his daughter Chloe's accident. He opens up a book shop after buying a renovated church and is given a tooth claimed to be from Edgar Allan Poe when he was a boy. Oliver displays the tooth as the centre piece of the shop but is the gifted tooth a good luck charm or is it cursed. As Oliver gets ready to open up his shop he comes across a bedraggled looking crow that becomes a permanent fixture in his shop and home, it's presence soon begins to change the dynamics of the family causing their lives to slowly unravel.
I don't know where to start with this book, the sense of dread and impending doom was intense and there were so many moments in the book where I cringed at what might happen next. This read was so uncomfortable at times, the author managing to keep everything just off kilter enough to stop me feeling at ease with what I was reading.
There is so much beautiful imagery used that it made the disturbing scenes all the more effective, lulling me into a false sense of security before pulling the rug out from under me completely. I like to think it takes a lot to shock me as a reader and I was caught out on several occasions with the author setting up a beautiful scene only to do something so unexpected with it that it would stop me dead in my tracks, stunned at the outcome.
I'm only going to talk about one character, Oliver, I've never felt so conflicted with a character before. The author does an incredible job of setting him up as a believable, decent human being but then starts to pull at the threads of this, causing doubt, confusion and disbelief when he acts contrary to how he was first presented. I ended up hating him, his selfishness and acts as a father and husband were at times disgusting. A lot of my uncomfortable moments in this book came from his actions or thoughts. I'm not sure what to make of the ending, as everything is told through Oliver' s POV, I don't really trust that he's a reliable narrator.
An absolutely cracking read, it's a slow burn and it took me until about 1/3 in before it started picking up but this is well worth reading especially for those that love quiet, psychological horror.
Highly recommended.
October 7, 2014
Stephen Gregory’s Wakening the Crow invokes not only the spirit of Edgar Allen Poe but also some of the psychological and supernatural aspects of the master’s writings that has had readers mesmerized since the 19th century . In Gregory’s haunting and puzzling novel, Oliver Gooch is a marginally working librarian until his 7 year old daughter Chloe is in a car accident. She suffers brain damage and Oliver is only slightly uncomfortable that he prefers this version of Chloe, mute and pliable, to pre-accident Chloe who he describes as “a horrid child” and “rude, petulant, and defiantly uncooperative.” He is also minimally guilty that the large settlement allows him to open up his own book store which he names “Poe’s Tooth” due to a gift he is given by an elderly bookseller. The reason the gift is given to Oliver is unknown but the bookseller has a connection to the Gooch family that Oliver is yet aware of. The gift comes with a letter stating it to be Edgar Allen Poe’s actual tooth that was pulled from his mouth when Poe was a small boy.
Anyone faintly familiar with the supernatural psychological novel knows that this is not going to go well. Along with the spectra of the tooth, Oliver, Chloe, and his wife Rosie are also visited by a ragged and somewhat sinister looking crow who is reluctant to leave the confines of the bookstore, formerly used as a church. The crow seems to have a strange connection with the mute child. The reader as well as our narrator wonders if the tooth may be some kind of curse and, in many ways, this novel is just as much a homage to W. W. Jacob and his classic short work, “The Monkey’s Paw” as it is to Poe. Yet Gregory is not just writing a homage to the old horror writers and their talent at creating a work of atmospheric terror. He is also creating his own tapestry of a dysfunctional family caught in an inexplicable horror and he does it with the minimum of gore and the maximum of dread and angst. Oliver is not very likable. His relationship with his daughter is creepy at best. And at worst? That is a question the author leaves out there. Rosie seems to be the grounding for the family yet we suspect that grounding is tenuous. Chloe is the question mark. In her post-accident cherubness, she seems to be a tabula rasa for the interpretation that Oliver places on the events. Eventually the entire family become unhinged by the presence of the crow or is it just the secrets, guilt and consequences of the behaviors of this family catching up to them due to the catalyst of supernatural forces?
Gregory doesn’t let you know too much too soon. His hoarding of details and doling out of information only until you need it is quite masterful. It is also why some may feel this book moves a little too slowly. Yet the slow psychological reveal is fast becoming a lost art in storytelling especially in the horror genre. This is why I recommend Wakening the Crow so highly. It is a nice example of introspective storytelling yet when it is necessary, and especially at the end, Gregory can scare the pants off you. The average reader may also feel uncomfortable with the relationships in the Gooch family yet this adds to the eeriness and developing horror of the tale. Overall, Wakening the Crow is an above average work of horror that will stay with you quite a while after you read the last page.
Anyone faintly familiar with the supernatural psychological novel knows that this is not going to go well. Along with the spectra of the tooth, Oliver, Chloe, and his wife Rosie are also visited by a ragged and somewhat sinister looking crow who is reluctant to leave the confines of the bookstore, formerly used as a church. The crow seems to have a strange connection with the mute child. The reader as well as our narrator wonders if the tooth may be some kind of curse and, in many ways, this novel is just as much a homage to W. W. Jacob and his classic short work, “The Monkey’s Paw” as it is to Poe. Yet Gregory is not just writing a homage to the old horror writers and their talent at creating a work of atmospheric terror. He is also creating his own tapestry of a dysfunctional family caught in an inexplicable horror and he does it with the minimum of gore and the maximum of dread and angst. Oliver is not very likable. His relationship with his daughter is creepy at best. And at worst? That is a question the author leaves out there. Rosie seems to be the grounding for the family yet we suspect that grounding is tenuous. Chloe is the question mark. In her post-accident cherubness, she seems to be a tabula rasa for the interpretation that Oliver places on the events. Eventually the entire family become unhinged by the presence of the crow or is it just the secrets, guilt and consequences of the behaviors of this family catching up to them due to the catalyst of supernatural forces?
Gregory doesn’t let you know too much too soon. His hoarding of details and doling out of information only until you need it is quite masterful. It is also why some may feel this book moves a little too slowly. Yet the slow psychological reveal is fast becoming a lost art in storytelling especially in the horror genre. This is why I recommend Wakening the Crow so highly. It is a nice example of introspective storytelling yet when it is necessary, and especially at the end, Gregory can scare the pants off you. The average reader may also feel uncomfortable with the relationships in the Gooch family yet this adds to the eeriness and developing horror of the tale. Overall, Wakening the Crow is an above average work of horror that will stay with you quite a while after you read the last page.
January 29, 2015
I wasn't expecting such an absorbing, well written story! Wakening the Crow is just more proof that British writers can really spin a spooky, ghostly yarn with a kind of slow, dreadful build up that's missing in a lot of American horror (although I can and do appreciate both kind). It's also proof that I can like a book even though I DON'T like the characters.
Oliver is not likable at all. He's the kind of self-centered, non-empathetic tool I despise. This man is actually satisfied at the result of his daughter Chloe being smacked in the back of the skull in an accident that turns her into a complacent simpleton who lives in her own head. However, after some examples become known of what a foul-mouthed brat she was pre-accident, I can't say that I blame him. I never did really understand how Oliver and Rosie bred such a hateful child. Maybe she's just a bad seed?
The book is filled with little chills that I find so satisfying, such as the time when Chloe includes among some keyboard gibberish a sentence that lets Oliver know his real daughter is still in there and won't forget everything he's said and done since the accident. The grudge that the crow seems to have for Rosie is unsettling, and Oliver's refusal to get rid of it leads to a nasty disfiguring face wound for his beloved wife. But the crow is a prop of his Poe's Tooth Bookstore, so fuck her.
A sense of sadness and misfortune blankets the lives of Oliver, Rosie, and Chloe in this small English village and makes this a tale that I won't soon forget. The doomed atmosphere puts me in the mind of the excellent book The Godsend. I look forward to reading Stephen Gregory's other books.
Oliver is not likable at all. He's the kind of self-centered, non-empathetic tool I despise. This man is actually satisfied at the result of his daughter Chloe being smacked in the back of the skull in an accident that turns her into a complacent simpleton who lives in her own head. However, after some examples become known of what a foul-mouthed brat she was pre-accident, I can't say that I blame him. I never did really understand how Oliver and Rosie bred such a hateful child. Maybe she's just a bad seed?
The book is filled with little chills that I find so satisfying, such as the time when Chloe includes among some keyboard gibberish a sentence that lets Oliver know his real daughter is still in there and won't forget everything he's said and done since the accident. The grudge that the crow seems to have for Rosie is unsettling, and Oliver's refusal to get rid of it leads to a nasty disfiguring face wound for his beloved wife. But the crow is a prop of his Poe's Tooth Bookstore, so fuck her.
A sense of sadness and misfortune blankets the lives of Oliver, Rosie, and Chloe in this small English village and makes this a tale that I won't soon forget. The doomed atmosphere puts me in the mind of the excellent book The Godsend. I look forward to reading Stephen Gregory's other books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 7, 2014
Wakening The Crow is one of the most beautiful, thoughtful, and unsettling novels that I have ever read. A slight deviation from my normal penchant for horror, it did not leave me wanting. Stephen Gregory writes as if he created language; his words are poetry without pretense
The story revolves around a brain-damaged 7-year-old, her guilt-wracked father, a carrion crow, and a tooth. It is the story of how a few lost moments can set into motion a dream (nightmare?)-like chain reaction of coincidences. Is it the curse of Poe or simply the result of a a feckless alcoholic who is losing touch with reality?
This is a novel that deserves a fire place, a cup of tea, and preferably some rain pelleting off the roof. Stephen Gregory speaks to the demons within and the melancholy that lies within every human soul.
This book was provided to me as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
The story revolves around a brain-damaged 7-year-old, her guilt-wracked father, a carrion crow, and a tooth. It is the story of how a few lost moments can set into motion a dream (nightmare?)-like chain reaction of coincidences. Is it the curse of Poe or simply the result of a a feckless alcoholic who is losing touch with reality?
This is a novel that deserves a fire place, a cup of tea, and preferably some rain pelleting off the roof. Stephen Gregory speaks to the demons within and the melancholy that lies within every human soul.
This book was provided to me as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
November 17, 2014
After reading Stephen Gregory's excellent novel, The Cormorant, I was happy to see him coming out with Wakening the Crow. After reading only a few pages, I was thrilled to see Gregory using the same beautiful prose that I fell in love with before!
Aside from the wonderful prose, the plot has several things going on, ranging from a little girl left with head trauma from a car accident, a piece of physical history from Edgar Allan Poe in the form of a tooth and a Carrion Crow.
Normally not something to give a second thought to, the Crow in here gives off a creepy feeling throughout the entire story. Combined with the rest of the story, Gregory turned out an excellent psychological horror tale that is sure to stick in your mind for some time. Highly recommended!
Aside from the wonderful prose, the plot has several things going on, ranging from a little girl left with head trauma from a car accident, a piece of physical history from Edgar Allan Poe in the form of a tooth and a Carrion Crow.
Normally not something to give a second thought to, the Crow in here gives off a creepy feeling throughout the entire story. Combined with the rest of the story, Gregory turned out an excellent psychological horror tale that is sure to stick in your mind for some time. Highly recommended!
August 29, 2014
From the beginning, the way Oliver Gooch describes his own daughter Chloe leaves a bitter aftertaste in the reader's mouth. We know straight away that Oliver is creepy, and that is the story's bite in my mind.
Chole has had a terrible accident while in her Daddy's care, that has changed her into a shadow of her former self, and loathe as he is to admit this, Oliver prefers this new, sweet angel to the challenging brat she was before. On one hand he feels guilt, that he was the cause of it all, of course most readers aren't buying it, there is just something smarmy about him. The accident is the key to his dream, for now he has the money to make his dream bookstore a reality.
Oliver finds a treasure within a velvet box, a tooth that the seller claims is from the mouth of one young Edgar Allan Poe. This is just what he has been looking for, something to inspire him to open his bookshop.
Soon, with his malleable sweet Chole at his side, the two find a scrappy bird that haunts them, wreaking havoc in their lives. Wife Rosie isn't spared either, and the marriage that already stinks of blame and mistrust over the Chole incident unravels. The bird effects his daughter in eerie ways, and all the while as Oliver wants his daughter to 'keep her secrets and truths buried in her damaged mind' some stalking terror is sure to reveal all.
The creep factor in this novel isn't the horror in my mind, it's the taint of Oliver. It's an uncomfortable feeling the reader carries along the dark tale. I really enjoyed this more than I imagined I would. Yes read it!
Chole has had a terrible accident while in her Daddy's care, that has changed her into a shadow of her former self, and loathe as he is to admit this, Oliver prefers this new, sweet angel to the challenging brat she was before. On one hand he feels guilt, that he was the cause of it all, of course most readers aren't buying it, there is just something smarmy about him. The accident is the key to his dream, for now he has the money to make his dream bookstore a reality.
Oliver finds a treasure within a velvet box, a tooth that the seller claims is from the mouth of one young Edgar Allan Poe. This is just what he has been looking for, something to inspire him to open his bookshop.
Soon, with his malleable sweet Chole at his side, the two find a scrappy bird that haunts them, wreaking havoc in their lives. Wife Rosie isn't spared either, and the marriage that already stinks of blame and mistrust over the Chole incident unravels. The bird effects his daughter in eerie ways, and all the while as Oliver wants his daughter to 'keep her secrets and truths buried in her damaged mind' some stalking terror is sure to reveal all.
The creep factor in this novel isn't the horror in my mind, it's the taint of Oliver. It's an uncomfortable feeling the reader carries along the dark tale. I really enjoyed this more than I imagined I would. Yes read it!
November 14, 2014
Review: WAKENING THE CROW
I loved this book. The setting, the plotting, the horror so subtle it only creeps, not pounces, the lyricism such that I.often slowed to savour...lovely, all! I think of Susan Hill 's Simon Serraileur, who resides in a cathedral close--this family, since the settlement from the accident, live in a renovated church tower and vestry. It's all lovely, it is....until we get to the protagonists.
No joy here. The first-person narrative is delivered by one Oliver Gooch, a character I've tried very diligently to like, or even admire--but no, that's not happening. By rights I should: reader, incipient bookseller, newly writer, devoted father and husband. oh, stop right there.. Devoted he is not. His daughter is a profane, spoiled piece of nonsense, so he allows her to be concussed during a hit-and-run. His wife is.infected by a very strange crow. So Oliver turns guilt to.joy, and happily enjoys the freedom of the senses. I.just want the crow to carry Oliver somewhere far, far away. Meanwhile, the prose is special, and the wide cast of secondary characters are sheer delight. 12 stars for WAKENING THE CROW, and I'm anticipating further reading of author Stephen Gregory.
I reviewed a digital ARC generously provided by the publisher via NetGalley for the sole purpose of my fair and honest review. No fees were exchanged.
I loved this book. The setting, the plotting, the horror so subtle it only creeps, not pounces, the lyricism such that I.often slowed to savour...lovely, all! I think of Susan Hill 's Simon Serraileur, who resides in a cathedral close--this family, since the settlement from the accident, live in a renovated church tower and vestry. It's all lovely, it is....until we get to the protagonists.
No joy here. The first-person narrative is delivered by one Oliver Gooch, a character I've tried very diligently to like, or even admire--but no, that's not happening. By rights I should: reader, incipient bookseller, newly writer, devoted father and husband. oh, stop right there.. Devoted he is not. His daughter is a profane, spoiled piece of nonsense, so he allows her to be concussed during a hit-and-run. His wife is.infected by a very strange crow. So Oliver turns guilt to.joy, and happily enjoys the freedom of the senses. I.just want the crow to carry Oliver somewhere far, far away. Meanwhile, the prose is special, and the wide cast of secondary characters are sheer delight. 12 stars for WAKENING THE CROW, and I'm anticipating further reading of author Stephen Gregory.
I reviewed a digital ARC generously provided by the publisher via NetGalley for the sole purpose of my fair and honest review. No fees were exchanged.
August 30, 2014
An interesting premise with some good thematic elements. That's the main reason this earns three stars from me. At times, it was a good old fashion horror story along the Poe/Lovecraft lines. At other times, it slipped into something bordering on pedophilia. This was a hard book for me to finish. I'll focus on the positives as I've already mentioned all I care to about the negatives.
This story has the perfect setting, and excellent plot lines that swirl together to create an old time creepy tale. One that doesn't need blood and gore to frighten. If it would have stayed true to those elements, this would be a very fine suspense story. Other parts just made it very uncomfortable to read and completely detached me from the story. In a tale of this ilk, the reader needs to be in the head of the main character. It's just not possible with the actions that are taken at times.
This story has the perfect setting, and excellent plot lines that swirl together to create an old time creepy tale. One that doesn't need blood and gore to frighten. If it would have stayed true to those elements, this would be a very fine suspense story. Other parts just made it very uncomfortable to read and completely detached me from the story. In a tale of this ilk, the reader needs to be in the head of the main character. It's just not possible with the actions that are taken at times.
March 8, 2017
A very well-written and atmospheric tale, but one that loses points for me because it does drag, feels a little repetitive and it's a hard slog to spend the entire book with a main character who isn't particularly likeable or interesting. 3.5 stars.
November 15, 2014
Does it steer close to the kind of macabre horror Poe is known for? Well, it starts off with good intentions but flounders towards the end. Gregory seems to be trying to lead with two story-lines at once.
First the creepy Poe cursed tooth one, and then the family dynamic of the main character and his guilt. Pick one and go with it. You want to mess the borders between good, bad, evil and downright creepy as hell? Then do so with abandon and a little less of the dilly dallying.
There were some other issues that distracted from the Poe-esqueness of it all. Yes, I totally made that word up. The first being the strange meanderings of paedophilia both in thoughts and accusations. Sentences like ‘a cherub with baby tits’ leave an uncomfortable after-taste.
What was the point? Unless the guilt inside him has come from that core issue or the evil he is experiencing is his own lack of acceptance, hence the disgust at his hidden desires. Then perhaps it would have made more sense, as it is it just seemed to be a touch one too many times in the wrong direction. Pardon the pun.
The second issue was the constant need for the main character to be utterly and completely naked in the majority of scenes. Who wanders round in sooty, dusty attics and book-stores with their crown jewels dangling in the wind? Who thinks it is appropriate to be completely naked with their also completely naked young daughter in the middle of the night?
Again, if the idea was to have the main character fight an internal yet subconscious battle with the idea of his own paedophilia it makes sense. The desire to be unclothed indicating his inappropriate desire for her, for instance. If not then all that nakedness makes no sense and is merely gratuitous.
Gregory appears to have an aptitude for Gothic horror and a love of Poe, however the plot needs to tighter, as does the clarity of the plot.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley.
First the creepy Poe cursed tooth one, and then the family dynamic of the main character and his guilt. Pick one and go with it. You want to mess the borders between good, bad, evil and downright creepy as hell? Then do so with abandon and a little less of the dilly dallying.
There were some other issues that distracted from the Poe-esqueness of it all. Yes, I totally made that word up. The first being the strange meanderings of paedophilia both in thoughts and accusations. Sentences like ‘a cherub with baby tits’ leave an uncomfortable after-taste.
What was the point? Unless the guilt inside him has come from that core issue or the evil he is experiencing is his own lack of acceptance, hence the disgust at his hidden desires. Then perhaps it would have made more sense, as it is it just seemed to be a touch one too many times in the wrong direction. Pardon the pun.
The second issue was the constant need for the main character to be utterly and completely naked in the majority of scenes. Who wanders round in sooty, dusty attics and book-stores with their crown jewels dangling in the wind? Who thinks it is appropriate to be completely naked with their also completely naked young daughter in the middle of the night?
Again, if the idea was to have the main character fight an internal yet subconscious battle with the idea of his own paedophilia it makes sense. The desire to be unclothed indicating his inappropriate desire for her, for instance. If not then all that nakedness makes no sense and is merely gratuitous.
Gregory appears to have an aptitude for Gothic horror and a love of Poe, however the plot needs to tighter, as does the clarity of the plot.
I received a copy of this book via NetGalley.
February 11, 2015
While you may find many people lauding the author and this book, I am not one of them. There is no connection with the narrator nor at any time do I feel semblance of empathy for him. This story truly seems like he second book in the author's book deal. No true point to the story. The book just meanders through to the end. If you like descriptions of glorious miraculous cold mornings, this is the book for you. Otherwise, read a collection by Poe as opposed to a poorly executed story about (possibly) his tooth
November 7, 2014
ARC from NetGalley
This was a very strange book. It had so much potential for creep and scare, but it just never delivered. It started out wanting to be Poe, and finished up wanting to be The Shining, but it fell far short of either goal. It seemed to read like a first draft; and with some editing and rewrites, it could be a good creepy little novel. I enjoyed the brief look at Nottingham we got through the main character's eyes.
This was a very strange book. It had so much potential for creep and scare, but it just never delivered. It started out wanting to be Poe, and finished up wanting to be The Shining, but it fell far short of either goal. It seemed to read like a first draft; and with some editing and rewrites, it could be a good creepy little novel. I enjoyed the brief look at Nottingham we got through the main character's eyes.
May 22, 2016
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Everything about this synopsis intrigued me; the bizarreness of basing a story - and indeed a horror bookshop - on the discovery of Poe's tooth, the idea that a manky crow can have an impact on the character's relationships, and the gothic setting. Sounds good right?
Well, I'm pleased to say that it was...for the most part.
Oliver Gooch is a very strange protagonist and narrator. From the start it's evident that he's not altogether what you would call a loving father and husband, or even a good, decent person. Honest maybe, but loving, no.
He frequently refers to his daughter as fat, disgusting and petulant, and his wife as not much better, but all of this adds to a growing unease.
Previously a mobile library driver, Oliver is now about to open his own horror bookshop in the church they have recently bought to also live in. The money came out of a tragic accident when Chloe got stung by a wasp in the mobile library, ran out into the road and suffered a head injury which changed her completely.
Now mute and compliant, with a constant sweet smile upon her face, Chloe is a different daughter entirely, and Oliver is relieved. So much so that he fears the day that she might actually recover.
Stephen Gregory does a great job of creating suspense here. The more we are led through this story by Oliver, the more disturbing it gets. He sees himself as becoming the Poe-like character he dreams of; he stops washing; he drinks constantly, and tries to 'write'. He seems to think that the more dishevelled he becomes, and the more grim the bookshop appears, the better. But all of this is at the expense of his family.
The only problem I had with this book was that I couldn't understand Oliver as a character. I almost felt sorry for him at times, but it's hard to empathise with someone who laughed at their daughter when she got stung by a wasp, resulting in her being brain damaged. I always felt like there was a good person trying to get out of him, but it never came.
I also expected more of a climax to the story, but overall this was a great read for a dark and stormy night, filled with gothic imagery and a overriding sense of unease.
Wakening the Crow is available from November 11th, or to pre-order now at Waterstones
Everything about this synopsis intrigued me; the bizarreness of basing a story - and indeed a horror bookshop - on the discovery of Poe's tooth, the idea that a manky crow can have an impact on the character's relationships, and the gothic setting. Sounds good right?
Well, I'm pleased to say that it was...for the most part.
Oliver Gooch is a very strange protagonist and narrator. From the start it's evident that he's not altogether what you would call a loving father and husband, or even a good, decent person. Honest maybe, but loving, no.
He frequently refers to his daughter as fat, disgusting and petulant, and his wife as not much better, but all of this adds to a growing unease.
Previously a mobile library driver, Oliver is now about to open his own horror bookshop in the church they have recently bought to also live in. The money came out of a tragic accident when Chloe got stung by a wasp in the mobile library, ran out into the road and suffered a head injury which changed her completely.
Now mute and compliant, with a constant sweet smile upon her face, Chloe is a different daughter entirely, and Oliver is relieved. So much so that he fears the day that she might actually recover.
Stephen Gregory does a great job of creating suspense here. The more we are led through this story by Oliver, the more disturbing it gets. He sees himself as becoming the Poe-like character he dreams of; he stops washing; he drinks constantly, and tries to 'write'. He seems to think that the more dishevelled he becomes, and the more grim the bookshop appears, the better. But all of this is at the expense of his family.
The only problem I had with this book was that I couldn't understand Oliver as a character. I almost felt sorry for him at times, but it's hard to empathise with someone who laughed at their daughter when she got stung by a wasp, resulting in her being brain damaged. I always felt like there was a good person trying to get out of him, but it never came.
I also expected more of a climax to the story, but overall this was a great read for a dark and stormy night, filled with gothic imagery and a overriding sense of unease.
Wakening the Crow is available from November 11th, or to pre-order now at Waterstones
January 11, 2015
Many thanks to Solaris Books for the ARC via NetGalley.
The premise and the setting of this novel are ideal and bursting with potential. The writing, while occasionally bordering on the pretentious (for indeed such is our narrator) shows a keen sense of space and atmosphere, with descriptions that assail the senses and transport the reader directly in the midst of the action by sheer visceral force.
There are many nods and parallels to Poe - a real field day for fans - but in my humble opinion the author made a rather forced effort to point them out. A good direction the book could have taken for better effect would have been a series of subtle references to one or more of Poe's tales, deliberately expecting and assuming the reader's prior knowledge. This would not only increase the sense of impending doom, but also make the book more complex and layered and strengthen the unreliability of the narrator.
A deeply unsettling read on many levels - the mounting tension is admirably paced, and produces an unassailable dread combined with the constant feeling that something is "off" with Oliver.
There are several scenes that could benefit from a rewrite to ensure maximum terror and minimum confusion. While letting the reader wonder if what they witnessed was real or just a dream, a hallucination, an illusion is a good strategy in works of this nature, it is not meant to be overused and actually clarifying certain points and tying up some loose ends could do no harm. (Example: )
By all means, however, a rewarding read, as it certainly delivers thrills and chills one way or another.
The premise and the setting of this novel are ideal and bursting with potential. The writing, while occasionally bordering on the pretentious (for indeed such is our narrator) shows a keen sense of space and atmosphere, with descriptions that assail the senses and transport the reader directly in the midst of the action by sheer visceral force.
There are many nods and parallels to Poe - a real field day for fans - but in my humble opinion the author made a rather forced effort to point them out. A good direction the book could have taken for better effect would have been a series of subtle references to one or more of Poe's tales, deliberately expecting and assuming the reader's prior knowledge. This would not only increase the sense of impending doom, but also make the book more complex and layered and strengthen the unreliability of the narrator.
A deeply unsettling read on many levels - the mounting tension is admirably paced, and produces an unassailable dread combined with the constant feeling that something is "off" with Oliver.
There are several scenes that could benefit from a rewrite to ensure maximum terror and minimum confusion. While letting the reader wonder if what they witnessed was real or just a dream, a hallucination, an illusion is a good strategy in works of this nature, it is not meant to be overused and actually clarifying certain points and tying up some loose ends could do no harm. (Example: )
By all means, however, a rewarding read, as it certainly delivers thrills and chills one way or another.
September 15, 2014
This was one strange book. It has a very Gothic feel to it, which is always a positive for me, but it somehow felt hollow. Like there wasn’t much of a story there.
I think the main issue that I had with the novel was that all the characters were so unlikable. I don’t mind unlikeable characters if they’re interesting ones, but I didn’t feel connected to these in the least. I wanted the protagonist to turn into an anti-hero of some sort, but it just never got there.
The writing was good, at least. The author has some beautiful turn of phrases that really catch the reader’s attention. There were some hard moments for me to read because they describe in graphic detail an animal being hurt and that’s something I had to skip. But kudos to the author, I suppose, for making the images so visceral that I couldn’t read them.
If you like Gothic fiction and don’t mind a novel full of unlikeable characters, then you might like this one.
I think the main issue that I had with the novel was that all the characters were so unlikable. I don’t mind unlikeable characters if they’re interesting ones, but I didn’t feel connected to these in the least. I wanted the protagonist to turn into an anti-hero of some sort, but it just never got there.
The writing was good, at least. The author has some beautiful turn of phrases that really catch the reader’s attention. There were some hard moments for me to read because they describe in graphic detail an animal being hurt and that’s something I had to skip. But kudos to the author, I suppose, for making the images so visceral that I couldn’t read them.
If you like Gothic fiction and don’t mind a novel full of unlikeable characters, then you might like this one.
September 17, 2014
Thank you to NetGalley and Rebellion/Solaris for a free advance download of Wakening the Crow by Stephen Gregory.
I really liked this one at the beginning. A creepy bookstore, a tragic accident, a brain-damaged little girl, Edgar Allan Poe's baby tooth, and a crow all seem to add up to a perfectly weird and satisfying story. But in the end our hero is a lazy drunk that runs around his house naked. The ending left me unsatisfied. Mr. Gregory writes such a strange final chapter that the reader is left going, "Huh? What happened?" I tried to like this one, but it fell short of the mark for me.
I really liked this one at the beginning. A creepy bookstore, a tragic accident, a brain-damaged little girl, Edgar Allan Poe's baby tooth, and a crow all seem to add up to a perfectly weird and satisfying story. But in the end our hero is a lazy drunk that runs around his house naked. The ending left me unsatisfied. Mr. Gregory writes such a strange final chapter that the reader is left going, "Huh? What happened?" I tried to like this one, but it fell short of the mark for me.
October 28, 2015
Picked this up on a whim, really glad I did. I could say I really enjoyed it, but 'enjoyed' is nowhere near the correct word. It follows the tale of Oliver, a middle-aged man who is given a tooth said to come from the mouth of none other than Edgar Allan Poe. It soon becomes apparent that things aren't quite 'right' with Oliver. Written in the first person it focuses on Oliver's guilt and regret and combined with a few other themes that most people would flinch away from, it makes for a disturbing read which left me with a feeling of unease, which is kind of the point. Recommended for Gothic horror fans.
October 17, 2015
I have not long started this book and it is as good if not better than I expected. I really love Stephen Gregory's books. his writing is intelligent and engaging, the language precise and evocative.
I sadly came to the end today and I have to say I was gripped by the darkness of the novel. I felt a deep sympathy for Oliver, the main character, but I did not feel the same about his wife, Rosie, or their daughter Chloe, until the end of the book. The scenes with the crow and the mouse were sometimes eerie and at other times comical, making me feel guilty for chuckling sometimes.
I will be reading more of Stephen Gregory's books.
I sadly came to the end today and I have to say I was gripped by the darkness of the novel. I felt a deep sympathy for Oliver, the main character, but I did not feel the same about his wife, Rosie, or their daughter Chloe, until the end of the book. The scenes with the crow and the mouse were sometimes eerie and at other times comical, making me feel guilty for chuckling sometimes.
I will be reading more of Stephen Gregory's books.
June 13, 2015
I was about giving it 4 stars, but the end just didn't do it for me.
Gregory is a skilled writer who builds up tension and crafts some terrific scences that make you wonder what the final conclusion would be.
As a reader you soon get an idea what the main character might be haunted by.
Problem with the book is, Gregory doesn't appear having the guts to bring the story to its horrible, disturbing end.
A good novel nevertheless, which could have been so much better if a skilled editor polished the writers visible talent.
Gregory is a skilled writer who builds up tension and crafts some terrific scences that make you wonder what the final conclusion would be.
As a reader you soon get an idea what the main character might be haunted by.
Problem with the book is, Gregory doesn't appear having the guts to bring the story to its horrible, disturbing end.
A good novel nevertheless, which could have been so much better if a skilled editor polished the writers visible talent.
March 13, 2015
This was a weird one for me. I absolutely loved the concept behind the story and it had a few legitimately uncomfortable moments. However, I never really felt I was reading a horror novel. Rather, It seemed more like Psycho-drama. "Thriller" is not a term I would use to describe it. Overall though the writing was solid, the story was well thought out and executed and the ending left me satisfied.
Definitely worth a read, just not if you are going for horror.
Definitely worth a read, just not if you are going for horror.
January 22, 2015
Book description sounded good but it didn't work for me.
March 8, 2017
This author tried hard to take away my intense love of crows. Good job, good job......
April 30, 2020
When Oliver and Rosie’s daughter is injured in a hit and run accident, she suffers brain damage and her personality is altered. Upon being granted a payout for the accident, Oliver decides to use the money to set up a bookshop, something he’s longed to do for many years. They purchase an old church in which to live, with the bookshop forming the lower level of the building. One day they come across a scabby-looking crow, who refuses to leave.
This is quite a difficult novel to read, not because the prose is poor – it certainly isn’t, quite the opposite – but because of the writing style. It begins simply enough, but as the story develops, so does the gradual spiral into madness and the inexorable mental descent of Oliver and his relationship to Rosie and Chloe. The descriptive passages are wonderful, creating a beautifully icy depiction of Nottingham. There’s a dreamlike quality to the prose, which mirrors the story and Oliver’s sense of dislocation and detachment. Gregory is superb at teasing out the sinister aspect of birds – this theme features in many of his books – and it’s brilliantly entangled into the story. The shadow of Edgar Allan Poe is also present in much of his writing, and here it acts as a perfect counterbalance to Oliver’s guilt. I would say it’s a novel that’s definitely not formulaic, despite the Poe influence, and one that works well against the backdrop of contemporary Britain.
But beneath all of the gothic madness and macabre detail, the novel hints at something even darker. This aspect only really reveals itself after the book is finished, once you’ve closed the pages and let the story settle on your mind. There are a couple of moments that hint at something horrific lurking in the darkest recesses of Oliver’s subconscious, something that’s subtle and delicately handled, and yet might be too strong for some readers.
I thought this was a great novel. Even if you know little about Edgar Allan Poe, you’ll still enjoy this, but if you’re a fan you’ll delight at the little references. Recommended.
This is quite a difficult novel to read, not because the prose is poor – it certainly isn’t, quite the opposite – but because of the writing style. It begins simply enough, but as the story develops, so does the gradual spiral into madness and the inexorable mental descent of Oliver and his relationship to Rosie and Chloe. The descriptive passages are wonderful, creating a beautifully icy depiction of Nottingham. There’s a dreamlike quality to the prose, which mirrors the story and Oliver’s sense of dislocation and detachment. Gregory is superb at teasing out the sinister aspect of birds – this theme features in many of his books – and it’s brilliantly entangled into the story. The shadow of Edgar Allan Poe is also present in much of his writing, and here it acts as a perfect counterbalance to Oliver’s guilt. I would say it’s a novel that’s definitely not formulaic, despite the Poe influence, and one that works well against the backdrop of contemporary Britain.
But beneath all of the gothic madness and macabre detail, the novel hints at something even darker. This aspect only really reveals itself after the book is finished, once you’ve closed the pages and let the story settle on your mind. There are a couple of moments that hint at something horrific lurking in the darkest recesses of Oliver’s subconscious, something that’s subtle and delicately handled, and yet might be too strong for some readers.
I thought this was a great novel. Even if you know little about Edgar Allan Poe, you’ll still enjoy this, but if you’re a fan you’ll delight at the little references. Recommended.
December 22, 2022
I am really torn about this book as it was a very unsettling horror set in the English Midlands the device of a possessed object (Edgar Allen Poe's baby tooth lost when he was at school in England) and the ominous Crow to great effect as we see the impact upon a family and particularly the gradual descent into madness and obsession by a young father.
The book opens with a prologue in which an antiquarian bookseller gifts Olive Gooch the tooth. The next chapter steps back to an event where Oliver , caring for his troubled daughter Chloe, sees the 7 year old injured in a car accident. Chloe suffers an injury which changes the challenging child to a mute lamb. With compensation Oliver and his wife buy a home in an old church and Oliver sets up a bookshop called Poe's tooth bookshop, but when a mysterious carrion Crow adopts the family the horror ramps up.
I was definitely gripped by the book and the portrayal of a character haunted by something or someone who descends into paranoia, and self neglect is very well done. It definitely had me looking over my shoulder.
My only qualification is that I found the portrayal of Oliver's wife Rosie uncomfortable and somewhat troubling. The narrator, Oliver, seems obsessed with Rosie as big, voluptuous etc and his treatment of her is uncomfortable including deliberately feeding her alcohol, I almost put the book aside as a consequence and felt the characterisation of the female character a negative. This is amplified by Oliver being such an unlikeabke person who is sponging off his wife .
Similarly Chloe and her father's relationship is uncomfortable and again I did not like some of the scenes between them particularly given a later reveal and the amount of time Oliver wanders around naked.
As I say a contradictory book. Definitely a creepy story.
The book opens with a prologue in which an antiquarian bookseller gifts Olive Gooch the tooth. The next chapter steps back to an event where Oliver , caring for his troubled daughter Chloe, sees the 7 year old injured in a car accident. Chloe suffers an injury which changes the challenging child to a mute lamb. With compensation Oliver and his wife buy a home in an old church and Oliver sets up a bookshop called Poe's tooth bookshop, but when a mysterious carrion Crow adopts the family the horror ramps up.
I was definitely gripped by the book and the portrayal of a character haunted by something or someone who descends into paranoia, and self neglect is very well done. It definitely had me looking over my shoulder.
My only qualification is that I found the portrayal of Oliver's wife Rosie uncomfortable and somewhat troubling. The narrator, Oliver, seems obsessed with Rosie as big, voluptuous etc and his treatment of her is uncomfortable including deliberately feeding her alcohol, I almost put the book aside as a consequence and felt the characterisation of the female character a negative. This is amplified by Oliver being such an unlikeabke person who is sponging off his wife .
Similarly Chloe and her father's relationship is uncomfortable and again I did not like some of the scenes between them particularly given a later reveal and the amount of time Oliver wanders around naked.
As I say a contradictory book. Definitely a creepy story.
January 28, 2018
You either go for the eerie fairytale a la Sarban or explore more your talent for creepy psychological tales of uneasiness.
There was neither in this book. You wanted to opt for a dream-like and timeless atmosphere and narrative, fine but stick with it.
None of the characters were particularly believable, none of their actions and dialogues were either real or un-realistic. They just don't stand up. None of their interactions, history and developments seem well thought.
You are skilled as writer. This does transpire again in here but unfortunately this time there's no 'wakening' and there was no 'crow'.
There was neither in this book. You wanted to opt for a dream-like and timeless atmosphere and narrative, fine but stick with it.
None of the characters were particularly believable, none of their actions and dialogues were either real or un-realistic. They just don't stand up. None of their interactions, history and developments seem well thought.
You are skilled as writer. This does transpire again in here but unfortunately this time there's no 'wakening' and there was no 'crow'.
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