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The Malignant Dead
1645. The year Scotland died.
"Ring a ring of roses."
Dirty white rags dangled from windows, like hanging men left on gallows for the city to witness their shame.
The Bubonic Plague is ravaging Edinburgh. Despite the council's best efforts, people are dying. Soon there will be more people buried under Edinburgh than living in it.
"A pocketful of posies."
When the plague doctor dies from the disease after a week, the council hires student doctor Alex McCrae, promising him one hundred pounds to cure the wretched pest. But a man who makes himself a hero, makes himself enemies. And when the council can’t afford to pay McCrae, they hope he’ll succumb to the disease.
"Ashes, ashes."
But the plague isn’t the only way to kill a man. And in the city of the dead, it’s not just ghosts who return.
"We. All. Fall. Down."
"Ring a ring of roses."
Dirty white rags dangled from windows, like hanging men left on gallows for the city to witness their shame.
The Bubonic Plague is ravaging Edinburgh. Despite the council's best efforts, people are dying. Soon there will be more people buried under Edinburgh than living in it.
"A pocketful of posies."
When the plague doctor dies from the disease after a week, the council hires student doctor Alex McCrae, promising him one hundred pounds to cure the wretched pest. But a man who makes himself a hero, makes himself enemies. And when the council can’t afford to pay McCrae, they hope he’ll succumb to the disease.
"Ashes, ashes."
But the plague isn’t the only way to kill a man. And in the city of the dead, it’s not just ghosts who return.
"We. All. Fall. Down."
215 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 19, 2015
11 people want to read
About the author
C.L. Raven
48 books51 followersC L Raven are identical twins from Cardiff who love all things horror. They spend their time looking after their animal army and drinking more Red Bull than the recommended government guidelines. Along with their friend Neen, they prowl the country hunting for ghosts for their YouTube show, Calamityville Horror.
Their work has featured in 8 Hours Anthology, published by Legend Press; August 2010 issue of Writing Magazine (winning ghost story); The Pages Anthologies; Dark Fire Fiction, Dark Moon Digest, Siren’s Call and the Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper. They also contribute articles to Haunted Digital Magazine and Oapschat. They have self-published six short story collections, one novella and one novel, which was shortlisted in the National Self-Publishing Awards. Their unpublished novels, Bleeding Empire and Silent Dawn were longlisted in the 2013 & 2014 Exeter Novel Prize.
Their work has featured in 8 Hours Anthology, published by Legend Press; August 2010 issue of Writing Magazine (winning ghost story); The Pages Anthologies; Dark Fire Fiction, Dark Moon Digest, Siren’s Call and the Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper. They also contribute articles to Haunted Digital Magazine and Oapschat. They have self-published six short story collections, one novella and one novel, which was shortlisted in the National Self-Publishing Awards. Their unpublished novels, Bleeding Empire and Silent Dawn were longlisted in the 2013 & 2014 Exeter Novel Prize.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 9, 2018
A brilliant story by the Raven twins. I can't put it down. its a fantastic book. its worth checking out.
April 14, 2016
I've known the twins for awhile now, but I've only just got around to reading one of their books, which I've been meaning to do for awhile. When they were writing The Malignant Dead, I was really excited for it and couldn't wait to get my own copy! Well, months after release I did and I really enjoyed it.
The story is about McCrae, a plague doctor from Edinburgh. Already, it is intriguing. Anything about the plague is interesting, and I've not read a book about it before. As I was reading, I could see how much CL Raven had done their research. With their descriptions, I felt like I could see and picture Edinburgh well. I could almost smell the foul stench, feel the scuttling of rats and every now and then I panicked I had the plague! The Plague Doctor, or Doctor Death, casts a frightening figure on the dying city, but he's a character you root for.
The story is short, so because of that I feel like a lot of it was quite quick. It was fast paced, but there wasn't quite enough time to feel tension and wonder what would happen next. I would have loved it if this book was a bit longer, because I didn't want to stop reading it, and I wanted to feel the mounting excitement and suspense leading up to whether or not McCrae died.
However, the concept was really good and gave me more than I thought it would! From the blurb you wouldn't expect the ending, and I really liked that! James was my favourite character, and I felt like he really lightened up the book. I loved the relationship he had with McCrae.
With the ending, I kind of hope there is a sequel to this! I think that could be very interesting indeed. I'll definitely read more from the twins!
The story is about McCrae, a plague doctor from Edinburgh. Already, it is intriguing. Anything about the plague is interesting, and I've not read a book about it before. As I was reading, I could see how much CL Raven had done their research. With their descriptions, I felt like I could see and picture Edinburgh well. I could almost smell the foul stench, feel the scuttling of rats and every now and then I panicked I had the plague! The Plague Doctor, or Doctor Death, casts a frightening figure on the dying city, but he's a character you root for.
The story is short, so because of that I feel like a lot of it was quite quick. It was fast paced, but there wasn't quite enough time to feel tension and wonder what would happen next. I would have loved it if this book was a bit longer, because I didn't want to stop reading it, and I wanted to feel the mounting excitement and suspense leading up to whether or not McCrae died.
However, the concept was really good and gave me more than I thought it would! From the blurb you wouldn't expect the ending, and I really liked that! James was my favourite character, and I felt like he really lightened up the book. I loved the relationship he had with McCrae.
With the ending, I kind of hope there is a sequel to this! I think that could be very interesting indeed. I'll definitely read more from the twins!
May 26, 2022
McCrae stalks the streets of his city in a creepy beaked mask and a hooded cloak, looking for all the damned world like a demonic crow. The downtrodden denizens call him ‘Doctor Death’, but instead of taking lives he is actually trying to save them, for he is a plague doctor. His lover Katrein is a nurse, tending to the sick and the dying. Her cousin and his friend is Hamish, who transports the dead to the mass grave in his horse-drawn cart and also sees ghosts.
This colourful trio are the heart and soul of this brutal novel, The Malignant Dead, the setting of which is the plague-ravaged Edinburgh of 1645, when infection meant death and all hope seemed lost. McCrae has been tasked with finding a cure for the dreaded disease, or at the very least containing it, before it wipes the city clean of human life. However, the city ‘council’, whose principals could generously be described as dubious, have banked on him dying before they have to pay him his promised fee.
But McCrae is not only stubbornly refusing to die but also seems to be making headway against the epidemic. What the council don’t know is that he has a secret weapon; his friend James, with whom he has a highly flirtatious relationship. James is a scientist and is convinced he can concoct a potion that will cure the dastardly disease, or perhaps even death itself.
And so the stage is set, and what a gruesome stage it is. The horrors of plague-ridden Scotland are vividly evoked by the authors, with not a single ghoulish detail spared, from McCrae lancing and then cauterising patients’ ‘buboes’ to householders hurling human waste from their windows.
But there’s something else going on here, another layer of perspective that has been thrown into the noxious mix, courtesy of recent events. The Malignant Dead takes place in a city under viral siege, with people confined to their homes lest they should spread it to their friends, families and neighbours, and punishments waiting for any who dare venture out without good reason.
Sound familiar?
Yes, it’s impossible to read this book now without digesting it through the prism of the coronavirus pandemic. And while we weren’t locked down in houses full of rats and fleas, with our dead relatives laid out on the dining table awaiting collection, it certainly does all sound uncomfortably familiar.
This is a unique, compelling and immersive novel, so immersive in fact that I could feel my flesh itching while reading it. By the time I finished it I felt like I needed to be deloused. On the strength of this tome I will be gleefully seeking out others by CL Raven.
And on the subject of CL Raven, you may have noticed that I earlier referred to ‘them’ in the plural, and that’s because CL Raven is not a single unit. Cat and Lynx are animal loving, pole dancing, ghost hunting, horror fixated identical twins from Cardiff with an impressive track record of literary accomplishments to their shared name.
They write as one, and the results are stupendous.
If you’d like to get to know them better, then they will most likely be appearing at a comic con near you sometime soon. That’s how I met them, and like most weavers of the macabre, they’re very nice indeed. So, do yourself a favour and give The Malignant Dead a shot. If you dig all things macabre and supernatural, then you won’t be sorry.
This colourful trio are the heart and soul of this brutal novel, The Malignant Dead, the setting of which is the plague-ravaged Edinburgh of 1645, when infection meant death and all hope seemed lost. McCrae has been tasked with finding a cure for the dreaded disease, or at the very least containing it, before it wipes the city clean of human life. However, the city ‘council’, whose principals could generously be described as dubious, have banked on him dying before they have to pay him his promised fee.
But McCrae is not only stubbornly refusing to die but also seems to be making headway against the epidemic. What the council don’t know is that he has a secret weapon; his friend James, with whom he has a highly flirtatious relationship. James is a scientist and is convinced he can concoct a potion that will cure the dastardly disease, or perhaps even death itself.
And so the stage is set, and what a gruesome stage it is. The horrors of plague-ridden Scotland are vividly evoked by the authors, with not a single ghoulish detail spared, from McCrae lancing and then cauterising patients’ ‘buboes’ to householders hurling human waste from their windows.
But there’s something else going on here, another layer of perspective that has been thrown into the noxious mix, courtesy of recent events. The Malignant Dead takes place in a city under viral siege, with people confined to their homes lest they should spread it to their friends, families and neighbours, and punishments waiting for any who dare venture out without good reason.
Sound familiar?
Yes, it’s impossible to read this book now without digesting it through the prism of the coronavirus pandemic. And while we weren’t locked down in houses full of rats and fleas, with our dead relatives laid out on the dining table awaiting collection, it certainly does all sound uncomfortably familiar.
This is a unique, compelling and immersive novel, so immersive in fact that I could feel my flesh itching while reading it. By the time I finished it I felt like I needed to be deloused. On the strength of this tome I will be gleefully seeking out others by CL Raven.
And on the subject of CL Raven, you may have noticed that I earlier referred to ‘them’ in the plural, and that’s because CL Raven is not a single unit. Cat and Lynx are animal loving, pole dancing, ghost hunting, horror fixated identical twins from Cardiff with an impressive track record of literary accomplishments to their shared name.
They write as one, and the results are stupendous.
If you’d like to get to know them better, then they will most likely be appearing at a comic con near you sometime soon. That’s how I met them, and like most weavers of the macabre, they’re very nice indeed. So, do yourself a favour and give The Malignant Dead a shot. If you dig all things macabre and supernatural, then you won’t be sorry.
January 10, 2018
The Malignant Dead by CL Raven is the story of Alex McRae, an Edinburgh plague doctor, and his desire and effort to cure the disease that took so many.
Like the rest of their work The Malignant Dead is a very tightly constructed story. There's not a lot of fat in it to get choked on. This allows the story to move at a brisk pace that meant I'd find myself surprised at how many pages I'd read in a sitting. Especially as its historic fiction, which isn't normally my cup of tea. There's enough detail and references, like words that would have been used back then, that it pulls you into Edinburgh during that time period. It was easy to feel how dirty and dangerous the city was back then.
Something Cat and Lynx do particularly well are characters. The protagonists in this story are people I want to hang out with, and I fell in love a little with the lead female character, Katerin. They felt very real, with real motivations and concerns. Alex McRae's love for those he holds dear is felt throughout the novel. You feel what he's going through, whether its his frustrations with those who have the plague or his joy at being with Katerin or his friend James. There are a couple of moments which had me choking up as well. Events in the life of Alex McRae that strike him hard. It is counterbalanced by some good humour as well. I definitely recommend The Malignant Dead.
Like the rest of their work The Malignant Dead is a very tightly constructed story. There's not a lot of fat in it to get choked on. This allows the story to move at a brisk pace that meant I'd find myself surprised at how many pages I'd read in a sitting. Especially as its historic fiction, which isn't normally my cup of tea. There's enough detail and references, like words that would have been used back then, that it pulls you into Edinburgh during that time period. It was easy to feel how dirty and dangerous the city was back then.
Something Cat and Lynx do particularly well are characters. The protagonists in this story are people I want to hang out with, and I fell in love a little with the lead female character, Katerin. They felt very real, with real motivations and concerns. Alex McRae's love for those he holds dear is felt throughout the novel. You feel what he's going through, whether its his frustrations with those who have the plague or his joy at being with Katerin or his friend James. There are a couple of moments which had me choking up as well. Events in the life of Alex McRae that strike him hard. It is counterbalanced by some good humour as well. I definitely recommend The Malignant Dead.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews