What do you think?
Rate this book
Night Hunter #5
The Hexing
Book by Faulcon, Robert
Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
74 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 29, 2018
Arachne don't play a major part in this novel until the climax: they're responsible for a lot of the carnage and so forth, but they themselves are hidden for a lot of the book so that we can start to see the effect they are having on the wider world and the beginnings of the resources that have been assembled against them, largely through the efforts of Dan Brady. And it's a really interesting read as well: the children who play a major part in this are, as is typical of Faulcon/ Holdstock, well-written, being resourceful and childish at the same time. It's probably the most grim of all the books so far, dealing as it does with the deaths of so many supporting characters, but it has the most optimistic ending of the series that I've read so far, as well.
December 18, 2016
Night Hunter #5 by Robert Faulcon (the late Robert Holdstock) was published in 1984 and we’re approaching the climax to Daniel Brady’s search for his abducted wife and two children.
This time, a gang of young children who are paying homage to the comic 2000AD are roaming the dilapidated buildings and deserted streets of a London borough when they uncover an underground river and awaken an evil entity. The horrors they discover are worse than any they encounter in the comic and lives are lost, but some escape.
Now, the police are taking supernatural events very seriously, though keeping it from the public. Room 17 is the operations centre where information is collated. And Detective Superintendent Sullivan is Brady’s link. A spectral black dog has been reported at the scenes of grisly deaths and they’re convinced it has something to do with the Arachne group that Brady seeks.
It’s revealed that the Government’s psychic research establishment is partly funded by ‘people like Koestler’ – (Arthur Koestler was a supporter of the paranormal, wrote The Roots of Coincidence, and endorsed extra sensory perception and other related phenomena). And while Brady consults a psychic diviner, a few other names are dropped, such as Uri Geller and the healer Matthew Manning (see his bestseller, The Link (1974)) Alas, the psychic is horribly murdered by an evil supernatural attack in Brady’s presence – but the death leads to another clue as to the whereabouts of Brady’s wife, Alison.
Hitherto, Brady has encountered a variety of magical black arts, pre-Roman, pagan, shamanistic, Norse – and the latest is the houngan from Haiti, yet this time this might serve him rather than combat him. It is becoming clear that the Arachne entity is attempting to harness all types of vile occult measures devised through the ages in order to bring about a spiritual and physical cataclysm, a fatal eclipse.
And seemingly only Daniel Brady stands in their way.
Another tense, fast-paced black magic tale, which ends with hope – and despair.
This time, a gang of young children who are paying homage to the comic 2000AD are roaming the dilapidated buildings and deserted streets of a London borough when they uncover an underground river and awaken an evil entity. The horrors they discover are worse than any they encounter in the comic and lives are lost, but some escape.
Now, the police are taking supernatural events very seriously, though keeping it from the public. Room 17 is the operations centre where information is collated. And Detective Superintendent Sullivan is Brady’s link. A spectral black dog has been reported at the scenes of grisly deaths and they’re convinced it has something to do with the Arachne group that Brady seeks.
It’s revealed that the Government’s psychic research establishment is partly funded by ‘people like Koestler’ – (Arthur Koestler was a supporter of the paranormal, wrote The Roots of Coincidence, and endorsed extra sensory perception and other related phenomena). And while Brady consults a psychic diviner, a few other names are dropped, such as Uri Geller and the healer Matthew Manning (see his bestseller, The Link (1974)) Alas, the psychic is horribly murdered by an evil supernatural attack in Brady’s presence – but the death leads to another clue as to the whereabouts of Brady’s wife, Alison.
Hitherto, Brady has encountered a variety of magical black arts, pre-Roman, pagan, shamanistic, Norse – and the latest is the houngan from Haiti, yet this time this might serve him rather than combat him. It is becoming clear that the Arachne entity is attempting to harness all types of vile occult measures devised through the ages in order to bring about a spiritual and physical cataclysm, a fatal eclipse.
And seemingly only Daniel Brady stands in their way.
Another tense, fast-paced black magic tale, which ends with hope – and despair.
Want to read
February 1, 2023I want to read this book again
March 31, 2012
This was a very gripping chapter in the book as more and more of the plot of Arachne is revealed. It might sound odd, but this is actually the first book that dates the series with mention of a popular TV show of the era and the sudden realisation (for me) that they didn't have mobile phones or the internet. I rather liked that I hadn't noticed it as it really showed how well it was written and how solid the world he has built.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Want to read
August 3, 2012Want to get my hands on this!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews