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Black Oak #3
Winter Knight
Private investigator Ethan Proctor delves into the dark secrets of a town cursed for generations -- by an evil that can grant your heart's desire...for a price.
240 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
2 people are currently reading
91 people want to read
About the author
Charles L. Grant
309 books261 followersCharles Lewis Grant was a novelist and short story writer specializing in what he called "dark fantasy" and "quiet horror." He also wrote under the pseudonyms of Geoffrey Marsh, Lionel Fenn, Simon Lake, Felicia Andrews, and Deborah Lewis.
Grant won a World Fantasy Award for his novella collection Nightmare Seasons, a Nebula Award in 1976 for his short story "A Crowd of Shadows", and another Nebula Award in 1978 for his novella "A Glow of Candles, a Unicorn's Eye," the latter telling of an actor's dilemma in a post-literate future. Grant also edited the award winning Shadows anthology, running eleven volumes from 1978-1991. Contributors include Stephen King, Ramsey Campbell, R.A. Lafferty, Avram Davidson, and Steve Rasnic and Melanie Tem. Grant was a former Executive Secretary and Eastern Regional Director of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and president of the Horror Writers Association.
Grant won a World Fantasy Award for his novella collection Nightmare Seasons, a Nebula Award in 1976 for his short story "A Crowd of Shadows", and another Nebula Award in 1978 for his novella "A Glow of Candles, a Unicorn's Eye," the latter telling of an actor's dilemma in a post-literate future. Grant also edited the award winning Shadows anthology, running eleven volumes from 1978-1991. Contributors include Stephen King, Ramsey Campbell, R.A. Lafferty, Avram Davidson, and Steve Rasnic and Melanie Tem. Grant was a former Executive Secretary and Eastern Regional Director of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and president of the Horror Writers Association.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 17, 2024
A classic whodunit mystery with a supernatural twist. The first book in the series had an X-Files feel, and the second was more horror in tone and this one changed things up again. Charles Grant is a very solid but unfortunately underrated and under-known writer.
February 12, 2008
Before you read this book, PLEASE make sure you've read the other ones before it, or some of the references will not make sense to you.
I really didn't think this book was as good as the first two, but I've read online where people say it was his best. Sorry to disagree, but in this one, the action seemed a lot slower and it wasn't as fun as the previous two readingwise. I would recommend it to followers of the series, otherwise you might get a little bored waiting for something to happen.
Ethan Proctor, who is known as a "ghost hunter" and who is in reality the head of a business called Black Oak Investigations, returns once more in the 3rd installment of the series. He is called by Taylor Blaine, who keeps Proctor on retainer to find his daughter who went missing years before. Taylor is in England, and wants Proctor there with him, because a picture of his long-lost daughter has turned up in a photo album in a little village by the name of Pludbury. Ethan keeps trying to tell Blaine that it's probably not his daughter, but he goes as summoned to the little English village and stays at the residence of one Alan Morgan, a businessman with whom Blaine does business. When he arrives, he is told the local legend; that of a ghost who, for a price, will grant you a wish; the local residents call it "making a deal." Proctor suddenly becomes more interested in the supernatural aspect than the photo, putting his life in danger.
It would, as I said, be beneficial to read these books in order, if for no other reason than to get to know the main character, Ethan Proctor. The author never really fleshes him out, so you have to go by your own knowledge of him through each step of the series. I recommend the series to anyone who likes a good supernatural detective type story.
read: 04/01/2005
I really didn't think this book was as good as the first two, but I've read online where people say it was his best. Sorry to disagree, but in this one, the action seemed a lot slower and it wasn't as fun as the previous two readingwise. I would recommend it to followers of the series, otherwise you might get a little bored waiting for something to happen.
Ethan Proctor, who is known as a "ghost hunter" and who is in reality the head of a business called Black Oak Investigations, returns once more in the 3rd installment of the series. He is called by Taylor Blaine, who keeps Proctor on retainer to find his daughter who went missing years before. Taylor is in England, and wants Proctor there with him, because a picture of his long-lost daughter has turned up in a photo album in a little village by the name of Pludbury. Ethan keeps trying to tell Blaine that it's probably not his daughter, but he goes as summoned to the little English village and stays at the residence of one Alan Morgan, a businessman with whom Blaine does business. When he arrives, he is told the local legend; that of a ghost who, for a price, will grant you a wish; the local residents call it "making a deal." Proctor suddenly becomes more interested in the supernatural aspect than the photo, putting his life in danger.
It would, as I said, be beneficial to read these books in order, if for no other reason than to get to know the main character, Ethan Proctor. The author never really fleshes him out, so you have to go by your own knowledge of him through each step of the series. I recommend the series to anyone who likes a good supernatural detective type story.
read: 04/01/2005
October 6, 2016
Much darker than his Quest For The White Duck trilogy, but even more imaginative. Evidently this one is part of the Black Oak Security series, that's bad for my pocketbook because now I want more. Eerie and creepy, the publisher's blurb only hints at the goings on, and no spoilers here. If this sounds like your kind of read, you won't be disappointed!
Arthur Flavell does a really great job!
Arthur Flavell does a really great job!
August 4, 2016
Confusing, poorly written, dis-jointed and boring.
An American ghost hunter goes to England to help an old friend find his missing daughter although that goal gets quickly shunted aside in all the hoopla over a ghostly knight, deals with the devil and people dying with "lots of blood".
Good thing it was short because it was a waste of time.
An American ghost hunter goes to England to help an old friend find his missing daughter although that goal gets quickly shunted aside in all the hoopla over a ghostly knight, deals with the devil and people dying with "lots of blood".
Good thing it was short because it was a waste of time.
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June 21, 2009Horror
May 30, 2010
This is a very nice series. Can't wait to find out who's behind the main story.
February 7, 2020
The conceit of the supernatural private investigator starts to run dry after a while. In the case of Black Oak, it's book number three. It's not Grant's fault, necessarily -- his style is the same as it's always been -- but the whole "Is it a real monster or just some dude in a costume?" question gets hackneyed enough to look more like Scooby Doo than The X-Files.
The premise here is kinda dumb, too. People can go to the woods and ask for luck by giving the woods a person's name, knowing they'll die in return for their luck. I mean ... OK? It's not exactly strong. Plus, Grant populates the story with a ridiculous number of characters, and his habit of referring to characters by first or last name, depending on the mood, effectively doubles the number of characters to track, and I kept confusing characters. About two-thirds of the way in, though, I realized it wasn't that important.
Winter Knight isn't that deep, but neither would I call it a beach read. It's just mediocre, even for Grant fans.
The premise here is kinda dumb, too. People can go to the woods and ask for luck by giving the woods a person's name, knowing they'll die in return for their luck. I mean ... OK? It's not exactly strong. Plus, Grant populates the story with a ridiculous number of characters, and his habit of referring to characters by first or last name, depending on the mood, effectively doubles the number of characters to track, and I kept confusing characters. About two-thirds of the way in, though, I realized it wasn't that important.
Winter Knight isn't that deep, but neither would I call it a beach read. It's just mediocre, even for Grant fans.
July 18, 2020
Vengeful ghosts, deals with the devil.... muuur-der! And mysteries, galore!
More of Charles Grant's "quiet horror". Not the style that's published, today. But I like his slow build approach. And I also like the quasi-X-Files-ish feel of a private investigator with a special preference for things that go bump in the night.
Proctor is kind of The Equalizer, for people preyed on by the supernatural.
More of Charles Grant's "quiet horror". Not the style that's published, today. But I like his slow build approach. And I also like the quasi-X-Files-ish feel of a private investigator with a special preference for things that go bump in the night.
Proctor is kind of The Equalizer, for people preyed on by the supernatural.
October 1, 2021
Proctor goes to England in pursuit of a photo of a missing girl. Supernatural happenings ensue. Grant's storytelling is always top-notch though the English setting is, well, functional, but my God the accents in the audio version are a disaster to Anglo-US relations and may have actually been the real cause of Brexit.
November 7, 2018
I have to be honest and say that, initially, The Black Oak series only garnered a "Cool story" from me, and that was about it. At this point, however, I'm thoroughly engaged with Proctor's adventures, and am saddened anew that Charles Grant never got a chance to continue his legacy.
February 9, 2023
No one aside Grant can make you live in a town and experience all the weirdness in it within 190 pages. This one had a “whodunit” factor which is a plus, but was also the slowest in pace, and had the least developed side characters. Still an enjoyable read!
August 17, 2020
I was hoping to enjoy this more than I did.
Full disclosure, though; I started this without having read Grant's other Black Oak books. I recognize this is a series of books and my understanding it was not required to have read the previous two entries to be able to enjoy the book. To a degree, that would be accurate as there are recurring characters but they're introduced somewhat effectively. There are, of course, minor references to events in what I would assume were the two previous books but knowledge of those events are not necessary.
Black Oak is an organization somewhat like a private detective agency with some cases falling into the realm of the paranormal. That's where the Winter Knight falls as the head of the agency, Ethan Proctor, is called to the quaint village of Pludbury, England. He's called to assist what appears to be a long-term client of the agency after he supposedly sees a photograph of his long missing daughter. Honestly, that part was a tad confusing and not well explained.
When Proctor arrives in the village, though, things get extremely strange with residents making deals with a ghost in the woods. The ghost, of course, demands a soul in exchange for granting the wish so he can form an army of the dead... Or something like that.
Really, the story here is pretty thin and Grant introduces us to the village residents with little explanation meaning we've got a cast of characters who we stuggle to remember. Adding to the confusion is the fact Grant switches back and forth from a character's given name to their surname.... It made it really hard for me to invest in these characters.
Winter KNight's a light read at just more than 220 pages, but I never felt invested and can't say this made me want to go back and read the series' first two tales.
Full disclosure, though; I started this without having read Grant's other Black Oak books. I recognize this is a series of books and my understanding it was not required to have read the previous two entries to be able to enjoy the book. To a degree, that would be accurate as there are recurring characters but they're introduced somewhat effectively. There are, of course, minor references to events in what I would assume were the two previous books but knowledge of those events are not necessary.
Black Oak is an organization somewhat like a private detective agency with some cases falling into the realm of the paranormal. That's where the Winter Knight falls as the head of the agency, Ethan Proctor, is called to the quaint village of Pludbury, England. He's called to assist what appears to be a long-term client of the agency after he supposedly sees a photograph of his long missing daughter. Honestly, that part was a tad confusing and not well explained.
When Proctor arrives in the village, though, things get extremely strange with residents making deals with a ghost in the woods. The ghost, of course, demands a soul in exchange for granting the wish so he can form an army of the dead... Or something like that.
Really, the story here is pretty thin and Grant introduces us to the village residents with little explanation meaning we've got a cast of characters who we stuggle to remember. Adding to the confusion is the fact Grant switches back and forth from a character's given name to their surname.... It made it really hard for me to invest in these characters.
Winter KNight's a light read at just more than 220 pages, but I never felt invested and can't say this made me want to go back and read the series' first two tales.
December 6, 2013
Picked this up at a used place; there's really no indication it's #3 in a series. Still, you can follow the story without the first two. Grant is a writer I want to like a lot and always end up underwhelmed. Still, this was well-paced and a nice mix of action and mystery. I'm not going to seek out the earlier books.
September 20, 2015
When I bought this book, there was no indication on the cover that this was 3rd in a series. Oh, well.
It was a decent ghost story: not too lame and not too scary.
It was a decent ghost story: not too lame and not too scary.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews