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The Crow Novels #7
The Crow: Wicked Prayer
The Eternal One
At our human limits, when we've gone as far as flesh and imagination can take us, we meet the Eternal One.
The Crow
Immemorially old and inconsolable, he is there only for those who seek both revenge and love, and are willing to go all the way - and beyond.
Wicked Prayer
On a coal-black night, on a desolate stretch of Arizona highway, two last-chance lovers die badly.
In these, the final, cruelest moments of his earthly existence, Dan Cody watches as the lifeblood of his lady is sucked down by the thirsty desert sands. In an instant, his heart and his redemption have been blown away by a postmodern witch and her sadistic goth-giant companion on their gore-soaked joyride to immortality.
But even as one life ends in pain and anguish for Dan Cody, another begins. He is about to join those chosen to walk beneath the shadow of the Crow's wing. Revenge will be the sole reason for his return; revenge on tow who are speeding into the night in a '49 lamb's-blood Mercury on the fast track to Hell... or Nevada. And thought Kyra Damon and Johnny Church have embraced evil with a zealor's fervor, they underestimate the power of what's pursuing them from beyond the grave - the rough beast that's now slouching toward Vegas with murderous rage in its dead eyes.
At our human limits, when we've gone as far as flesh and imagination can take us, we meet the Eternal One.
The Crow
Immemorially old and inconsolable, he is there only for those who seek both revenge and love, and are willing to go all the way - and beyond.
Wicked Prayer
On a coal-black night, on a desolate stretch of Arizona highway, two last-chance lovers die badly.
In these, the final, cruelest moments of his earthly existence, Dan Cody watches as the lifeblood of his lady is sucked down by the thirsty desert sands. In an instant, his heart and his redemption have been blown away by a postmodern witch and her sadistic goth-giant companion on their gore-soaked joyride to immortality.
But even as one life ends in pain and anguish for Dan Cody, another begins. He is about to join those chosen to walk beneath the shadow of the Crow's wing. Revenge will be the sole reason for his return; revenge on tow who are speeding into the night in a '49 lamb's-blood Mercury on the fast track to Hell... or Nevada. And thought Kyra Damon and Johnny Church have embraced evil with a zealor's fervor, they underestimate the power of what's pursuing them from beyond the grave - the rough beast that's now slouching toward Vegas with murderous rage in its dead eyes.
295 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2000
1 person is currently reading
231 people want to read
About the author
Norman Partridge
109 books306 followersNorman Partridge’s fiction includes horror, suspense, and the fantastic—“sometimes all in one story” says his friend Joe Lansdale. His compact, thrill-a-minute style has been praised by Stephen King and Peter Straub, and his fiction has received three Bram Stokers and two IHG awards.
Partridge’s career launched a series of firsts during the indie press boom of the early nineties. His first short story appeared in the second issue of Cemetery Dance, and his debut novel, Slippin’ into Darkness, was the first original novel published by CD. Partridge’s chapbook Spyder was one of Subterranean Press’s inaugural titles, while his World Fantasy-nominated collection, Bad Intentions, was the first hardcover in the Subterranean book line.
Since then, Partridge has published pair of critically acclaimed suspense novels featuring ex-boxer Jack Baddalach for Berkley Prime Crime (Saguaro Riptide and The Ten-Ounce Siesta), comics for Mojo and DC, and a series novel (The Crow: Wicked Prayer) which was adapted for the screen. His award-winning collections include Mr. Fox and Other Feral Tales and The Man with the Barbed-Wire Fists. Partridge’s latest novel, Dark Harvest, was chosen by Publishers Weekly as one of the 100 Best Books of 2006.
Whether working in mainstream markets or the independent press, Partridge’s vivid, exuberant writing style has made him a fan favorite. Never content to be pigeon-holed as a writer, Partridge continues to defy categorization. A third-generation Californian, he lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Canadian writer Tia V. Travis.
Partridge’s career launched a series of firsts during the indie press boom of the early nineties. His first short story appeared in the second issue of Cemetery Dance, and his debut novel, Slippin’ into Darkness, was the first original novel published by CD. Partridge’s chapbook Spyder was one of Subterranean Press’s inaugural titles, while his World Fantasy-nominated collection, Bad Intentions, was the first hardcover in the Subterranean book line.
Since then, Partridge has published pair of critically acclaimed suspense novels featuring ex-boxer Jack Baddalach for Berkley Prime Crime (Saguaro Riptide and The Ten-Ounce Siesta), comics for Mojo and DC, and a series novel (The Crow: Wicked Prayer) which was adapted for the screen. His award-winning collections include Mr. Fox and Other Feral Tales and The Man with the Barbed-Wire Fists. Partridge’s latest novel, Dark Harvest, was chosen by Publishers Weekly as one of the 100 Best Books of 2006.
Whether working in mainstream markets or the independent press, Partridge’s vivid, exuberant writing style has made him a fan favorite. Never content to be pigeon-holed as a writer, Partridge continues to defy categorization. A third-generation Californian, he lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Canadian writer Tia V. Travis.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 15, 2025
4 stars.
I absolutely love The Crow. The original movie and graphic novel are some of my favorite pieces of fiction ever. The rest of the movies are all solid, except one, the one this book was based upon. But that didn't stop the book from being pretty dang good.
So, the book has amazing antagonists. I really liked both Kyra and Johnny Church. They worked wonders as antagonists. I think that a novel solely about them could have been brilliant and I think that this story was actually brought down a bit by being a The Crow novel.
Which brings me to the biggest weakness of the book. It's main protagonist. Dan Cody, aka The Crow. The only thing he really does is drive after Kyra and Johnny for the majority of the book and while it works alright, I think he just is the least memorable Crow so far.
And, some of this parts were a little bit too long and didn't make that much of a difference to the story. For example, I think that the movie did his transformation + getting the stuff he needs to be The Crow a lot better than the book. Here he goes to some Emily and gets weapons and there's this long outdrawn backstory about their relationship for about 20 pages or so, could have all been cut.
But, I think that Dan and his relationships with the crow, plus the love of his life, were masterfully done. I really liked the character of The Crow. Which might seem weird, but I thought that this is the best rendition of the bird we've had that I've read so far.
Speaking of things that kinda are and kinda aren't characters, I loved Raymondo. What a weird thing to have in the book, but it worked and I loved him!
So, a bit of editing, or having this not being a Crow novel could have made it into a way better book. But it was still an enjoyable read and I really am happy I managed to track this book down!
I absolutely love The Crow. The original movie and graphic novel are some of my favorite pieces of fiction ever. The rest of the movies are all solid, except one, the one this book was based upon. But that didn't stop the book from being pretty dang good.
So, the book has amazing antagonists. I really liked both Kyra and Johnny Church. They worked wonders as antagonists. I think that a novel solely about them could have been brilliant and I think that this story was actually brought down a bit by being a The Crow novel.
Which brings me to the biggest weakness of the book. It's main protagonist. Dan Cody, aka The Crow. The only thing he really does is drive after Kyra and Johnny for the majority of the book and while it works alright, I think he just is the least memorable Crow so far.
And, some of this parts were a little bit too long and didn't make that much of a difference to the story. For example, I think that the movie did his transformation + getting the stuff he needs to be The Crow a lot better than the book. Here he goes to some Emily and gets weapons and there's this long outdrawn backstory about their relationship for about 20 pages or so, could have all been cut.
But, I think that Dan and his relationships with the crow, plus the love of his life, were masterfully done. I really liked the character of The Crow. Which might seem weird, but I thought that this is the best rendition of the bird we've had that I've read so far.
Speaking of things that kinda are and kinda aren't characters, I loved Raymondo. What a weird thing to have in the book, but it worked and I loved him!
So, a bit of editing, or having this not being a Crow novel could have made it into a way better book. But it was still an enjoyable read and I really am happy I managed to track this book down!
February 22, 2025
I wrote a review for this on Amazon over 14 years and three stars doesn't say much about it, even then. Even with a comparison to the straight to DVD movie that would come out a few years later, neither are vastly superior to each other. For the novel, personally, the flashbacks were effective enough although as I think about it, either not enough of them or not strong enough on their own. Unfortunately, I almost didn't care about what Dan had to do or what was going to happen. I just favored being done with the story. I would get nitpicky, but the story isn't worth it. Books worth a quick read. One thing that I did forget to add is that you really could have trimmed out a lot out of this story and would have improved greatly with it.
***************
New review as of February 22, 2025
A Story That Never Takes Flight
I first read The Crow: Wicked Prayer long before the movie adaptation was released, and at the time, I thought it was fine. Not great, not terrible—just another entry in The Crow franchise. But revisiting it now, I realize that whatever potential it had was buried under sluggish pacing, underdeveloped characters, and an overall lack of impact.
The novel follows Dan Cody, but instead of delivering a gripping revenge story, the book drags its feet with unfocused storytelling. The flashbacks, while effective in some ways, either weren’t strong enough or weren’t used well enough to create the emotional weight needed to drive the narrative forward. By the time Dan gets into Leticia’s store, it’s clear that the story is being stretched rather than developed. Instead of making me care about Dan’s vengeance, I found myself just wanting the book to be over.
Another odd choice was the focus on Kyra Damon, who wasn’t a particularly compelling character. If the novel had spent more time strengthening Dan’s arc instead of shifting focus onto her, it might have landed better. Instead, Wicked Prayer ends up feeling like a bloated, unfocused story that needed serious trimming to be truly effective.
Strangely enough, after rereading this book, I’ve come to appreciate the Wicked Prayer movie more. As much as The Crow community dislikes the film, at least it knows what it is and embraces its spaghetti western absurdity. The book, on the other hand, seems unsure of itself—trying to be a deep, emotional revenge story but failing to deliver on its core elements.
In the end, Wicked Prayer is just another forgettable Crow novel. It’s worth a quick read for completionists, but if you’re looking for something that truly captures the essence of The Crow, this one doesn’t quite hit the mark.
***************
New review as of February 22, 2025
A Story That Never Takes Flight
I first read The Crow: Wicked Prayer long before the movie adaptation was released, and at the time, I thought it was fine. Not great, not terrible—just another entry in The Crow franchise. But revisiting it now, I realize that whatever potential it had was buried under sluggish pacing, underdeveloped characters, and an overall lack of impact.
The novel follows Dan Cody, but instead of delivering a gripping revenge story, the book drags its feet with unfocused storytelling. The flashbacks, while effective in some ways, either weren’t strong enough or weren’t used well enough to create the emotional weight needed to drive the narrative forward. By the time Dan gets into Leticia’s store, it’s clear that the story is being stretched rather than developed. Instead of making me care about Dan’s vengeance, I found myself just wanting the book to be over.
Another odd choice was the focus on Kyra Damon, who wasn’t a particularly compelling character. If the novel had spent more time strengthening Dan’s arc instead of shifting focus onto her, it might have landed better. Instead, Wicked Prayer ends up feeling like a bloated, unfocused story that needed serious trimming to be truly effective.
Strangely enough, after rereading this book, I’ve come to appreciate the Wicked Prayer movie more. As much as The Crow community dislikes the film, at least it knows what it is and embraces its spaghetti western absurdity. The book, on the other hand, seems unsure of itself—trying to be a deep, emotional revenge story but failing to deliver on its core elements.
In the end, Wicked Prayer is just another forgettable Crow novel. It’s worth a quick read for completionists, but if you’re looking for something that truly captures the essence of The Crow, this one doesn’t quite hit the mark.
July 3, 2013
Disclaimer: I made it about 70% through before tossing Wicked Prayer aside with a heavy sigh. I almost never do this. It takes a real shit-pile to make me utterly give up.
Executive Summary: This reads like fan fic, and that's a bad thing.
Perhaps the problem here is that there just isn't enough story to go around. Perhaps this should have been a short story. Perhaps the author was being paid by the word and has a drug habit to support.
There wasn't much I didn't dislike about Wicked Prayer. The protagonist seemed a bit wooden and I never really connected with him, nor particularly bought into his love affair with the blue-eyed crow. The villains were straight out of a comic book. Ridiculous, over-the-top and plain goofy. Honestly, the only characters I felt any connection to were our heroe's employer (she seemed nice enough) and the shrunken head. Maybe Wicked Prayer should have been about the shrunken head. It could only have improved it.
Half of the novel seemed to be flashbacks or endless drives across a desert. We get it. Enough already. Like I said, too much book, not enough actually happening. And when actual plot points are in short supply, you'd better have great dialog or descriptive imagery or...SOMETHING to take the reader's mind off of the fact that nothing is actually happening. This novel had neither. Fuck Wicked Prayer.
Executive Summary: This reads like fan fic, and that's a bad thing.
Perhaps the problem here is that there just isn't enough story to go around. Perhaps this should have been a short story. Perhaps the author was being paid by the word and has a drug habit to support.
There wasn't much I didn't dislike about Wicked Prayer. The protagonist seemed a bit wooden and I never really connected with him, nor particularly bought into his love affair with the blue-eyed crow. The villains were straight out of a comic book. Ridiculous, over-the-top and plain goofy. Honestly, the only characters I felt any connection to were our heroe's employer (she seemed nice enough) and the shrunken head. Maybe Wicked Prayer should have been about the shrunken head. It could only have improved it.
Half of the novel seemed to be flashbacks or endless drives across a desert. We get it. Enough already. Like I said, too much book, not enough actually happening. And when actual plot points are in short supply, you'd better have great dialog or descriptive imagery or...SOMETHING to take the reader's mind off of the fact that nothing is actually happening. This novel had neither. Fuck Wicked Prayer.
July 10, 2016
First novel basing on The Crow serie I have gotten and read and I must say this was good one. A bit unbalanced though; first loong loong predules and chace trough the desert lands and final conclusion squished in the last few pages like in a hurry. But still really really good.
I seriously got keen on the characters of the book on some level and shrunken head called Raymondo.... Yes, there is twitty shrunken head that talks in the novel and if you ask me he is the most best character in the whole story.
Though it makes me wonder are other The Crow series novels as good as this...
What I checked about wikipedia there seems to be The Crow movie carrying the same title as the novel but what comes out from the movie’s plot: movie and the book have absolutely nothing common, no common plot, no common characters, no common plot.... Nothing. I would still wa
nt to see the movie though just for fun and to have my self-monologue commenting with it ; that didn’t happen in the novel, whatta hell they’re doing... that wasn’t in the original storyline... ( at least what crap I red about the movie from wiki )The director who made The Crow Wicked prayer should have red the novel.
I seriously got keen on the characters of the book on some level and shrunken head called Raymondo.... Yes, there is twitty shrunken head that talks in the novel and if you ask me he is the most best character in the whole story.
Though it makes me wonder are other The Crow series novels as good as this...
What I checked about wikipedia there seems to be The Crow movie carrying the same title as the novel but what comes out from the movie’s plot: movie and the book have absolutely nothing common, no common plot, no common characters, no common plot.... Nothing. I would still wa
nt to see the movie though just for fun and to have my self-monologue commenting with it ; that didn’t happen in the novel, whatta hell they’re doing... that wasn’t in the original storyline... ( at least what crap I red about the movie from wiki )The director who made The Crow Wicked prayer should have red the novel.
December 1, 2013
You guys, I'm totally serious about the book being SO MUCH better than the movie. They took the film and changed absolutely everything, making it a hokey sack of...well! The novel is really, really good if you like desert settings and tons of action.
Read
August 23, 2008isbn,original
November 27, 2011
Violence and the ecstasy of grief. There is no forgiveness only vengeance. I enjoyed this book but I probably would have enjoyed it more at a different time in my life.
January 13, 2014
I've read the book before the movie came out. The movie is a huge flop. The book stands strong alone.
January 15, 2018
Although it’s a little long, I really like this novel. It explores the more metaphysical relationship between the crow and the humans it resurrects. I love how it takes place in the desert as well.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews