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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
ON THE EDGE OF DARKNESS...WHERE PAST AND PRESENT COLLIDE..., 1 Dec 2002
This is a well written, compelling story of a love that intersects the past, as well as the present. An excellent piece of paranormal fiction, it keeps the reader riveted to the pages.The story begins in the nineteen thirties, when a fourteen year old boy named Adam, while traipsing in the isolated crags of the Scottish highlands near an ancient Celtic stone, meets Brid, a girl whom he mistakes for a gypsy, due to her wild, long hair, and her exotic style of dress. Unbeknownst to him, a portal in time has opened, allowing Adam and Brid, who is actually a Druid from the sixth century, to cross back and forth in time. Adam, however, does not realize that he is actually travelling back and forth in time, while Brid is not only fully aware of what is happening, but is doing so in contravention of what her uncle, a high priest to the Druids, and her training have taught her. Over time, she becomes obsessive about Adam, who is her first love, while Adam, as he grows up, moves on with his life. In leaving the heartsick Brid behind and consigning her to his memories, he takes his life in a seemingly new direction. Brid, on the other hand, forsaking the teachings of her people and incurring the wrath of her powerful uncle and a sure sentence of death, is dead serious about Adam, and she goes through the time portal in search of him. Adam, who has by now left home to go to medical school, is unaware of her obsession and of the lifelong quest now set in motion. Over the years, Adam makes new friends, becomes a doctor, gets married, and has a family, but Brid, trapped in the wrong time, begins to haunt them all, as she searches for Adam. Her obsession with him finally turns deadly, and the body count begins to mount, as she seeks to tear him asunder from all whom he holds dear. It is only fifty years into the nightmare that this obsessive love is finally put to rest. How this happens, and at what cost, will keep the reader turning the pages of this well written and imaginative novel.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
ON THE EDGE OF DARKNESS...WHERE PAST AND PRESENT COLLIDE..., 30 Dec 2002
This is a well written, compelling story of a love that intersects the past, as well as the present. An excellent piece of paranormal fiction, it keeps the reader riveted to the pages.The story begins in the nineteen thirties, when a fourteen year old boy named Adam, while traipsing in the isolated crags of the Scottish highlands near an ancient Celtic stone, meets a girl named Brid whom he mistakes for a gypsy, due to her wild, long hair, and her exotic style of dress. Unbeknownst to him, a portal in time has opened, allowing Adam and Brid, who is actually a Druid from the sixth century, to cross back and forth in time. Adam, however, does not realize that he is actually travelling back and forth in time, while Brid is not only fully aware of what is happening, but is doing so in contravention of what her uncle, a high priest to the Druids, and her training have taught her. Over time, she becomes obsessive about Adam, who is her first love, while Adam, as he grows up, moves on with his life. In leaving the heartsick Brid behind and consigning her to his memories, he takes his life in a seemingly new direction. Brid, on the other hand, forsaking the teachings of her people and incurring the wrath of her powerful uncle and a sure sentence of death, is dead serious about Adam, and she goes through the time portal in search of him. Adam, who has by now left home to go to medical school, is unaware of her obsession and of the lifelong quest now set in motion. Over the years, Adam makes new friends, becomes a doctor, gets married, and has a family, but Brid, trapped in the wrong time, begins to haunt them all, as she searches for Adam. Her obsession with him finally turns deadly, and the body count begins, as she seeks to tear him asunder from all whom he holds dear. It is only fifty years into the nightmare that this obsessive love is finally put to rest. How this happens, and at what cost, will keep the reader turning the pages of this well written and imaginative novel.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Decent Paranormal Thriller, 29 July 2006
This is a paranormal tale similar to some of Phil Rickman's stand alones. I was reluctant to buy it at first because the main plot relies heavily on time travel but the Scottish setting and druidic tradition lured me into buying it; if you expect this to be similar to Diana Gabaldan's sagas then you will be disappointed there is very little depth to the Pictish interludes of the novel, suprising as the author is a historian.
Adam Craig is a young Scottish boy growing up in the Highlands, the son of a severe Prebyterian minister in the twenties. Adam's life is shattered when his mother leaves his austere father; Adam begins to wander the hills to escape his misery and becomes fascinated by an ancient pictish cross. When he meets wild and beautiful Brid (pronounced Breed) he spends as much time with her as possible passing off her strange language, superstition and feudal way of life as her being the child of tinkers.
Brid though is of another time, she is a priestess in training and when Adam eventually moves on with his life leaving her behind; a dark obsession is spawned that stretches through the centuries between them and casts a dark curse over 50 years of Adam's life.
What makes this shine as a novel is the wonderfully written characters; no-one in Adam's life is safe from Brid's obsessive possession and the tension of the novel works because you care about these people and worry for their safety. Where this novel falls down is that the airy-fairy mysticism never feels fully grounded and some of the explanations can be confusing. Once the novel progresses post war to Adam's life as a young doctor raising a family the sparkle of the novel seems to dim, as we enter into the sixties and beyond. In this mid-section it is very hard to retain sympathy for Adam, although he does redeem himself in the last third of the novel.
Points against this novel were that it did drag out too long and the multiple perspectives felt confusing and too obtuse at times, also I felt the ending was quite rushed after such a long build up. I thought Liza rather than Adam's granddaughter Beth should have been the one to save the day, making Beth such a vital part of the novel so late on made no sense. I give this three stars as a paranormal thriller but the twist ending and lack of closure into these characters' lives bumped a star from my initial assessment.
One for fans of early Rickman or those who longed for something darker in Diana Gabaldan's books.
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