Disappointing. I very much liked roughly the first 2/3 of the book, particularly the protagonist's bardic gift (which first manifested as a terrific gimmick for a busker), but the last third or so was dark, depressing, and inconclusive.

The descriptions of violence throughout the book were somewhat more graphic than I prefer, and it got worse at the end. I really wanted, and more than half expected, that his grandma hadn't really been gorily murdered by the faeries, and that it was going to turn out that the gorey corpse was akin to a changeling, and she had really been captured by the faeries in order to control him. I would have liked where that story went much better than where this one did.

Since it looks like the sequel doesn't directly continue the protagonist's story, I doubt I'll read it. ( )

SLJ Reviews 2005 October
Website: http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com


Adult/High School -Douglas Stewart, 22, has two obsessions: guitar-playing and heroin. He has recently broken the hold the narcotic has on him but realizes that he needs to get far away from his old life in Minneapolis if he has any hope of staying clean. He flies to Edinburgh and the sanctuary that his grandmother offers. Finding that busking is a viable profession there, he uses his gift for on-the-spot composing to establish a comfortable income among tourists. But an encounter with a mysterious young woman leaves him with a vial of white powder that he can not resist. Injecting the substance does not give him the expected high; rather, it opens his eyes to the vast populations of fey folk on the streets of the city. Suddenly, he is caught up in a battle between two factions of magical creatures that have been warring for countless generations. Add to the mix a sadistic priest devoted to eradicating all such beings and the fact that Douglas's talent gives him a power in the netherworld that he barely understands and the ingredients for a highly original adventure are in place. Faintly reminiscent of Ash in the cult film Army of Darkness , Douglas is an antihero whose tragic flaws make readers root for him that much harder. Stemple blends the majesty and brutality of the faery world with the grit and pulse of contemporary society. He writes with an assurance that belies the fact that this is his first adult novel and shows himself to be a voice to be reckoned with-and much anticipated.-Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Library System, VA
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I saved this book from a trash bin - was actually a decent read. Stemple did a good job for his first attempt at writing. The story invovles a druggie with musical talent and hidden power - not a new idea but decently written. Overall a simple but enjoyable read, not something i'd read more than once though. But entertaining enough i'm checking out what else Adam Stemple has written. ( )

Amoral nonsense with no redeeming qualities. ( )

This one started really well, and turned into a disappointing mess at the end. It blends scottish culture with a knowledge of music and manipulated fairy folk. The problem is the ending - what the heck was the author thinking? The ending was either a very rushed mess or very subtle foreshadowing for the sequal. ( )