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A review by mikekaz
A Gathering of Crows by Brian Keene
5.0
One of the nice things about long plane rides is plenty of time to read a book. I was on a flight back from London when I was able to speed through this book. To be honest though, I think that this would have been a "stay up late, can't put down" type of book even if I was reading it at home. The story grasps you quickly and pulls you into the chaos.
Brinkley Springs is a small town that is slowly dying. There are no industries or major companies there and people are gradually leaving. One night, five mysterious and powerful entities come to Brinkley Springs to speed up the process by slaughtering every living creature and feasting on their soul. Fortunately, Levi Stoltzfus is within the town when the creatures arrive. What follows is mayhem, death, and tons of Keene's Labyrinth mythos.
The story itself is not overly complex: supernatural being comes to a small town to destroy it and must face someone who has the power to stop them. At the same time though, Keene has woven so many different elements into the story that it becomes so much more. The amount of research completed for the book is obvious: tons. I was able to recognize much of the mythology and religions and supernatural events that were described but there was also a lot I didn't know. Was that real stuff I didn't know? Was it made up by Keene for the book? It would take hours for me to figure out. In the end it doesn't matter because it makes the story more real. Then there are the usual characters that you would expect in a small-town horror story, made richer by Keene's constantly well-written prose. By the time I was finished, I was well pleased and satisfied. It makes me yearn even harder for more of the Labyrinth mythos.
Brinkley Springs is a small town that is slowly dying. There are no industries or major companies there and people are gradually leaving. One night, five mysterious and powerful entities come to Brinkley Springs to speed up the process by slaughtering every living creature and feasting on their soul. Fortunately, Levi Stoltzfus is within the town when the creatures arrive. What follows is mayhem, death, and tons of Keene's Labyrinth mythos.
The story itself is not overly complex: supernatural being comes to a small town to destroy it and must face someone who has the power to stop them. At the same time though, Keene has woven so many different elements into the story that it becomes so much more. The amount of research completed for the book is obvious: tons. I was able to recognize much of the mythology and religions and supernatural events that were described but there was also a lot I didn't know. Was that real stuff I didn't know? Was it made up by Keene for the book? It would take hours for me to figure out. In the end it doesn't matter because it makes the story more real. Then there are the usual characters that you would expect in a small-town horror story, made richer by Keene's constantly well-written prose. By the time I was finished, I was well pleased and satisfied. It makes me yearn even harder for more of the Labyrinth mythos.