Saturday 1 November 2014

Review of audiobook "Knight of the Cross" by Steven A. McKay

Following on from my recent review of another audio book, I was lucky enough to get the offer to receive a review copy of Steven A. McKay's latest work, the novella "Knight of the Cross" that is now available as an audio book on Audible.


Story

The blurb on the book is as follows:
The Knights Hospitaller battle ancient evil in medieval Rhodes as mysterious disappearances and insane devil-worshippers threaten to turn the entire island into a bloodbath....
When three Hospitallers go missing from a local village outraged Grand Master Foulques de Villaret sends the English knight Sir Richard-at-Lee and his trusted sergeant-at-arms Jacob to discover their fate. Met with resistance from frightened locals and rumours of a blasphemous sect performing unspeakable rites beneath the village Sir Richard must overcome not only the devil-worshippers but the faceless, unstoppable demon that stalks his dreams.
I am a fan of fantasy and horror, as well as historical fiction, and I'm pretty sure my tastes are similar to McKay's. This novella blends perfectly a believable historical setting with elements of classic fantasy stories and Lovecraftian horror. I will admit to having played a lot of role playing games back in the day (and I mean the games with dice and pencils and paper, not the PC games called RPGs) and this novella almost felt like an adventure from Dungeons & Dragons.

An ancient evil stalking a village. Mysterious disappearances. A terrifying subterranean cult. And a couple of adventurous knights sent to investigate.

The story speeds along at the pace of a galloping destrier. It is relentless, exhilarating and just spooky enough.

McKay handles the occult references well, leaving a lot to the reader's imagination as the novella hurtles towards its horrific conclusion.

My verdict?

A fabulous, rich, action-filled story that manages to pack an epic punch into a novella-sized story.

Narrator


Nick Ellsworth reads with conviction and verve. He has a voice that sounds at home intoning the grave events that take place on the island of Rhodes in Knight of the Cross. His deep voice reminded me a little of Richard Burton at times, which is praise indeed.

Experience


I've used Audible a couple of times now, and the experience has always been smooth and easy.

Overall score


5 out of 5 stars

Links


Knight of the Cross on Audible.co.uk
Steven A. McKay's webpage