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