Speaks the Nightbird

By: Robert R. McCammon

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini

Length: 30 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Nominee, Fiction, 2013

Judgment of the Witch

The Carolinas, 1699: The citizens of Fount Royal believe a witch has cursed their town with inexplicable tragedies - and they demand that beautiful widow Rachel Howarth be tried and executed for witchcraft. Presiding over the trial is traveling magistrate Issac Woodward, aided by his astute young clerk, Matthew Corbett. Believing in Rachel's innocence, Matthew will soon confront the true evil at work in Fount Royal....

Evil Unveiled

After hearing damning testimony, magistrate Woodward sentences the accused witch to death by burning. Desperate to exonerate the woman he has come to love, Matthew begins his own investigation among the townspeople. Piecing together the truth, he has no choice but to vanquish a force more malevolent than witchcraft in order to save his beloved Rachel - and free Fount Royal from the menace claiming innocent lives.

©2002 Robert McCammon (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Edoardo Ballerini performs this story of accusation and fear flawlessly. He effortlessly switches his pitch, accents, and timbre to suit the unfortunate Rachel Howarth, the endless curious Corbett, and the various determined characters, good and evil.” (AudioFile)

"a compelling story that should find a wide readership. Highly recommended for popular fiction collections." (Library Journal)

"An excellent story, full of tension and suspense.” (Stephen King)

This is how you start a series!

I read a lot of historical mysteries and I expect a lot. This book supplies it - accurate period detail, complex mystery, surprising twists and turns; but what made this stand out for me is the protagonist, Matthew Corbett. Robert McCammon actually put a heart and mind into Matthew Corbett, the "detective" of the story. He runs into his share of villains, but not every single person is rotten to the core (another one of my pet peeves. How can every single person be sick and twisted? Every single one?)

McCammon gave me every reason to keep rooting for Matthew, even when I thought he was making a terrible mistake. See what I mean? That's a protagonist.

UNRELENTINGLY GRIM

Is there anything you would change about this book?

A WELL WRITTEN STORY, BUT UNRELENTINGLY DARK AND GRIM.

Would you recommend Speaks the Nightbird to your friends? Why or why not?

THOUGH WELL CRAFTED, THE STORY WAS TOO DARK AND DEPRESSING FOR ME, THEREFORE I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND IT TO OTHERS.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

THE NARRATOR DID A SUPERB JOB WITH THE MATERIAL.

Was Speaks the Nightbird worth the listening time?

NOT FOR ME.

Beware Anachronisms

Overall this is not a bad story, but if you are a historian of 17th century colonial America it may well drive you mad. It appears that everyone has matches (not invented in usable form until the 19th century), wears tricorn hats (exceedingly unlikely for backwoods Carolina and a 19th century word to boot), and are citizens, (a term not in general use until Revolutionary times). I eventually made a small game of find the historical anachronism. But if you don't care about accuracy of detail you may well enjoy this story.

It's A HIT!!

My first experience with McCammon was Swan Song and I was, quite frankly, amazed by it. When I saw that this was "historical" I spent some time reading reviews before I finally decided to download the first book. The word "historical" is usually a turnoff for me. I like my fiction totally fictional, but luckily the "history" in this book was so cunningly woven into the story and characters that it didn't distract me at all.

First, the author is an astoundingly good writer. His descriptions really give great mental visuals. Even his description of clothing, which would normally bore me a bit, seem to really aid in the character development. His turns of phrase are quite clever as well, and although much of the book is very dark in character, there are moments where I laughed out loud.

Second, this book is all about characters. The plot, as one reviewer said, is to some extent predictable: young hotshot figures everything out and all the establishment figures don't, and saves the beuatiful woman at the end. But think of the plot as just a scaffold on which the author hangs his truly beautiful prose and his deeply developed characters.

Third, Matthew Corbett is just a very likeable young man. Supremely intelligent but not arrogant, confident without being overbearing. The other characters vary from bland to horrific.

Once you get past the rather grand-sounding name (no offense intended at all, it's just that one could go a lifetime without meeting anyone called Edoardo Ballerini) the narrator is extremely talented. His job is made more difficult by the fact that there are so many characters in this book that he must keep separated. He does women's and even children's voices in a convincing manner, but seems never to intrude into the story.

Now I don't see how I can avoid downloading all of the books. I can only hope that somewhere down the line he comes back to Fount Royal and sees what's become of Bidwell and Rachel and the other charcters. I can heartily recommend this book. I'll check back when I've listened to the second one.

A one-man Scooby Gang in doublet and hose

An incredibly enjoyable, if somewhat lengthy historical mystery novel (2 novels, actually) that introduces plucky magistrate's clerk Matthew Corbett. The novel is actually a coming-of-age tale for Matthew, who travels with his magistrate master to a remote town to try a woman accused of witchcraft. She's a total babe (natch) and before long, Matthew's attraction to her sublimates into a fanatical devotion to discovering "the truth" of what is really happening in Fount Royal.

The novel is crammed with historical facts about colonial life in 1699 that appear in the narrative as large as billboards, but are nevertheless totally fascinating. Aside from learning way too much about the scary ickiness of healthcare from that period, I learned that wasps nests were kept *inside* of houses to keep mosquitoes under control...a fact I have not been able to verify by googling, but seems too perfectly weird to be made up.

Matthew Corbett is a great character, a somewhat naive and bumbling nerd who becomes a kind of hyper-articulate and powerful agent of justice once armed with all the facts. I plan to check out his next three adventures asap. For some reason I can't get Elijah Wood out of my mind when I think of him.

A note on the narrator: Edoardo Ballerini, was absolutely fantastic. I plan to listen to, not read, the other entries in the series because he brings the story to life beautifully (and hilariously at times).

Well written but contrived

A good editor could have greatly improved this book by removing the various subplots inserted simply to throw the reader off the trail. Also, some of the characters' actions do not comport with normal human nature and motivation.

Delightful Historical Whodunit

Edoardo Ballerini was perfect for this story that captivated me to the very end. History, detective work, mystery, witch trial, etc. What's not to like?

Superb on every level

Excellent book set in the late 1600’s in British colonial America, which I would categorize as an historical fiction mystery thriller. A magistrate and his clerk are sent to a small town to investigate a charge of witchcraft, and soon they encounter several undercurrents to the charges (social, economic, corrupt, racial, and generational) that presents a more complex series of facts for them to investigate. None of these facts necessarily speaks to the accused’s innocence, merely to an undercurrent that takes things beyond a straightforward witch trial. The book is multi-layered, intelligently written and not the sort of cookie cutter crime thriller format in which you can predict the end far in advance.

I highly recommend this one.

The Prison Bars are on the Wrong Side!

Fount Royal has a totally corrupt society, yet the only innocent is behind bars facing a death sentence. With the whole bloodthirsty lot screaming hungrily for a taste of her blood. They should all be in prison, and not her.

How easy it was, at the beginning of the 17th Century to simply label someone a witch and kill her.

It makes you grateful for living in these times. Thank science for roads, medicine, and forensic investigations. It inspires gratitude for our modern juristic system, as imperfect as it seems at times.

The magistrate represents ‘age’, the past, set in his ways and rather willing to accept things as they are, and deal with them in the time-honoured manner. His clerk is ‘youth’ and the future, curious, questioning, searching for answers and a better way. Every sanctimonious citizen has a guilty secret or something to hide, yet all are pointing fingers at the witch, their scapegoat.

An interesting and well-read book, on the whole. There are some great gaps in the latter part. We’re here, and then suddenly we’re there, with no idea how we got there. In the interim the problem got solved, and we’re still wondering how, after the fact. But there’s not much of it, and that would be my only real criticism, in 30 hours.

Outstanding in every regard!

At the risk of being repetitive, all of the reviews that heralded this period piece for writing and narration were spot on. Wonderfully woven tale told by a master reader. Highly recommended!