Four and Twenty Blackbirds -- Cherie Priest

Cherie Priest, you have a new fan.

Colleen, you were right.

Chrissy, you mush read this.

Since early childhood, Eden Moore has been aware of the three sisters:

Willa, Luanna--she's over here.

Two other women appeared, one on either side of her.  They had the same vaguely African features as the first, with hair bound into submission by scarves tied in loose knots.  Their faces might have been round once, but their skin was drawn back and their wide cheekbones made shelves that shadowed their hollow jaws.  Their teeth were exaggerated by fleshy lips robbed of their firmness, and when they spoke to one another it was a terrible sight.

There she is, his darling one.

His pretty one.

Oh, Mae, she's returned to you.  She's returned to us. 

Mae crouched low to examine me with her enormous, brimming eyes.  My baby, she said, reaching one scrawny arm to my face.  My baby.  Miabella.

But when the back of her hand brushed my cheek, the horror of her dusty, dead breath broke the spell and my screams split the supernatural quiet that had descended over the mountainside.  I howled until my cries went hoarse, and the women withdrew.  Mae left me last, turning with a slow, miserable sob and vanishing into the crowded trees.  The last thing I saw before I shrieked myself unconscious was her retreating back, slashed and stained with long, dark streaks that could have been nothing but blood.

As terrifying as the first interaction, though, it quickly becomes apparent to Eden that these women mean her no harm -- just the opposite.  A few years later, they save her life.

I don't want to give you any more than that* -- if a Southern Gothic story, complete with declining mansion, a creepy old woman, a mysterious and convoluted family history, ghosts, murder, magic, a lunatic would-be murderer who thinks he talks to God, and an abandoned asylum** sound at all appealing to you, totally give it a try. 

Actually, if you like the cover, give it a try.  Because the cover art is spot on.  El perfect-o.  I love it.

Personally, I'm going to order all of her books as soon as I get my next paycheck.  (I'm already worried about what to do when I've read them all.  Anyone?  Suggestions for more modern Southern Gothic?  Please?)

*The description on the back of the book, by the way, gives way too much information for my taste.

**That segment reminded me of Session 9.  Then I was even MORE creeped out.

Comments

[cherie priest]

Wow - thank you very much (someone just linked me to this review). I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I hope you like the rest of the series, too. And -- real quick, since I'm at work and must be brief -- I just had to giggle a little at the Session 9 reference. I first saw that movie back in the day, because everybody and his brother told me I needed to watch it since it was JUST LIKE PINE BREEZE.

I don't know if you read the author's notes or anything, but I used to go poking around PB all the time before it was torn down, and yes, Session 9 was pretty darned close :)

[Colleen]

I knew you would love it - that Southern Gothic stuff gets me every time. The sequel (as I wrote on my site) is very different -it's a lot of Eden feeling her way in this new life she's got and coming to terms with it.

But it has another asylum and Civil War ghosts - so your Southern Gothic requirements are totally checked!

[Flu-Bird]

Theres always good scary stories from the south