I feel like no one is writing stories quite like Christopher Golden at the moment.
It feels like only he could think up having three people trapped on a rusted up old ship and be hunted by witches; which is effectively what The Night Birds is.
For his coven of evil witches, Golden dials the clock back, having women who can turn into different animals whilst also mimicking the hag-style witch of yesteryear, which seems to be making a quiet comeback in some circles.
We follow Book, a man who lives on a half-sunken freighter off the coast of Galveston, whose life is turned upside down when his ex-girlfriend and companion with a baby turn up on the ship.
We don’t know why they are there, and whose baby this is, but once Golden turns the screw this goes to some nasty and dark places; which make it such a great read.
Golden has that ability to move a story forward whilst dropping in enough backstory to fill in the blanks and make a really rich text.
The reason The Night Birds works, much the same as one of his previous novels All Hallows, is because Golden commits to the piece and gives us a story with layers and some really interesting plot twists. You may feel at times like you know where this is going, but Golden has some aces up his sleeve.
This was a fantastic read that I feel horror fans will lap up and devour in no time.
The Night Birds by Christopher Golden is available now in various formats from Titan Books.
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