Between Two Fires

De: Christopher Buehlman

Narrado por: Steve West

And Lucifer said, “Let us rise against Him now in all our numbers, and pull the walls of heaven down…”

The year is 1348. Thomas, a disgraced knight, has found a young girl alone in a dead Norman village. An orphan of the Black Death, and an almost unnerving picture of innocence, she tells Thomas that plague is only part of a larger cataclysm - that the fallen angels under Lucifer are rising in a second war on heaven, and that the world of men has fallen behind the lines of conflict.

Is it delirium or is it faith? She believes she has seen the angels of God. She believes the righteous dead speak to her in dreams. And now she has convinced the faithless Thomas to shepherd her across a depraved landscape to Avignon. There, she tells Thomas, she will fulfill her mission: to confront the evil that has devastated the earth and to restore to this betrayed, murderous knight the nobility and hope of salvation he long abandoned.

As Hell unleashes its wrath, and as the true nature of the girl is revealed, Thomas will find himself on a macabre battleground of angels, demons, saints, and the risen dead - and in the midst of a desperate struggle for nothing less than the soul of man.

Christopher Buehlman is a writer and performer from St. Petersburg, Florida. The winner of the 2007 Bridport Prize for poetry, he is also the author of several plays and the acclaimed horror novel Those Across the River. He lives with his wife and his rescued dog, Duck.

©2012 Christopher Buehlman (P)2012 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Having made a huge bloody splash with Those across the River, Buehlman returns with a book set in 1348 Europe…It’s intriguing that Buehlman has leapt so far from the mid-century Southern setting of his first novel, just as intriguing that he’s also an award-winning poet. Expect demand.” ( Library Journal)

Mesmerizing Knight Errant Tale

Between Two Fires is a well written 14th century period piece that expertly intermingles vivid scenes of plague ravaged France with Christian mythos to provide a fantastical horror story that reads like historical fiction. I am not a great horror fan so to say I "liked" this book wouldn't be quite right, but I was completely captivated by it. Christopher Buehlman is masterful in his writing - his characters are so genuine, the settings so sharply etched, the plot so intricate and imaginative that I was engrossed throughout the book. I felt a bit dazed at the end of the book coming back to the 21st century after this total immersion experience in 1348.

I have to thank Audible and Troy's review for giving me a nudge to look at this book. I'm don't normally read books in the horror genre, but I am a huge fan of good writing and this book ranks right up there with the best. And, it paints such a clear picture of this period of medieval history that it is likely to be appealing to those who like historical fiction as well as those who enjoy a good scary story.

It's not a book for everyone - the book covers a dark period of history when the Black Death rampaged through Europe and many of the characters are rough, vulgar people so it is not surprising that there are graphic scenes of violence and a fair amount of cursing and crude language in the book. I did not think the violence or bad language was gratuitous, but I know I like to know before hand when a book is one I want to listen to in private. (One oddity in regard to the vulgar language, Buehlman seems to have no difficult referring to various parts of female anatomy in very coarse terms, but male anatomy was demurely referred to as "the groin" and "his verge" which struck me as a little strange.)

Steve West does a terrific job with the narration. He pitches his voice just right to maintain the growing tension through the plot progression and does a good job with voices as well. One tiny criticism - scythe, a word used many times in the novel, does not have a K sound in it. Not a big deal, but I do think audio production people could do a better job picking up that sort of thing.

This is not a book for the faint of heart or those with delicate sensibilities, but it is a fascinating and well-written story.

Just fantastic

I rarely read books that are full of God and devils and religion etc. but for some reason I thought I would give this a try. I thought it would be like a historical fiction novel, with some elements of fantasy. Not only was I right, but there was SO MUCH MORE TO IT that I didn't anticipate.
It doesn't disappoint. It has some pretty good humour buried in a top notch work of character building, and the plot leaves you twisting, cringing, and even cheering for the characters.
No joke, at one point I shouted out loud "hurry up, hurry up! Get out!" then I just slowly looked around to see my wife staring at me...
The narrator does a great job doing different voices and you're never left wondering who is saying what.
I wish I could give it away, but it's worth the time to get to the end. You'll never think of Hell in the same way. It haunted me... It stuck with me for years, and that's probably why I'm on my third reading of this book despite the hundreds of unread books in my Audible library.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. HIGHLY ORIGINAL AND I HAVEN'T FOUND ANYTHING ELSE LIKE THIS YET.

Well done!

I tried this one because I like the narrator Steve West, who excels here. Had No idea this was a horror story, which I avoid. West and Buehlman have converted me! Great character development and philosophically satisfying driving narrative in the midst of surprisingly imaginative gritty, creepy demons taking over a plagued world. Well done!

Kept me glued to the finish

This book kept me glued all the way through. I loved the historical, geographical references with the right amount of fantastical and so much real emotion from the characters. Thank you!!!

Steve West did great, story was eerie :)

Great story. Very dark, so take it as a horror. There are some aspects of of story that would be confusing if you are not somewhat aware of dark age history. Overall I enjoyed it greatly. Steve West made me feel like I was watching a movie in my head. Might want to listen to certain chapters again to make sure things did not go over my head.