Candles Burning

By: Tabitha King, Michael McDowell

Narrated by: Carrington Macduffie

Length: 15 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Author Michael McDowell, known for his chilling Blackwater series, left behind the unfinished manuscript of Candles Burning at his death in 1999. His close friend, Tabitha King, has taken up where he left off, weaving a Southern gothic fabric of murder, guilt, innocence, corruption, and survival, in the voices of the living and the dead.

Seven-year-old Calley Dakin is daddy's little girl, but her well-born mother persists in her contempt for the Dakin name. When her daddy is tortured and murdered by two women with no discernible motivation, Calley and her mother find themselves caught up in inexplicable events that exile them to Pensacola Beach. There, another woman awaits their presence, a woman who knows what Calley is and who seeks to control her. For Calley is no ordinary little girl.

©2006 Michael McDowell (P)2006 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Critic reviews

"[A] lightly supernatural confection....King completes it beautifully as to tone, aura, and flavor, and it's funny and intriguing, magnetically readable." (Booklist)
"A mix of magic realism and Southern gothic, this stunning collaboration moves at a hypnotic pace, like an Alabama water moccasin slipping through black water." (Publishers Weekly)

Dragged on and on

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I loved the detail in this book and I thought the writing was good. The problem is it dragged on and on without much happening. The ending was very anticlimactic as well. I felt that they left many things unexplained and the way the ending was wrapped up it almost felt like an afterthought.

Unexpected and beautiful

This story has characters of startling complexity and depth. Their inner journey is so engaging that it might be easy to miss the equally complex world through which they move, although this is a character in its own right. The narration was lovely and nuanced. Highly recommend!

Excellent story and narrator

I will have to rate this with one of my favorites. Narrator excellent in story telling, differantiating character voices, and keeping attention of audience. I just loved this.

good , but a little hard to follow and anticlimact

was a AMAZING narrator, story was good but the reveille was a little disappointing
however I love all of mcdowell's books

Wonderful

It’s with much sorrow to know that Michael McDonnell will never write another masterpiece such as this one. It kept me enthralled and emotionally entertained. Continuously looking forward to when I could listen again!! And our narrator Carrington Mcduffie was perfect.

FABULOUS STORY!

Outstanding characters, made me laugh many times. Narrator was excellent. Kept me interested to the point, I could not put it down. For anyone who wants to drift back to the 50's-60's and the sunlight brezzy shores of the Deep South, this is a read that will take you there. I loved it!

Riveting

I thoroughly enjoyed this. The transition between authors was smooth enough to make me forget there was one.

What a waste of time!

Read the few chapters and the epilogue, that will tell you the story without wasting your time. Very little happens in the rest of the book.

Great Listen!

The narrator did a fantastic job. Although the story was long I enjoyed listening to it as often as I could.

Disappointing and tedious.

I have thoroughly enjoyed reading Michael McDowells books and looked forward to listening to Candles Burning. The narration was wonderfully done, and in truth the only thing that kept my interest going thru the interminable length of this novel. It was easy to see that this was “ ghost written” by a less masterful hand. Horrendous bore of a story told with perfect Southern charm.