An entertaining and at times very well written novel that blends supernatural elements with a more traditional thriller narrative to really good effect. The characters are very well drawn and believable, the pace is swift and the story hangs together well. I thoroughly enjoyed it ( )

http://tamaranth.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/201791-cold-calling-phil-rickman.html ( )

A very diverse cast of characters come together in a small village in Herefordshire dominated by a prehistoric ritual mound known as Black Knoll and end up in a common mission to stop a ritualistic serial killer who has been sacrificing people on ley lines. Phil Rickman has written many paranormal thrillers that mix mystery with pagan supernatural themes. This is a good example of what he does, though not his best. ( )

What a cast of characters, Bobby Maiden, policeman, once 4 minutes dead, Sister Andy who used ‘alternative’ means to bring him back, Grayle, who’s left New York to try and find her missing sister, Marcus, trying to keep his dying magazine going and, possibly Rickman’s best creation, Cindy, a cross-dressing ventriloquist and shaman.

I just couldn’t put this book down as I wanted to discover who the ‘Green Man’, driven to murder his victims at sacred sites, what happened to Grayle’s sister, and whether or not everyone makes it alive to the end of the book. But I also didn’t want to finish it as, as well as his wonderfully three dimensional and flawed characters, Rickman’s sense of place is superbly evocative of the border country he writes about.

I really don’t why Rickman isn’t more widely read as he should be at the top of the best seller lists. ( )

Pretty good setup. As usual with Rickman, some good, amusing characters. But the plot's kinda lacking and the conclusion especially trite. More on neolithic life might have been a good turn to distract from the rather standard-issue serial-killer plot, but I'm guessing the publisher very much wanted the standard-issue serial-killer plot with a bit of the old spook thrown in. And that, unfortunately for us, is pretty much what they got. ( )