Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

The Revenants
The Revenants
The Revenants
Ebook227 pages5 hours

The Revenants

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

()

Read preview

About this ebook

'The ghoulish misdeeds and conflicted psychology of the undead are memorably explored in this classic supernatural thriller, published in England in 1983 and previously unavailable in the US.

In the terse, atmospheric opening pages, an unnamed narrator finds a partially charred manuscript in the vicinity of an abandoned country house in Cornwall that has mysteriously burned to the ground. It's the "Narrative of John Richard Le Perrowne," born in 1830 to middle-agedparents, sickly and reclusive throughout a lonely childhood?and the chosen victim of his ancestress Helena, a vampire whose seductive presence leads
John into a thrilling new anti-world of empowerment and glamour. But the initiate vampire retains a conscience, and Farrington expertly contrasts his reluctant surrender to the lure of the night with the amoral Helena, a coven of inordinately bloodthirsty fellow creatures, and the young farm girl (Elizabeth) who becomes John's creation, far outdistancing him in calculated villainy. The story is exactly as baroque and lurid as it needs to be, and its most effective set pieces (John awakening in bed to find Helena lying beside him; a feverish dream that's prelude to an equally appalling reality) have a truly cinematic intensity. Farrington's prose is
pitched agreeably high, and his protagonist's increasingly fearful intuitions are expressed with vivid emotion and mordant irony ("Death . . . seems much sweeter when you know you cannot have it"). And the closing
sequences build impressively, as Perrowne discovers the truth of the ancestral secret that has shaped his fate, travels to Ireland in search of the "Master Revenant" rumored to be the father of them all, undertakes a
climactic "journey to Hell," and experiences a grotesque parody of theResurrection. Thus summarized, it sounds egregiously flamboyant; in fact, it's smashingly effective.

Far superior to most of Anne Rice's empurpled Gothicism, and, quite possibly, the best vampire novel since Dracula.'
Starred review in Kirkus
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJul 21, 2012
ISBN9781909232174
The Revenants

Related to The Revenants

Related ebooks

Literary Fiction For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for The Revenants

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

5 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    The Revenants - Geoffrey Farrington

    F1^book_preview_excerpt.html\˖6WsR%kzܶ,JUֱ*wH 'IXaVFϟ̽zil/z$A 7nx맶1uiN7fam}ϪUM ۄ&Vkdot?za~}vm*S&XxGYϤ`KjgkVa7sZxMX6zyΌiC7c}WN7=|L&و`<|٧+pbՐQ/m[E+#ykykܵn@sXgwR†eVhKw\Y_;-r0a~ MM3ꍏѭqnמmhk߱:.C{VՅDqk .|#ϼ+3aM{R&FkR8&yzASwKiG@f=3cHpMmp>"``ڽIgo{ WÝyECwK9E\[z\uH8o|q}Lyk7/$B"⫏Kqo^lM¶0w1ꑞ:6T/>ޱPĨD=CʸOͥkfZmw!/MG͈$0AmBwxqG؎>ݶ3Tf4vvzWe;ߏD{`#Jm6>BpAjݛ_1 ߯y6͸XIo?Iio%_(.xAJ nHӜ D٭[f&>&񩦂ÊOՀh7lXUq7ħ餣H+2,4(tU5RX Ul6e(Hn6CCᆍq:Ƴ;a3@-+,c;HĖl&t(\8(.Ym7E8ΗxKp𭑷w61Rc&XyEHѵRp | jxП0 ~ uo l*e` aѶ؍׶Cܢ9 -ѭzaUh#jLk"u 6jo/UeWWOL,Qj"> x">"ASCDkEpX3fa}";i`!8 }GXn rඵ&ET FOPd5@B٦ ͠d-|J4IB/PmxlemyuH-ؾ=L;w"T|@\qZobB؞T,#yMwlc]hw_ AQI;DjT)4hGQυ׌=vzD!Mm?7J&٩u0O‹`~!"3)5%>AuBim'. ?ٰ4_QT;c74.Ǡks%=*xl PbcC'S2IV!Jv<Oͦ>tI!,Jv\Nmqg6#;;Gmtlzb*ImXF}rPbBoň lFc_0:AɊ oh[w@7FN o+㝆pwP1ra%ZE- 8Ob 1m)mR`qʦ\O@ MƦazMT[0 :4fJ-R\O)L.o:}O⫛)l Xmk IA-n:<ߨ$"Ρܐ M404LrTb*:VkVnld ہ )|-@] 3Fckr¦Leނ˃B@ø^gP#bOЉeK'AGcH˝QK9W"+^? cm8hKmC;<7Qu|ͨ_ T{yƕ.oevן?\=1@~lEw.u{[K ,Q7UNpO!Ȑ"CmmW8wTsBx7vJ:t a,@gF8![WՓ`m{e<`5ˇ_|0v>J]%yEž[##-}D`i9kˀ6uňR3$" ¢fC72TޛSָ͆䅤<ޠƵ ~Fu:v !O}A/>t_œSA(a"B뛉  O(Gk:3Rf;DhTW~ ck'iATBnV7ɬIRY24(hRqJ{+ ]I$cn0 .jQ23 IyO(}-_Pٯ4$dNZ]"IȱX28dϟ[;Mf.q/1ĂgҏN/ii^5z֓qaE3Fdr]Xjiq_ qig'9@Xp':qA02;*t9$HJB:T&&b`V=#&E錧7x%k~>֣"H,A#B>%%)`jtxK7 :1XJ{6a5RFjf :Xr#in@0*cJ, ~}eP8%5&FՒQ\sCLMf UF 1\vF"|ֈ$)vV Kv!nrC2=ď'Wcmي]w4?1i"zPpЫkxi  ، pP+IOF7 nP~ǭuTrMC]Kj5'i!')͞ $+{PJ[A6~*d[Qx9(a1Mr%QwP2Jyg(c?FI]42)J+f};&!VLXГm_ېwd @c,jdV5[+7 ~C(wC נS^eLI[?@ {-w2_کRQB,&Tk)[dNȲlNBªSK[@ٰ8piHߺ磘;0 x k$q F98916$W ˫)h#!׹3,u_20|i-OZ6?2ҜTȁEvK9Fr/i֕pQ򊌯2$U(M b*9Ϭy)$%Y\,1aN4ޝ4xiEd>- /99sIີjbmL| NQRG(r`G zJ|dpK ȽQ#]vzȂ#*IX? /zUfS953 cjAVjRFRN5/EZʑ&fztY. Jz\}1{V}\ _"6G@p )L%4$^alPA[Z%G{M WmZ,|ͥLiW͔0G-3@2^vt$R)/3c wk amǂN+i3|ZRk|5C sU.8f}:Թth qdIh#և' "p2jh1.`6mfXCÍ<\ *$J[ ٥r`d-&=.IK{#p94* wNRqZ<nN9liWlk" ?-z6[[7Y_%Iԥ^ݖv!s>!ܺN%<^ưdD!,ښ 6řѺ+F4y!Y+ah#W)Ò(^V ,hy.V3/a]l bݱ:2 ?c.KO(ܦr;}AHk@yf?9_|^b7nqB!ХH9>B[!_T"K=nbIGFm+r2JTE_$gu|=j!$sЂ% g\c TS<!N֭݊N4c0E*O=^ YbRnjο9<8j3؈hAP])BťdAejg!l ' 2@\ckQStƴ2E=XJ2ψ7c \cUa``9F.Z7d$"iʨ ovHG3\eș b/$^e`\=򏟉YKj=& [Dg,_( V.O&ūղц.G,̙=e:Wjmh5GTHsdG 7# \[p/( R S7UqL$)ڒ"()5~Zm_Aj2rdT*onYX2 ZaĬL+]H:QfEH[Gjs298EіbHh$ՑF(sZpbL,R~.ix >o\n=M_y9V6px#v`ы%&͜gp[?O]ˠmƺtD ,&t PPȯ[J!hvRC-yp)K7pu=6ju26~G=Q9 0bFa/$f6"h6MQ]1s^ &~yݸJuݟ]/@W"n"Rے>o]UbY*˩C"wwiia1R(2H#@3*TuE9657kpTi;wי8(BQiiheP̉z}H[ql:#rowgRΝ|^'i䟂H&d>LSOw7 BH+(&X+0|^XS>z$2b+'HThԱ,N\B!Efjf,{q OMpc#]~3NǶ@ Hd d@aך3e$W,3Owk}2ѕℵ&]9t-bY)!=e"N 8ogFj,(ԟڰYO2:pT II02s58q"%":fQ=]HOUEr>i6HLإ _-0Mr]:o;f ުiEۗyޣ+(2~:\%>|E_߉yf/9X7h7 ?!6c\ױ]WR[aT,C7=3?sa!avaK|:ol-7*=scj#_Xa6sxJ^^nLUSB?SM=aL881;4%h$@ 9 16q]$Qc'c5h.ܔU0J(9sւ{TH{~AsSB;H_r1ˇWx)h/ʶujbU~ fSPSZ sW|'سn{FpeXD#v$`h1h 6LŕYAtPHWaP
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1