Ebook321 pages4 hours
Cast a Cold Eye
By Alan Ryan
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
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About this ebook
Jack Quinlan, an American writer, travels to a small village in the remote western part of Ireland to research a book on the Irish Famine. The quiet, picturesque village seems just the place to spend a few months writing, but beneath its placid exterior lurk dark secrets. Why do the locals behave so strangely? What is Father Henning, the enigmatic parish priest, hiding? And what is the meaning of the strange ritual Jack observes in the cemetery? The search for answers will lead him to the terrifying discovery that the ghosts of the past linger on in the present, and they cry out for blood ...
An atmospheric, haunting ghost story, Cast a Cold Eye (1984) is a slow burn horror novel that will keep readers in suspense until its chilling conclusion.
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Reviews for Cast a Cold Eye
Rating: 3.785714376190476 out of 5 stars
4/5
21 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This was a moody, atmospheric ghost story, not so much scary as it was melancholy. An Irish-American writer travels to a small village on the Irish coast to research for several months, but he starts seeing apparitions and begins to suspect the villagers know more than they are letting on about them. I liked how Ryan wove Irish history and culture into his story and the technique of ghost stories told inside the story by the local priest, or seanachie.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What great atmosphere! There are two stories at work here that will, given time and above all circumstance, ultimately converge. The novel begins with a scene that launches the first of these, as four men are waiting in a shabeen trying to keep warm while awaiting a funeral procession before going on to an ancient graveyard to perform some strange rites. As good writers will, Ryan gives us no explanations, so the question of what's going on here and why is planted in the reader's head from the outset and stays in the back of the mind throughout the novel until all is revealed. Great way to start a horror novel, if you ask me. The second storyline belongs to Jack Quinlan, who has come to Ireland, home of his ancestors, to do some research on a novel he's writing about the Famine. More specifically, his book is about"a family and its struggles to survive through the Famine of 1846 and 1847, and about the horrible thing ... that happened to three members of his family in particular."Jack takes a house in the rather isolated village of Doolin, planning to stay for three months, and it isn't too long before he sets up a nice routine of research, writing, and sometimes hanging out at the local pubs, where traditional music is played of an evening. He's met a girl, Grainne, to whom he's very much attracted, and all seems to be well with him right up until the moment when he starts to see and hear some very disturbing things which seem to follow him whenever he's out and about. And then one night he witnesses something he knows is real, but has no explanation for. The only person he can talk to about it is the local priest Father Henning, the local seanachie who loves telling eerie stories, yet is reluctant at best to talk with Jack about his experiences. The question becomes whether or not Jack's actually experiencing these horrific things -- is the research he's doing getting to him, or is it the remoteness and isolation of the place that's affecting him? And if it is true that Jack is not going off his rocker but is really seeing what he thinks he's seeing, why him?Reading Cast a Cold Eye is to find yourself in the middle of an eerie mystery that grows darker and creepier along the way, one that is not solved up until the last minute. A lot of readers have noted, like the Kirkus reviewer of this book, that the story "doesn't add up," that there are too many loose ends, yada yada yada, but it all made perfectly good sense to me. I won't say why, since I'm sure many people will want to read this novel, but the answers really are all there. My regular habit is to finish a novel and then go back and reread the first chapter, and in this case, it's a hugely eye-opening moment, stunningly circular in nature. It may not scare the bejeebies out of modern horror readers, but for those of us who aren't looking for chainsaw-wielding killer clowns or the like, it's a delightful tale of ghostly horrors that will stay in your head for a long time after turning that last page.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book was resonant with atmosphere - more melancholy than creepy and certainly more poignant than frightening. It is one of the most tender and beautiful books I have read, with a totally compelling sense of place as we discover with the protagenist - an American writer researching the Irish Famine - the magic and enchantment of Ballyvas. I bought this book over 20 years ago but have not reread it because I do not want to risk diluting the impact it had on me the first time. It was after reading this that I began to consider moving to Ireland.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A beautiful, atmospheric ghost story set in rural Ireland. The story of an American who rents an isolated cottage for a three month stay. The story unfolds slowly, but felt perfectly paced to me.
Book preview
Cast a Cold Eye - Alan Ryan
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