The Lamp of the Wicked (Merrily Watkins Mysteries)

Book Description

It appears that the unlovely village of Underhowle is home to a serial killer. But as the police hunt for the bodies of more young women, Rev. Merrily Watkins fears that the detective in charge has become blinkered by ambition. Meanwhile, Merrily has more personal problems, like the anonymous phone calls, the candles and incense left burning in her church, and the alleged angelic visitations.

Customer Reviews:

An uneasy blending of fact and fiction.......2005-02-09

This is a well-written and thought-provoking book which transcends any classification as a genre novel. I'm a generalist reader with no special preference for horror, the supernatural, or detective fiction. I look for books with believable characters and interesting situations, and this book certainly delivers. There are several story lines which the author for most part weaves together well, but a novel this long and complex presents some challenges that I didn't think were completely met. The biggest problem for me was the author's obviously sincere effort to arouse public interest in a real mystery story that will perhaps never be fully investigated. The author combines the imaginary adventures of his fictional community and characters with the career of an actual serial killer, the notorious Fred West of Gloucester. West's arrest made the headlines in the mid 1990's, and he was widely believed to be guilty of many more crimes than the ones to which he actually confessed. While it is not unusual for fiction to include real historical events, it is tricky to make this narrative device work when the real history is so recent and so emotionally charged. The strong element of horror in the novel comes not only from the events that the reader knows are fictional, but also from what he or she believes actually happened to West's victims. For me, this uneasy mix of fascinating fiction and horrifying fact made the book alternately hard to put down and hard to pick up. Seriously, expect disturbing dreams if you read this book! In addition, I found the plotting a bit messy and hard to follow at times, but the superior quality of the writing kept me going.

Be advised that this is not the kind of suspense story in which all is neatly explained at the end. The main characters are all in their own way on a philosophical journey of discovery, plagued by doubts, fears, and confusion. The reader who travels with them will have a challenging but exciting journey.

"Be sober, be vigilant...".......2005-02-04

This is the second of Phil Rickman's stories featuring Merrily Watkins that I've read. Originally, I wasn't sure that Merrily, who is an Anglican minister and Deliverance Consultant (exorcist) would be the kind of character that to whom I would be attracted. Stories with romantic underpinnings put me off, and Kay Scarpetta stories have permanently put me off troublesome teenage daughters. Because Rickman has written several horror stories that I like I decided to take the leap of faith. I have to admit that I've been very pleasantly surprised.

Let me say right off that if you are expecting these tales to be horror stories you are in for a surprise. Rather, thing of them as detective/suspense with a spiritual element. Merrily Watkins, having lost her husband, was drawn to the church, and then into the ministry. When a surprising turn of events revealed some unexpected sensitivities, Merrily is trained as a Deliverance Consultant and given Ledwardine as her post. With her is her daughter Jane, a seventeen-year-old with a sharp, questioning mind, who hovers between mature insight and girlish obstinacy. Another frequent participant is Lol, a recovering addict and musician who has a close, but difficult relationship with Merrily.

The Lamp of the Wicked starts out as the story of one serial killer, Roddy Lodge, who Merrily accidentally 'outs' while helping a friend. But it quickly becomes the story of another killer entirely around whose periphery the likes of Roddy and the citizens of the town of Underhowle are entangled. One killer dead for three years, and the other shortly into the book, this story is really about the web of evil that grew out of a set of chilling events in the past and how it took on a life of its own. One doesn't exorcise ghosts, only demons, but hidden in a deserted Baptist chapel in Underhowle is something that desperately needs to be laid to rest.

As Rickman likes to do, there are parallel themes that tangle the plot. The foremost of these is a building study of the effects of close exposure to radiant power (as in electrical towers). This has been an issue in the states for some time, but it rears its head in the little town of Underhowle as well. Rickman comes up with enough facts to disquiet the reader as this thread moves from alien abduction to temporary insanity. In addition to this, Jane is in the midst of a crisis of faith that has her in a permanently sarcastic and depressed mood. In fact, all of the Ledwardine characters have something on their minds, from a contractor whose partner went up in flames with his business, to Lol, who is struggling with his fears of performing again.

These stories are apt demonstrations of Rickman's abilities. He brings to life this part of England with its conflicts between the modern and old with an easy, fluent style. His characterization, no longer driven by the need to have inhuman monsters, has grown by leaps and bounds. He manages to create interest in characters that seem unlikely heroes. Even his theological meanderings avoid the dry or overly dramatic and simply become part of the developing atmosphere.

The Lamp of the Wicked can stand by itself, but I found having read one of the early books helped in understanding some of the key relationships quickly. As you might suspect, this helps. But nothing happens that you can't work out on your own, so dive in where you may.

Another winner.......2004-06-20

I've read all of Phil Rickman's previous novels, and this is yet another winner. Rickman has perfected the art of creating characters that become 'real' enough to care about - and his best creation to date is the smoking, slightly confused but always sincere female minister, Merrily Watkins.

This story is made all the more interesting because it addresses some of the pressing but as yet officially unrecognised problems of today's society, such as the mental and physical effects of living in close proximity to high powered electricity lines and telephone towers. The electrical hypersensitivity suffered by one of the characters and his subsequent actions are frighteningly close to home. I've suddenly become aware of how many telephone towers surround us - and lo and behold - I've actually seen them on church steeples!

The inclusion of the horrific real life monsters Fred and Rose West adds another chilling dimension to the story. An unsettling mystery thriller and a cracking good story.

Perfect Combination of Supernatural and Mystery!.......2004-04-01

After reading the first Merrily Watkins novel, Midwinter of the Spirit, I grabbed every Phil Rickman book I could find. Although I enjoyed them all, it is the Merrily series that has won my heart.

What a fabulous job Rickman does at creating three-dimensional, believeable characters! Merrily and her daughter are modern women, spirited and complex, with all the doubts and insecurities of any modern woman. Merrily, a single mom and Anglican priest, has been made the diocese exorcist, which is bound to put a strain on her relationship with her teenaged daughter, Jane, who leans more to paganism than organized religion.

As a background for these mysteries, the complex relationship between the troubled teenager and her mother provides a counterpoint to the greater conflict between good and evil that permeates these books.

This book in particular is especially interesting. A village man has confessed to horrific murders, and there is no doubt that his fellow villagers consider him very odd indeed. But, as Merrily is dragged into this situation, she has to deal with the fact that his actions may have been influenced by something beyond his control--but is the evil that influenced him man made or demonic? And are there other evil-doers at work?

I found this book to be a very satisfying mystery, and enjoyed the way that the relationship between Merrily and her daughter continues to unfold.

Serial killers & the supernatural - what more could you want.......2003-11-07

Over the years, I have gotten used to the fall off of quality as series stretched out. In this, Phil Rickman has proven himself to be a delightful change of pace in this "rule".

This is, imo, the best Merrily Watkins book yet with a clever blend of real life serial killers and the supernatural. As for Merrily, Rickman continues to allow the character to grow.

I'm glad the US market has finally wised up and made the acquisition of Rickman's books easier on us. For years, I've had to rely on British book dealers to feed my hunger at very steep prices for mass masrket paperbacks. It's nice to see RIckman finally getting the notice that he should here on this side of the pond.

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The Lamp of the Wicked
Phil Rickman
Manufacturer: Macmillan, Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000P0XUFM

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Lamp of the Wicked
Marianne Christian
Manufacturer: Family Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books | Authors, A-Z | Bible & Other Sacred Texts | Books on CD | Books on Cassette | Buddhism | Christianity | Earth-Based Religions | Fiction | General | Hinduism | Islam | Judaism | Large Print | New Age | Occult | Other Eastern Religions | Other Practices | Religious Art | Religious Studies | Spirituality
ASIN: 1871217334

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The Lamp of the Wicked
Phil Rickman
Manufacturer: Pan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000P0U8SE

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Lamp of the Wicked
Phil Rickman
Manufacturer: PAN (MACM)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K6A1I0

Book Description

Searching for Friday's Child is the story of one young man and the closeness he shared with his family...a closeness which held them all together throughout the harrowing days of World War II in spite of their separation by many geographical miles.
Howard Irish, graduated less than a year from Michigan State College is called to active duty with the Coast Artillery branch of the Army in May of 1941. In August he is sent to the Philippine Islands in the Pacific to what seems at the time to be a country club assignment. Corregidor Island, lush and tropical, is filled with enviable recreational pursuits, friends, servants. Life takes on a relaxed easy air. Howard notes, however, that the West Point graduates who are his superior officers are much more sharp than any he has served under heretofore. Undercurrents of impending war causes him to naively think..."we sorta wish that if a war is going to start it would hurry up because it wouldn't take long." Howard enjoys many aspects of the Philippines but he misses his family and the girl he left behind who had so desperately wanted to marry him before he left.
Howard writes long detailed letters home to his family and girlfriend. His mother saved all of his letters. After December 7, 1941 when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and portions of the Philippine Islands she had no information at all as to what had happened to her son. She wrote tirelessly to anyone who might know him or know someone who might possibly have come in contact with him. More than fifty years later Howard's sister opens the letters, telegrams and clippings her mother saved and finds herself compelled to continue her mother's pursuit for information.
Searching for Friday's Child chronicles Howard's story in unexpected and rewarding ways. A story to touch your heart and remember.

Customer Reviews:

Touching and True.......2007-02-10

Howard "Jack" Irish was born to Michigan farm life. His family was close, his friends were true. He was a 4H lad, strong and faithful. He went to college, joined the ROTC and was drafted after he graduated in May of 1941. He was commissioned a lieutenant after training and sent to the Philippines. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December and all of a sudden Jack's sweet duty in the tropics evaporated like steam on hot pavement.

Jack saw action on Corrigador before he was captured by the Japanese. He endured life as a POW as well as anybody could, but sadly he lost his life in September of 1944, while being transported along with 749 other prisoners of war on the Japanese freighter Shinyo Maru. The Shinyo Maru was torpedoed by the USS Paddle. The sub's commander had no way of knowing the POWs were on board.

It all happened so long ago, but Marjorie makes it seem like only yesterday, so timeless is her writing. Jack was her brother and she lovingly tells this story through the numerous letters written by Jack to his family and friends before the war, the all to brief correspondence between Jack and his family after his family discovers he has been taken prisoner and the volume of letters between Jack's mother and different officials as she relentlessly sought to find out what happened to her son.

This book is so well crafted that at times it seemed as if I was reading a novel as I read the night away. I should have read the book long ago and I'm ashamed to say that that I did not, for you see, Marjorie's Uncle Ray was my grandfather. So many of the characters in her book have passed away, as has my father, Jack's cousin, who fortunately survived the war. Soon all the people from that time will have passed this mortal coil, but thanks to people like Marjorie Randall, who can tell a story without making it seem like dry history, there will be those of us left behind who remember.

Sister searches for brother.......2003-06-08

I just finished reading Searching for Friday's Child for the second time. Each time I couldn't put it down until I finished.
Searching for Friday's Child is more than a portrait of an intelligent sensitive young man, it is a book about warm human relationships. Although Jack, a prisoner of war being transported from one Philippine Island to another or perhaps to Japan by the Japanese aboard the Shinyu Maru, died in his early twenties (a result of the torpedoing of the Shinyu Maru by an American submarine toward the end of Second World War), he lives in this book! It is clear from his letters to his family, his girlfriend and to his friends that we all lost a person who had much to offer to those he loved and cared about and to society.
Jack's words, through his letters, show us that he had a gift for writing and storytelling, as does the author, his younger sister. Searching for Friday's Child tells us of the author's emotional journey to find her brother, to discover things about him she hadn't known before, on an intimate level that I haven't found in any other memoir, autobiography or biography about the courageous soldiers of World War II. I highly recommend this book.
Nancy Sampson, Woodbridge, VA

A family's quest to ascertain the status of a WWII POW.......2003-03-29

I read this book in the past few days, only days after the beginning of America's 3/03 war with Iraq, which may be a partial explanation of why I found "Searching for Friday's Child" such a compelling read.

The book begins with the author's recollection of growing up on a Michigan farm, with her parents, and her brother, "Jack", four years her senior. We are then provided with copies of her brother's letters to home, and to his girlfriend, while he attends Michigan State College, when he is called into the Army Air Corps, from bootcamp, then when he is sent to the Philippines only months prior to Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 and Japan's simultaneous attack on the Philippines.

As of 12/7/41, the letters from Jack stop, and we are treated with reply letters to Jack's family from U.S. military, the Red Cross, etc., as the family is desparately trying to find out what's happened to Jack, with the advent of the US/Japanese war. Subsequently, the family learns Jack is a POW in the Philippines, but they cannot find out how he is, whether he is alive, healthy, or been a victim of the myriad of attrocities committed by the Japanese solders in the Philippines upon our servicemen, as well as the Filipinos.

Jack's family is advised of the POW camp within which Jack is held, and advised they should continue to write Jack as he may receive their letters. They do continue to write, but have no way of ascertaining if Jack is receiving any of their letters. After several months, they receive the first of about four "postcards" from Jack, from the POW camp, but these tell little of Jack, as little can be said due to censorship by his captors.

Ultimately, the family is informed that Jack was aboard a Japanese ship, one of 750 POWs being transported in September 1944 by the Japanese to another island, or perhaps Japan, that on September 7, 1944, that ship is torpedoed by the US during which 83 POW's swim to shore and are rescued by Filipinos, and ultimately returned to the US. Unfortunately, Jack was not one of the lucky ones. Thereafter, he is listed as Missing In Action(MIA), and again the family has no way of knowing if Jack is alive or dead, whether he drowned, was shot by the Japanese, who were murdering all visible POWs after the torpedo struck, or whether he somehow survived.

We are then treated to many letters from several surviving POWs, some who knew Jack, were his friends at the POW camp.

This is a wonderful historical account of a family's desparate, yet compassionate, attempts to try to find out about Jack's well-being, his life during those years, anything to fill the gaps. It begins primarily with the efforts of Jack's mother, but is continued with those of the author, his younger sister, efforts which continued all the way up the late 1990's, over fifty years after WWII.

We are treated to the insights of several POW's, their own accounts of life in a Japanese POW camp, their accounts of life with Jack, Jack's excellent accomplishments in the Army Air Corps, his unique skills with operating anti-aircraft artillery, his command's success is shooting down 15 Japanese aircraft, which as I recall, was a record during the war.

By the time one completes Searching for Friday's Child, one feels one knows Jack Irish, his mother, father, and certainly his sister, the author, she who joined the U.S. Marines Reserves during WWII. One is certainly treated to a wonderful account of a close-knit family's quest during unimaginable times of the tragedies of war.

This is a wonderful read. I highly recommend it.

Regards,

Frank Rankin
Sacramento, CA

Riverting and sentimental.......2003-01-12

Marjorie Randell's recollection of her life growing up in a close-knit family on a Michigan farm, and her subsequent heartbreak of losing her brother and the search for meaning in his death is both sentimental and memorable. She captures the innocence of the mid-West that was torn apart as her brother, and other small town boys, were thrust into the horrors of war. The story shifts with her brothers letters - both from his service days, and then more harrowing,when he was a POW. Through his letters, we see a boy turn into a man, and at age 23, we see how his death aboard a Japanese war ship at the hands of American bombers brought agony and questions to a family back home. Sweet recollections of an innocent time lost, and the loyalty of a sister that looks for answers, even 60 years later.

Riverting and sentimental.......2003-01-12

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Like the "Riverworld" Books? You'll Enjoy These Too.
Enjoyable
A Fun Favorite
Heroes in Hell
Looked like "fun trash"; wasn't any fun!

Heroes in Hell
Janet Morris , Gregory Benford , and CJ Cherryh - David Drake
Manufacturer: baen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0671655558

Customer Reviews:

Like the "Riverworld" Books? You'll Enjoy These Too........2005-11-16

This is red meat for fans of genre fiction-- in these shared-world stories, we see how various historical figures deal with being consigned to Hell. Oddly, it's very like our current existence (with some nasty differences), and we get to find out how Ernest Hemingway, Julius Caesar, Dante, Che Guevara and countless other greater and lesser lights deal with this "second life." If you liked Philip Jose Farmer's "Riverworld" novels (beginning with "To Your Scattered Bodies Go"), in which everyone who ever lived is resurrected along a million-mile river, you'll like this as well. It's well written and thought-provoking. And if you like it, there's another volume called "Rebels in Hell," featuring the really superior Robert Silverberg novelette "Gilgamesh in Hell." Genre fans will enjoy the byplay between HP Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, and King Gilgamesh...

Enjoyable.......2005-07-30

This was enjoyable for me. I would recommend it for a rainy day or a long trip. Definately worth reading.

A Fun Favorite.......2005-07-03

There are very few books I still re-read, but the Hell series comprises most of the list. Solidly grounded in historical research, these stories and novels are gripping, amusing, and full of adventure, camaraderie and cleverness.

Achilles as a crazed helicopter pilot? Dante as hacker supreme? Hatshepsut the ultimate technogeek double agent? The portrayals of historical figures come to life, and the life of Agustus's household, the core of the series, is a place any fun, smart person yearns to live, like Heinlein's Boondock, or Xavier's school, or Hogwarts -

Heroes in Hell.......2000-02-09

I picked up this book at a used book sale because the title and cover caught my attention. I bought the book because the synopsis intrigued me. When I read the book, I laughed--I became absorbed. I could see the individual parts leading somewhere. Suddenly I was on the last page, and still wanted to read more. I'm can't wait to find other books in the series.

Looked like "fun trash"; wasn't any fun!.......1998-02-12

When I was thirteen, my brother and I spotted this book on the shelf at a drugstore and thought it must be just the coolest book ever! Dead bad guys battling it out in Hell? Who could ask for anything more? Twelve years later, after receiving this book as a gag trip-down-Memory-Lane gift, I am asking for EVERYTHING more! Normally a short story collection that uses a central theme is somehow connected and works towards a final goal or resolution, but this group of tales does neither. The main characters, all once great leaders and/or "heroes" in life, are in this book static and one-dimensional, never giving the reader any impression that they are included for any purpose other than to lend their famous names. This was a wasted premise, a painful book to read, and ultimately unfulfilling.

Even at thirteen, I would have been disappointed.....

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Hell has no heroes
Wayne Robinson
Manufacturer: Paperback Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Classics | Comic | Contemporary | Literary
ASIN: B0007EP086

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this is it
Hell Has No Heroes (Original Title: "Barbara")

Manufacturer: Warner Paperback Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: 044666913X

Product Description

A popular combat novel.

Customer Reviews:

this is it.......2006-05-07

Hell Has No Heroes is characterized by one of the jacket blurbs as, "this is the way the war was fought with the Infantry tankers".

The slow, steady grinding of the US effort across Europe, tanks, artillery, and Infantry, is the basic story of this fine novel.
The primary characters are the commander of "Barbara" and the two battalion commanders. We see the war from their points of view, mostly from the POV of the commander, a sergeant too old for his years. Other characters, generally well-drawn, are seen by the primary players.
If you want to know how it happened, how it went, this is the place to find it out.
Infantry divisions in those days did not have their own tanks. They had separate or "independent" tank battalions attached. Sometimes the attachment was brief, sometimes it was nearly permanent. There were command and doctrine issues resulting from this which had to be worked out mostly in combat, which we see.
Barbara, and her battalion, are one of the two tank battalions which swam ashore on D-Day. Or, that is, the one which didn't sink. The first launched from their LSTs at the expected distance from shore and sank in the storm-induced waves higher than planned for. The other battalion's LSTs, in a show of courage,worked their way in closer, taking casualties, until Barbara and her friends could make it. This, as it happens, is true.

One interesting issue is Sgt. Barska's occasional reflections on Slapton Sands, where, the author has him think, a terrible storm hit a large dress rehearsal for D-Day, causing almost a thousand casualties. In fact, German E-Boats got into the fleet, sinking ships and killing nearly a thousand soldiers and sailors. Why Robinson thought he had to both address it and misrepresent it is odd, unless he was convinced the affair had been classified, but felt he had to raise the issue in some fashion.

One of the difficult issues for the reader to face is Barska's reaction to facing a small bit of gentleness and civilization. He shames himself, later thinking he is fit only for war and death and chaos, not for the world of unbroken windows and clean sheets.

Barbara and her crew work their way across Europe, losing friends, killing Germans (mostly), and at the end of the war, they get to go home.

No triumph. You just get to go home.

This book needs to be read if you want to learn how the Army's combined arms actions helped win the war. And how the men who did it managed it, despite their fears and flaws.

CRUSADERS IN HELL (Heroes in Hell Series)

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Series Loses Steam, But Still Entertains

CRUSADERS IN HELL (Heroes in Hell Series)
Janet Morris
Manufacturer: baen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

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Short Stories | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0671656392

Customer Reviews:

Series Loses Steam, But Still Entertains.......2006-08-01

After the far superior "Heroes in Hell" and "Rebels in Hell," this third entry is a let-down, but still features a few good stories, especially one by Gregory Benford. Overall, the long-term narrative loses its way, and the discreet stories vary from very good to so-so. Read this if you've read the series' predecessors, but it's not tragic if you miss it; readers languish in limbo as much as the characters here. Morris needed to impose more of a narrative through-line, as Philip Jose Farmer did in his similar "Riverworld" novels. The work suffers from lack of plot advancement and focus.

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Hell Is for Heroes
Curt Anders , Robert Pirosh , and Richard Carr
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Hell is for Heroes
Curt Anders
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000TZ49QC

Hell, Hope And Heroes: Life in the Field Ambulance in World War I

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Hell, Hope And Heroes: Life in the Field Ambulance in World War I
Roy Ramsay , and Ron J. Ramsay
Manufacturer: Rosenberg Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1877058297

Hells Brigade Vietnam & Its Heroes Green

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Hells Brigade Vietnam & Its Heroes Green
Charles Goodman
Manufacturer: LANCER BOOKS INC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000TXMPJM

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Heroes in Hell
janer morris
Manufacturer: baen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KX1BEG

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