The Night Birds by Christopher Golden
The Details
Media Type: Ebook
Title: The Night Birds
Author(s): Christoper Golden
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pages/Length: 304 pages, Hardcover
Release Date: March 6, 2025
Source: NetGalley
Add it on: Goodreads | Amazon | Bookshop | Libro.fm
The next gripping, atmospheric horror novel from NYT bestselling author Christopher Golden, set in a deteriorated, half-sunken freighter ship off the coast of Galveston, TX.
Charlie Book and Ruby Cahill have history. After their love ended in heartbreak, they never expected to see each other again, but when terror enters Ruby’s life, Charlie Book is the only safe harbor she can believe in.In his work for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Book has been living aboard and studying the Christabel, a 19th century freighter that lies half-sunken in Gulf waters, just off the shore of Galveston. Over many years, a massive forest of mangrove trees has grown up through the deck of the ship, creating a startlingly beautiful enigma Book calls the Floating Forest, full of birds, crabs, and snakes. Though a powerful storm churns through the Gulf, Book intends to sleep on board as usual.
But when he arrives at the dock, preparing to motor out to the Christabel, he’s stunned to find Ruby there waiting for him. And Ruby’s not alone. With her are a mysterious, terrified woman named Johanna and an infant child. They need Book to hide them safely aboard the Christabel while they’re on the run, only it isn’t the police who are after them. It’s the coven of witches Johanna has fled, stealing away the helpless infant for whom they had hideous plans…or so Johanna claims.
It’s lunacy. Book wants nothing to do with it. But after the way he and Ruby ended things, and the unspoken pain between them, he can’t refuse. Yet even as he brings them out to the ruined ship and its floating forest, back in Galveston there are shadowed figures out in the storm, sniffing the air like bloodhounds. And despite the worsening wind and rain, the night birds are flying, scouring the coastline as if searching for their prey.
The Review
Where do I start with this review? First off, I’m not entirely sure that I would classify this book as horror. In the best way possible, this book is way more of a supernatural thriller novel than anything else. Imagine if you will, the storm of the century approaching. You are trapped on a crumbling ship that is anchored by a twisted, mangrove forest. Pretty creepy right? Now imagine you’re thrown straight into the middle of a blood war between witches, while still trapped in that creepy setting. Yes friends, that’s what you’ll get in The Night Birds.
Credit where credit is due, Golden perfectly evokes that terrifying feeling of being unmoored. The setting of an expected mangrove forest was such an excellent choice for this book. It was almost a character of its own, twisting into dark shapes and even darker intentions. So close to land, and yet trapped at sea. This, coupled with the beautifully written prose, made this a really atmospheric read. This what definitely what I loved the most. Book and his unexpected guests are constantly on edge. Running, hiding, attempting to stay alive. Once the action starts, there isn’t a single thing that you can do to stop it.
Which, for a while, was really fun. Then it dragged on. And her I think lies the big problem I had with this read overall. Despite the fact that there isn’t a lot of character development or backstory, I was still invested. However there was a point at which I just got really tired of the constant buzz of tension. To any of you out there who have watched a show or read a book where you just keep being annoyed with the characters for making bad decisions, you’ll know what I mean. There’s a point at which it stops being fun and starts feeling like a slog instead.
I don’t know what else to say really. There are just certain horror books that, despite everything I enjoy about them, sit right in the middle of the road review wise. The Night Birds by Christopher Golden happens to be one of those books.
