A Darkening Stain

Book Description

When schoolgirls begin to disappear on the West African coast, "troubleshooter" Bruce Medway tries to remain detached. Meanwhile, he reluctantly acquires a new job from former nemesis and mafia capo Franconelli. Franconelli gives Bruce forty-eight hours to find a French trader, Mariner, whom not even the mafia has been able to track. Yet as Bruce sets out on his assignment, he is unable to remain disconnected from the mysterious schoolgirl disappearances, and finds that girls, gold, and greed are all interconnected; corruption abounds everywhere. There are no safe havens for Bruce in this situation, and he must devise a scam that risks everything in order to stay alive.

A brilliant follow-up to Blood is Dirt, and the fourth novel in the Bruce Medway series, A Darkening Stain takes Bruce Medway into the darkest territory of West Africa yet.

A Harvest Original

Customer Reviews:

Feel the Heat.......2007-05-11

This novel of evil and intrigue in Nigeria and Benin reeks with authenticity. You can feel the African heat. But the protagonist, Bruce Medway, is cool -- cool and deliberate and focused. With foes stalking him he, nevertheless, pursues a noble cause -- solving the mystery of the disappearing schoolgirls. Wilson is a master of the organic plot which unfolds naturally, not relying on coincidence or heavy-handed serendipity to solve plot problems and, in so doing, insult the reader's intelligence. This was my first Africa book by this outstanding writer and I look forward to reading his others.

First Rate African Noir.......2005-11-23

I think Wilson's Spain/Portugal novels are superior historical thrillers. I came to the Bruce Medway Africa series tentatively, but after reading one, I've consumed them all. Medway is a fixer in Nigeria, hacking his way through a series of ugly situations. From my point of view, Wilson has drawn a believable character who is hard charging without being omniscient, and who has plausible relationships with Africans & Europeans alike.

A Darkening Stain is one of the best pieces of noir fiction I've ever read - I'd compare it favorably to Chandler, Crumley, Cain, Ellroy. The plot is a little hyper, but never comes apart. The characters are well drawn and complex. The picture of western Africa is ugly, brutal; a toxic dump of greed. Medway works through the situation in the best hard boiled style, with a minimum of 'coincidences' to guide him.

But the keystone of this tale is the story which Medway is forced to concoct in order to cover his tracks, and then which he is forced to deliver under emotionally tortured circumstances. I was completely drawn into the wringer with this one, left feeling worked over when I finished the novel. The crowning touch is the line the bad guy delivers which sends Medway over the edge: "They're just blacks, Bruce..."

Good stuff. 4+

A cesspool of criminality.......2004-06-28

Picking up where Blood is Dirt leaves off, PI Bruce Medway is saddled with the unwanted attentions of Mafioso Roberto Franconelli; no longer in the Capo's good graces, Medway is still trapped in extenuating circumstances, instructed simply to locate a Frenchman, Jean-Luc Marnier and then fade quietly from the scene.

Circumstantially, five men are found dead on a boat owned by Marnier, bringing the noble Detective Bagado into the picture, the pivotal moral center of the series. Then innocent schoolgirls begin to disappear, an issue that stirs up enormous public fear. Medway, as usual, has his hands full, juggling villains and thugs, one step ahead of their evil intentions. When Bagado's daughter is one of the targeted schoolgirls, the action heats up and moves in a more violent and graphic direction than any of the previous novels.

Medway trolls the late-night dens of concupiscence, opening up another fertile area of the West Africa coast, the flesh trade, the same low form of the human species found everywhere, where nothing is sacred and everyone is for sale. In order to survive this new dimension, Medway must betray himself in a manner that may destroy everything he values in life.

At this point in the series, Wilson's protagonist is faced with an acute moral dilemma, slithering along the dark side with some of humanity's most despicable characters. Inspector Bagado has been a moral compass, tipping Medway back into reality, saving him from ambiguous circumstances time after time. Meanwhile, Medway's personal life has turned increasingly, well, personal, perhaps to more obviously identify him with recognizable humanity. But Medway's mid-life passion with his now-pregnant girlfriend only adds to the desperate emotional edge of the hard-drinking PI. Perhaps it is time, after all, for Medway to consider a career change. Luan Gaines/2004.

The Big Killing
Average customer rating:

solid crime novel

Setting, and a Talent for Misdirection Serves this Book Well

Not Impressed.

A take-no-prisoners adventure

The Big Killing
Robert Wilson
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Series | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Mystery & Thriller Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Blood Is Dirt

Instruments of Darkness (Harvest Book)

A Darkening Stain

The Vanished Hands (Javier Falcon Thrillers)

The Company of Strangers

ASIN: 0156011190

Book Description

In this second novel of the Bruce Medway series, our hero, a go-between and "fixer" for traders in steamy West Africa, smells trouble when a porn merchant asks him to deliver a video at a secret location. Things look up, though, when he's hired to act as minder to Ron Collins, a spoiled playboy looking for diamonds in the Ivory Coast. Medway thinks this could be the answer to his cashflow crisis. But when the video delivery leads to a shootout and the discovery of a mutilated body, he wants out. Obligations keep Medway fixed in the Ivory Coast and he is soon caught up in a terrifying cycle of violence. Unless he can get to the bottom of the mystery, Medway knows that for the savage killer out there in the African night, he is the next target.

Customer Reviews:

solid crime novel.......2006-11-27

Wilson seems happier with his West African locales than he does with Spain, where his novels get bogged down in scenery and slow paced character development. This novel moves with punch and direction, steering the reader through unusual locations, a post-colonial world of ruthless energy, sinking back into tribalism. well worth reading although it helps to start with the first novel and work up to this one.

Setting, and a Talent for Misdirection Serves this Book Well.......2005-07-31

"The Big Killing" is my first Robert Wilson book. It is the second in his series of mysteries featuring Bruce Medway, British expatriate living in the Ivory Coast. Since it was in the bargain book section, I went ahead and picked up the third and fourth books. However, I'm not so sure if that was a bit of a hasty decision in the end.

When we first meet Medway, he's a bit of a mess. Evidently, the events of the first book, "Instruments of Darkness" (which I have not read) have left him a disillusioned (although I doubt that he was ever "illusioned"), adrift in the Ivory Coast, broke, pining for his lost love, and waiting for his Syrian millionaire patron to give him something to do. In the meantime, the Liberian Civil War is raging, with one of its apparent casualties begin the Liberian VP, found with his innards ripped out by a killer simply dubbed "The Leopard".

Naturally, as is the case in such novels, Medway finds he has three jobs all at once. His Syrian millionaire friend wants him to check on the manager of his sheanut plantation. An old friend from England asks Medway to chaperone a young diamond merchant. And a repugnant pornographer asks Medway to deliver a package. These diverse plot-threads soon converge in a political tangle, as Medway maneuvers his way through the thoroughly corrupt world of West Africa.

The plot is quite brisk, if convoluted. Medway stumbles into ambushes, tangles with corrupt village police, dodges a massive kidnapping plot, all while the bodies pile up around him. Numerous characters enter the stage, although only a few actually seem to have any bearing on the overall novel. Wilson is very good at playing with the reader's perceptions and stereotypes, as some characters who seem as if they're going to be critical to the overall plot wind-up dead within a few pages of their introduction. Other characters who seem as if they are merely in the novel to provide background color actually prove extraordinarily relevant. This talent for misdirection serves Wilson well, as he keeps the reader enticed by the enigma of his novel as we try to figure what's going on with Medway.

It's fortunate that this novel is so plot-driven, because Medway is not a terribly strong character. While drawn from the writings of old school hard-boiled fiction, Medway feels as if he's lacking something. He never quite appears to be the moral White Knight Raymond Chandler's Phillip Marlowe is. Nor is ever the self-righteous tough guy who is willing to bloody his hands for justice like Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer. While he seems an okay guy, Medway seems to simply be going through the motions, playing tough-guy detective, tangling with cops, killers, and dames. While that's part of Wilson's intent early on, he never really gives Medway anything to strive for, beyond simple survival. Medway never really seems to care about the various people dying around him, but he seeks justice for them nonetheless. His code is perhaps too fuzzy to understand, and that might have been Wilson's goal, but Wilson did the character no favors by not letting him grow within the course of the book.

The real draw of this book (and I suspect the whole series) is the setting. West Africa is no paradise, and Wilson shows us this. It's corrupt and violent, with miles of distance between the haves and the have-nots. Despite the fact that it has been decades since the region has been under direct European Imperial rule, one of the central issues, Wilson reminds us, is that the Europeans never left. They come back, fulfill their own interests (be it diamonds, be it political instability), and then leave while West Africa is force to pick up the pieces. Moreover, Wilson also makes it clear that this situation exists because native born African elites benefit by it. But even more basically, Wilson evokes a place that is hot, humid, and depressed. Wilson's efforts to instill a sense of indignation in his reader is a success.

On the whole, I did like "The Big Killing," although not as much as I expected to when I flipped through it. That's a little unfair on my part, I suppose. Hopefully, with more realistic expectations, I can enjoy the rest of the Medway series.

Not Impressed........2004-01-27

I have heard and read much acclaim of Robert Wilson's novels, but "The Big Killing" left me unimpressed. The African atmosphere made a good starting point, but the story is pieced together haphazardly with characters floating into and out of the narrative without realistic explanation or credibility. At the novel's conclusion, I was left with more questions than answers. Wilson clearly possesses the story-telling tools; he simply needs to work on his plot development and characterizations. "The Big Killing" isn't bad, just disjointed. A little more time at the re-write desk would have helped!

A take-no-prisoners adventure.......2003-11-02

Edgy and brutal, Wilson's The Big Killing is a wild ride through the lawless territory of West Africa, where greed rules and bodies lie trampled in its wake like so much fertilizer. If possible, the Dark Continent has become even darker, as portrayed by Wilson, while the lush natural bounty and untapped resources are attacked by raptors with the power to plunder and destroy with impunity.

Diamonds are the source of intrigue, theft and murder, providing profit that allows the importation of weapons in an ongoing battle for tribal ascendance. There is a longstanding system of mass murder by one so-called "legitimate" government after another, backed by various interests to assert control over an area too rich to escape notice. The cost in lives hardly matters to these players, because this population is expendable and self-perpetuating. Scores of bodies accrue, a testament of man's inhumanity to man, the numbers so outrageous that they beg believability. Still the violence continues unabated.

Bruce Medway makes his living as a fixer, a man willing to do "bits of business, management, organization, negotiations, transactions and debt collection". He won't involve himself in anything criminal or domestic, finding such things too quickly out of control. When a stranger asks Medway to do a quick job, a drop, it will spell the end of Bruce's financial woes and allow him to pay off his current debt. Either from stubbornness or hubris, Medway agrees to get involved, even though his intuition is screaming a warning against this venture. This one bad decision begets a series of confrontations that are ever more complicated and violent, where one intention obscures another and things grow more dangerous by the hour. The bodies pile up as quickly as the introduction of nefarious characters with hidden agendas, while Medway hops from one brush with death to another, never quite able to catch his breath. His small islands of respite are the nightmare-riddled dreams of alcohol-induced sleep.

Wilson is a master craftsman, a talented storyteller who reads like Robert Stone, combining radical themes, blending a seamless plot that doesn't compromise or disappoint. From the decadent porn purveyors to diamond smugglers, arms merchants to corrupt police officials, Wilson creates a range of characters from thin air, sending them spiraling into the killing fields of a war-torn and criminalized Africa.

Against this dramatic and violent background, Wilson writes with a moral clarity of the intense struggle of a continent made dark by the interminable abuses of exploiters. This is political-mystery/fiction at its most powerful, pointing the reader toward awareness of the brutal reality that is Africa today, the indiscriminate use of power, the pillaging of natural resources and the political ascendancy of particular agendas. Once you start, be prepared to keep reading to the final pages. I did and when I was finished, Wilson gained another enthusiastic fan. Luan Gaines/ 2003.

Blood Is Dirt
Average customer rating:

Why did it take me so long to discover Robert WIlson?

Terrific Setting is the Saving Grace

africa!

Good, But Not Great

If Chandler Lived in West Africa

Blood Is Dirt
Robert Wilson
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
General | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Mystery & Thriller Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

A Darkening Stain

The Big Killing

Instruments of Darkness (Harvest Book)

The Vanished Hands (Javier Falcon Thrillers)

The Company of Strangers

ASIN: 0156011255

Book Description

Enter into a treacherous world in West Africa, where British expatriate Bruce Medway, a clandestine “troubleshooter” and debt collector, finds himself unexpectedly immersed in toxic waste scams and mafia crime when a job for his newest client turns out to involve more than the recovery of two million dollars. But Napier, the client, isn’t the worst of Bruce’s problems; that falls to Selina, Napier’s seductive daughter, who wants more than money—she is out for revenge. In his attempt to help Selina, Bruce delves into more danger than he bargained for.

Nothing is static in this intense plot-driven novel where truth is murky and motives are hidden.While Bruce is no stranger to lies, deceit, and crime, he has never met anyone like Selina and her cohorts. And even though Selina is alluring, not even love can change the fact that in this world, blood is dirt.

A Harvest Original

Customer Reviews:

Why did it take me so long to discover Robert WIlson?.......2006-09-25

My first taste of Wilson's writing was A Small Death in Lisbon! WOW!! Powerful but brutal. Since then, I've been reading everything I can get my hands on by this author.

Wilson draws on Africa for this tale and it is tautly written with complex characters. I can never see around the next corner, I am constantly amazed as Wilson pulls rabbit after rabbit out of the hat.

What I like about Wilson is that even when he's being brutal, he never forgets to be funny as well. Some of the better one liners I've read have come from his novels.

Always brutal, his characters flawed as we would expect, plots in keeping with today's drama, Wilson's novels are way ahead of the formulaic mystery writers in America. Though I ususally pass my books on to others, Wilson is one author I hate to part with.

Looking forward to the next novel.

Terrific Setting is the Saving Grace.......2006-04-14

When Bruce Medway, now headquartered in Benin, is approached by a client about a Nigerian scam, he is initially skeptical. When that client turns up murdered, Medway begins his quest for the killer, particularly after the victim's daughter comes to Benin looking for revenge. Medway's hunt for the killer leads him into neighboring Nigeria and its corrupt system, and a plot to sting a presidential candidate.

"Blood is Dirt" is the third book in Robert Wilson's Bruce Medway series, and the second I've read. Both have the same pluses. "Blood is Dirt" features some excellent dialogue, real suspense, and a wonderfully drawn setting. Despite being written in 1997, it is also quite timely, given that Nigeria is a continuing trouble spot for the world. As on character notes, Nigeria shouldn't be dysfunctional, and yet it is, because certain people within and without are profiting from its failure as a state.

However, I was frustrated to find many of the same minuses as his previous book. Medway is a more grounded and likable character now that his girlfriend, Heike, has returned to him. But he remains a little more distant than he ought to be for the reader to fully appreciate. He's descent enough, but the reader never quite connects with him, which is a bad thing for a mystery/suspense novel.

Moreover, the plot is far more convoluted than it needs to be, as Medway pursuit a scam artist leads to the Italian Mafia, expatriate businessmen, and corrupt Nigerian politicos. Consequently, a lot of incidents occur that rarely seem relevant at the time, and even then, only half really matter. While a good mystery is layered, Wilson frequently spackles on plot-lines like dense concrete, some of which serve no purpose other than to obfuscate. The end result is to leave the reader rather indifferent to as to who the killer is and what their motives are. Indeed, it's quite possible you'll forget everything as soon as you close the book.

The saving grace of this series for me has been its terrific and unusual setting. I have the last volume of the series, and I will read it. But I am happy I bought these books from the bargain shelf.

africa!.......2005-02-21

Like Robinson's, The Sapphire Sea, this well written novel takes us into the steamy alleys of Africa through the eyes of an outsider who knows the inside track. You may not like what you see, but you can't stop turning the pages. Good stuff.

Good, But Not Great.......2004-09-14

The back cover compares the author to Raymond Chandler. This is true only to a degree. The narrative is first person and the writer attempts to imitate Chandler, but the plot is confusing and the ultimate solution is somewhat simplistic and obvious. The author writes well, but the reader is always flipping to prior chapters to try to figure out who a character is and where the character entered the story. In sum, this book is good, but not great.

If Chandler Lived in West Africa.......2004-07-06

If Raymond Chandler was an acerbic Brit living in Benin, well, okay, he wouldn't be Raymond Chandler, but Robert Wilson is a latter day Chandler, who describes the complexities of African corruption, gives us the flavor of heat and violence, and presents an expat private eye (Bruce Medway) who is smart, funny and about the only dry thing in West Africa.

This novel is interesting, smart about Africa, especially Nigeria, Benin, corporate fraud and political corruption. It's also funny and moves along at a good clip. Wilson is deft with characterization and complexity, and the writing is so evocative you'll feel by turns drunk, hot or terrified as you read.

Book Description

Worlds Apart: Acting and Writing in Academic and Workplace Contexts offers a unique examination of writing as it is applied and used in academic and workplace settings. Based on a 7-year multi-site comparative study of writing in different university courses and matched workplaces, this volume presents new perspectives on how writing functions within the activities of various disciplines: law and public administration courses and government institutions; management courses and financial institutions; social-work courses and social-work agencies; and architecture courses and architecture practice. Using detailed ethnography, the authors make comparisons between the two types of settings through an understanding of how writing is operative within the particularities of these settings.

Although the research was initially established to further understanding of the relationships between writing in academic and workplace settings, it has evolved to examining writing as it is embedded in both types of settings--where social relationships, available tools, and historical, cultural, temporal, and physical location are all implicated in complex ways in the decisions people make as writers. Readers of this volume will discover that the uniqueness of each setting makes salient different aspects of writers and writing, resulting in complex, and potentially unsettling implications for writing theory and the teaching of writing.

Lure of the Sinister: The Unnatural History of Satanism

Average customer rating:

Footnotes don't mean you did your homework
The Reality of Satanism.
!!! I Love Reading These Reviews !!!
Well-Researched and Informed Investigation of Satanism
Full of things even _I_ did not know

Lure of the Sinister: The Unnatural History of Satanism
Gareth Medway
Manufacturer: NYU Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | New Age | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Occult | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Occultism | Occult | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Satanism | Occult | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Satanic Panic: The Creation of a Contemporary Legend
Satan's Silence: Ritual Abuse and the Making of a Modern American Witch Hunt
Witchcraze: A New History of the European Witch Hunts
In Sorcery's Shadow: A Memoir of Apprenticeship among the Songhay of Niger
People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil

ASIN: 081475645X
Release Date: 2001-04-01

Book Description

"This is a scholarly and provocative study of Satanism yesterday and today."—Nove Religio

"Medway's book is a breath of fresh air in this field of murk, delusion and deception."
— Fortean Times

"The first truly authoritative book on the subject"
—New York Press, Nov. 14-20, 2001

"This is an excellent study of an emotional and difficult subject and it is required reading for the open-minded. Highly recommended."
— The Cauldron

Rumors of Devil-worship, or Satanism, have circulated for centuries. Tales of Black Masses, demonic possession, mysterious nighttime ceremonies, and human sacrifices have captured the popular consciousness, prompting the Christian Church to move aggressively to root out Satanism and its practioners through often extraordinarily brutal means of detection and interrogation.

Until recently the stuff of myths and stories, allegations of occult worship have of late taken the form of police investigations concerning ritual child abuse, teens involved in Satanic cults, and serial killings. Unsubstantiated rumors have found their way into the popular and serious press and have been reported as fact, often with little or no verification. Obsessive anti-Satanists find evidence of Satanic lyrics in rock music from Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" to Live Aid's "We are the World," while the numbers "666" are found in barcodes in supermarkets.

The Lure of the Sinister draws on a remarkable range of sources, from newspapers and pulp literature to early modern works on demonology to explore the entire history of Satanism from the origins of the Devil in pre-Christian theology through the Inquisition to the life and times of Aleister Crowley, "the "wickedest man in the world." The book also investigates modern charges of Satanism, the psychology of the people who make the allegations, and the legal and religious contexts in which they arise, showing how rumors of Devil-worship come to take on a life of their own. Lively and wittily written, The Lure of the Sinister reveals a strange tapestry of dark and fearful beliefs which have haunted our imagination for centuries.

Customer Reviews:

Footnotes don't mean you did your homework.......2006-11-17

Yet another history of Satanism. While this one was recommended highly by people who should know better, the prose is journalistic, windy and overwrought. Some small parts of it cover interesting history not covered elsewhere but the yellow press who originally covered it. The problem is, some of it was excruciatingly poorly researched nonsense (probably based on some other yellow journalism). Medway desperately needs a fact checker. Footnotes do not mean you checked your facts. Its main purpose seems to be something with footnotes to wave at witch-hunters when they show up at your door bearing pitchforks and torches, assuming you are a friendly neighborhood Satanist. Mostly it made me sleepy. Doubtless the soporific effect would also be effecacious on pitchfork-wielding witch hunters.

Seriously; the world doesn't need another book about this sort of thing. I wish Mr. Medway well in getting his assistant professorship or whatever this book was supposed to accomplish, but the rehash of well-known nonsense involving Led Zeppelin records, Al Crowley and Charles Manson for the umpteenth time is completely unnecessary. The repeating of Huysmans and Dashwood mythology, yet again, is actively harmful to scholarship in this "field." If you want to dig up something new in the Satan game; dig up some reports of Satanism from other cultures and other histories. And please, check some of your footnotes.

The Reality of Satanism........2005-12-20

_Lure of the Sinister: The Unnatural History of Satanism_ by Gareth J. Medway is a fascinating history of the source of evil in those individuals who have opted to sell their soul to and worship the Dark Lord. Unfortunately, the book is marred severely by the author's skepticism regarding the reality of Satan worship. While many cases of Satanism have no doubt been exaggerated for political gain, there remains the distinct possibility of real live Satanists, often occupying high places in society, engaging in ghastly deeds and defying the Christian God. The author, who is a pagan, seems to feel that the reality of Satanism is inimical to his religious persuasion; however, this is not the actual case.

In any event, this book includes a thorough discussion of much of the history of Satanism, including the persecution of heretics and witches in the so-called Dark Ages. It should be noted that Satanists are not to be confused with pagans in general, wiccans, or even with "Church of Satan" poseurs; they are far more sinister and seek to ape Christ and His Church. The author includes discussions of Satanism and freemasonry including the hoax of Leo Taxil and his allegations against masonry. The author also includes discussions of various cases of possession, such as the Loudon case, as well as various sinister individuals from the Middle Ages, including the child murderer Gilles de Rais. (Unfortunately, both the author's discussion of possession and the case of various mass murderers from the Middle Ages are marred by extreme skepticism.) The author also includes a history of the black mass, fully demonstrating the magical properties associated with the transubstantiation, though again he leans towards skepticism. Notorious black masses include the mass of Saint Secaire and the black mass (supposedly fiction but based on fact) from J. K. Huysman's novel _La-Bas_. The author also discusses various pacts made with the Devil, as well as witchcraft, mentioning such witch-hunter's manuals as the _Malleus Maleficarum_, mentioning demonic acts involving incubus and succubus. In addition, the author discusses various instances of real life Satanism, including the notorious Hell-Fire Club. Upon completion of this survey, the author turns to more modern day allegations. Here, the author mentions cases involving pedophilia and child abuse. Included among these are the notorious circumstances surrounding the case of "Michelle" of "Michelle Remembers" fame, allegedly regaining knowledge of her past after recovering lost memories. It should be noted that in nearly all of these cases, prominent individuals play a role in the abuse of children and the performance of diabolical deeds in obeisance to their Dark Master. While many of these cases have been overblown, and while it is true that many innocents have been unjustly convicted, I believe the author is overly skeptical and should not dismiss the reality of Satanism as out of hand simply from a cursory perusal of the evidence available. The author also discusses the role of conspiracy theories in the thinking of anti-Satanists; however, he never justifies his inherent skepticism of the concept of conspiracy to begin with. The book ends with the author belaboring his point about the non-existence of malignant Satanists, claiming that Satanists are generally law-abiding and that cases of Satanic crime, such as that involving the Manson family or instances in Matamoras, Mexico, are rare occurrences. Finally, the author concludes with an appendix on the black mass, in which he attempts to tar the memory of Roman Catholic priest Montague Summers, whose books attempted to reveal the reality of witchcraft and occultism.

While this book is certainly interesting and much of the material in it is useful in terms of compiling a history of the worship of the Dark One, it is unfortunate that the author has allowed his skeptical "rationalist" bias to interfere with an otherwise scholarly work. While it is certainly true that many of the cases of Satanism have been overblown, it is also true that many more have been real. One need only look to the recent pedophilia cases among the Roman Catholic clergy for instances of such scandal.

!!! I Love Reading These Reviews !!!.......2003-06-02

get a load of this quote from another review for this book:

"Medway retells stories of supposed possessions, satanic activity, and other "evil" occurrences, and discounts the authenticity of these accounts. Even though he is biased in his presentation of some of the facts, his wit, and sense-of-humor emerges throughout the book. The title is misleading though because Medway does not really deal with the history of Satanism, instead with the hysteria surrounding it. "

...now THAT is amusing. The history of REAL Satanism?!?
get real guy.
Just where do you think Satanism is?
( Fear of vestments and rituals bein gused in a profane matter, and then more fear ontop of fear. Fearing Satanism brought it into existense. What's more real than hysteria? )

Buy the book. And get involved in the fun.
Used bookstores are a fun place to find 70s and 80s Witchcraft and Satanism titles that fearfully and hysterically ramble on about "REAL" Satanism. I love those books even though they always smell of mold.

BY THE WAY
The Satanic Bible has been reprinted in 2003 with a nice pink cover. Highly recommended just because it exists. Almost as funny as Wicca.
:)

Well-Researched and Informed Investigation of Satanism.......2002-07-25

Gareth J. Medway's "Lure of the Sinister" is a well written investigation of historical and modern Satanism, focusing on the myths of Satanic Ritual Abuse and the wide-spread Satanic Panic of the 80s, when many people, deluded by sensationalist books and TV talk shows were lead to believe that an international Satanic conspiracy was working to undermine church and state.

The book first addresses the origins of Satanism and the idea behind the existence of the mythical entity known to Christians as Satan and Lucifer. It analyzes the cases most often cited as reliable instances of historical Satanism and devil worship such as Gilles de Rais, the Affaire des Poisons, The Hell Fire Club, as well as modern cases of supposed Satanic crime like the Black Circle Boys and Richard Ramirez. In all cases, paranoia and media sensationalism were shown to have warped the facts of these crimes and have mythologized them to the point were fact and fiction are indistinguishable and that, in truth, Satanism was either not a factor or was only a side issue to the real motivation. It also shows that the Church of Satan, far from being a truly evil threat to mankind, is not much more than a red herring meant to antagonize mainstream Christians and induldge themselves on ego rather than the Dark Lord. The book goes on to take task with the myth of SRA and the panics of the 80s and 90s that were fueled by delusional paranoid religious factions and psychotherapists eager to cash in on a nation's fears by endorsing nothing less than a real modern witch hunt.

While there are very real problems with adolescent crime and drug abuse today, the fears that they are related to a world-wide conspiracy of black magic and devil worship are unfounded and have no supporting evidence. The book debunks the many myths that have grown up around this subject and gives a balanced and interesting accounting of them.

Full of things even _I_ did not know.......2002-04-18

Tolkien wrote that hobbits were fond of books full of things they already knew, laid out fair and square with no contradiction. I share that fondness, but even more appealing are books full of things I would _like_ to know. Medway has achieved this - Lure of the Sinister is not for everyone, but if you're a Clear-Eyed, Dedicated Seeker of Truth (with a taste for the occult, obscure and esoteric) this will be just your meat.
His exposition of the 'satanisme' flap in 1890s France is one example - I knew the bare outlines, now I know the details.
I wish I found a book like this every month!

Average customer rating:

Medway (MA) (Images of America)
Grace G. Hoag , and Priscilla N. Howker
Manufacturer: Arcadia Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Book Description

Incorporated in 1713, Medway began as a farming community of two hundred thirty-three. It was not long before the waterpower of the Charles River and Chicken Brook stimulated the formation of cotton and paper mills, straw and boot factories, and a variety of cottage industries. Through vintage images from the 1850s to the 1960s, Medway demonstrates the central importance of the Charles River and the thriving town that grew alongside it. Included are images of trains and streetcars; recreation, such as canoeing, picnicking, and fishing; Woodland Park, a popular stop that included a zoo; and the 1913 bicentennial celebration on the banks of the river. Today, the one-room schoolhouses are gone and the country stores have moved to the mall, but the open town meetings continue and Medway retains its small-town flavor.

Average customer rating:

Beginner's Guide: Watercolor 2 (HT271)
Geri Medway
Manufacturer: Walter Foster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Watercolor Painting | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Drawing | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Watercolor | Painting | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
ASIN: 1560104899

Book Description

Walter Foster's classic How to Draw and Paint series provides aspiring artists with an exceptional array of art instruction books featuring all subject areas and media. Each title includes easy step-by-step exercises as well as finished illustrations or paintings that will inspire artistic talent in anyone.

Packed with practical information, helpful tips, and fundamental techniques, the How to Draw and Paint series offers a complete library of resources to which artists of all skill levels can refer again and again.

¥ Discover how easy painting with watercolor can be with 13 inspiring projects

¥ Find out what materials and colors you'll need to get started painting right away

¥ Choose your favorite subjects--from flowers, still lifes, and landscapes to animals, children, and more

¥ Follow along step-by-step to create translucent, jewel-like works of art

¥ Learn the secrets for using color to convey a range of emotions

¥ Master the techniques for adding texture and creating special effects

9 Stories of the River Medway Recounted in the Language of Idiots for People of Little Discernment
Average customer rating:
9 Stories of the River Medway Recounted in the Language of Idiots for People of Little Discernment
Billy Childish
Manufacturer: Urban Fox Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

20th Century | British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Classics | Comic | Contemporary | Literary
ASIN: 1905522061

ADDITIONAL NOTES ON THE CHALK OF THE MEDWAY VALLEY, GRAVESEND, WEST KENT, NORTH-EAST SURREY AND GRAYS /ESSEX/
Average customer rating:
ADDITIONAL NOTES ON THE CHALK OF THE MEDWAY VALLEY, GRAVESEND, WEST KENT, NORTH-EAST SURREY AND GRAYS /ESSEX/
G. E. DIBLEY
Manufacturer: GEOLOGIST'S ASSOCIATION
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000S5FZ8E

All the Devils Are Here
Average customer rating:
All the Devils Are Here
David Seabrook
Manufacturer: Granta Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Folklore & Mythology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Travel | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books
General | Mythology | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Great Britain | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books
General | England | Great Britain | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books
Essays & Travelogues | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books
General | Travel | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1862074836

Book Description

In this study of East Kent, David Seabrook combines his observations of the towns' cultural and political landscapes with their literary associations. In Margate and Westgate, Seabrook detects the desperate merriment of T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land; in Rochester and Chatham, he senses the ghosts of Dickens and the drug fantasies of Thomas De Quincey; and in Broadstairs, he uncovers a weird network involving Lord Curzon, a Nazi con man, and Audrey Hepburn's father.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books