The Crow: Quoth The Crow

Crow Rating: 3 Crows

Author: David Bischoff

Published: Feb 1998 (277 pages)

Book Overview
A novel written by David Bischoff. The story is about William Blessing, a professor and acclaimed author with an affinity for Edgar Alan Poe. He takes on an apprentice for the summer, David Marquette. David ends up betraying Blessing, by coveting his wife and murdering him, in order to have her and control of his stories. A soul unable to rest, Blessing is brought back by the Crow to take his revenge.

Personal Thoughts
This novel is definitely for the Poe fan. There are two chapters centered on an Edgar Alan Poe dream. Each chapter begins with a verse taken from one of his works. I enjoyed the Poe influence throughout the novel. The villains in the story, the Gotheques, were shallowly presented. The reader is not given much detail about them. David's eventual relationship with this group leads him to become totally consumed with taking over the personal and business life of Blessing. A flaw in the story is the lack of development in the unorthodox relationship between Marquette and the Gotheques. Other than Marquette's own greed, we do not see how the Gotheques are able to grab so much influence over him. The death and return of Blessing does not occur until halfway through the novel. Prior to this, we are given a confusing opening chapter, a Poe dream chapter, and setup chapters for the murder. The real reading starts with Blessing's return. I found that the ending melted into a "B" horror film (those who have read the novel will understand what I mean by "melted"). However, the ending was saved by a very satisfying and original prologue. We are given a glimpse at the eternal damnation of an avatar's prey for the first time. In this case, the reader is left with a very satisfying closure. Although the irony mask is used in all the other novels, it is not used at all in this one. The only indication of its possible existence is the resemblance of it depicted on the cover of the novel. Our imaginations are allowed to create our own image of the face for the avatar. A touch that I like. This is a very good start to a successful novel series.

Where to find this book
This novel is out of print. You can, however, find it though retailers who have access to warehouses that may contain out of print items (Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, Walden's, Hastings). You can also try Amazon.Com. They can conduct a search for out of print items. Another online place is eBay online auctions. Just go to www.ebay.com and do a search on "The Crow" from the book section.