"Speculative fiction at its best"
In 1835, the great fire destroyed much of Lower Manhattan's
wooden tenements. A stunned resident Archie Prescott knows
his world has gone up in the inferno with his wife and
their four-year-old child Jane dead. Unbeknownst to the
grieving father, the child's corpse is not that of Jane.
Instead a MesoAmerican witch Lupita abducted Jane for use
in a sacrifice to Thloc, but instead caused the deadly
fire. Jane received deep burns especially scarring her
face. Lupita sells Jane to Riley Steen, owner of a mummy
needing virgin blood to bring Thloc to the human plane.
Timing is everything and seven years must pass before he
can accomplish his deed. Seven years later, Riley travels to Kentucky's Mammoth
Cave, where another mummy of the malevolence has been
found. In New York, an eleven-year-old girl with a damaged
visage keeps following Archie, insisting he is her father.
Jane has escaped Riley for now, but his thugs are coming to
recapture her because she is the critical element in the
reanimation. Only if Archie can accept the truth, will she
have a champion and may survive the final ordeal. A SCATTERING OF JADES is an incredible accomplishment that
combines a powerfully insightful nineteenth century
historical novel with easy to believe paranormal elements.
The complex story line works on several levels as Alexander
C. Irvine ties his varying subplots back into a prime theme
through his key cast members. A strong dose of Dante's
Inferno stood upside down is blended with Aztec myths and
Americana personage and events into a great historical
fantasy tale that announces the arrival of a talent worth
following. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted June 14, 2002
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