|
Ghost Riders |  | Author: Sharyn McCrumb
Publisher: Signet
Category: Book
List Price: $7.99
Buy Used: $0.01
as of 11/22/2009 23:38 MST details
You Save: $7.98 (100%)
New (1) Used (26) from $0.01
Seller: bay-city-books
Rating:  28 reviews
Sales Rank: 332481
Media: Paperback
Pages: 416
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.2
ISBN: 0451211847
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780451211842
ASIN: 0451211847
Publication Date: May 4, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The latest ballad novel from Sharyn McCrumb tells the true story of the Civil War in the Appalachians, where neighbors became enemies, and the half-life of violence keeps soldiers' ghosts abroad in the modern wilderness. For frontier lawyer Zeb Vance, the war was an odyssey that leads to the Governor's mansion. Malinda Blalock, who followed her young husband into battle, becomes a Union bushwhacker, making war against confederate sympathizers in the mountains.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 28
 book review August 14, 2009
C. J. Connelly
The book itself was in excellent condition. I felt this story wasn't quite as good as the others in this series. I would re-read the others, but don't know that I would read this one again. I would have liked it better if there had been more of Spencer and Nora. Nevertheless, it's a good story.
Great book, but not her best April 23, 2008
D. Moulton (Broomfield, CO United States)
This is in the same style as McCrumb's other books in the series. I really enjoyed it. In several of the other books she has referred to the civil war and the effect on the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, and in this book she addresses it full on. She has done a lot of research, and did a great job bringing historical characters to life, as always. The books only weakness is that the modern story is hardly existent, which is unusual, and a little disappointing.
 A faint interest February 12, 2008
Kel (Charlotte, NC USA)
This was a historical fiction book about the Civil War. Most of the places mentioned in the book were right here in North Carolina. Asheville, Statesville, Blowing Rock and Raleigh were mentioned several times. Even Charlotte was mentioned towards the end. I really tried to enjoy this book but after I finished it, I felt really let down. I am not sure if I was reading a history book or a sad attempt to weave some fiction with non-fiction. This book just did not capture my interest. My ears perked up when I read the story of the Blalocks. There were parts of their story that was interesting. I kept waiting for an exciting climax, but it never came. The ending was suppose to pull everything together but I am still sitting her trying to figure it out. For the most part, this book bored me. I thought, I would have enjoyed this more if you took out the fiction and just reported the history. At least I would have felt satisified that I learned something.
 History, Mystery and Mysticism May 9, 2006
Sallie Bailey (Fayetteville, NY USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
McCrumb's books are noted for the blend - but in this one, history figures more prominently. As is true of most of her 'mountain books', there is a prevailing feeling of calm. Bloody killing, maiming, Civil War reinactors, history, mystery and a ghost story - all are there, but still there is that feeling of calm inevitability. (Perhaps I'm misusing the word `mystery' since this is not a traditional mystery at all).
The front of the hard cover edition has two compelling photographs - a man and a woman - each with intense eyes. Zebulon Vance and Malinda Blalock. They appear to be inordinately handsome people for the era. Exactly who are they and why are they pictured? These are photographs - after all - and this book is a novel, as its sub-title points out.
Do an online search on those names and find out for yourself - there is a lot of material on the two. Sharon McCrumb has taken the liberty of imagining herself into the heads of actual characters - one of whom attained a considerable degree of prominence, but her account is faithful to the facts as presented in my online `research'.
McCrumb highlights, by inference, the feelings and events that led to some of the fabled mountain feuds. One can even find a parallel to the long simmering hatreds of the Middle East. It is one thing to be part of an organized army in a war won by one side and lost by the other. It's quite another to fight for a cause which makes near neighbors and relatives your enemy. The Civil War is often characterized this way - `brother against brother - North versus South' - but for some people it was more personal than that. I really didn't know, until I read it here, that there was a strong pro-Union movement in the mountain country of Tennessee and North Carolina. For these people, `brother against brother' was not an abstract term and the hatred engendered lived on.
I loved 'Malinda' and her matter-of-fact approach to the dreadful crises that the war brought to her life, the unique way in which she handled them. If you look at the picture of the older Malinda, holding a picture of her husband in her hand, you can see where the author got her inspiration for Malinda's character in the book. (If your copy doesn't have the photos - you can find them online in Google Images).
If you're interested in history, you'll enjoy this book - but even if you're not - it will hold your attention.
Ghost Riders March 15, 2006
Cat Fulton (IA United States)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I love Sharyn McCrumb in general and her books are always fun, but this one was especially grand. I love the way she weaves history into the present and throws in plenty of supernatural phenomena as well. Her books always inspire me to check out the historical facts and learn a bit more about the events she writes about. The characters are realistic, the events are perfectly interwoven and the ending is never predictable. Well worth reading.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 28
|
|
|
CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED ‘AS IS’ AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME. Working Dogs | |
