NIGHT OF THE RIDER BY ALYSON FAYE - BOOK REVIEW

​Night of the Rider tells the story of a supernatural monster-like being and the unfortunate man being pursued by it. This man, Barnabas, left his countryside home for the city and squandered his money on booze, women and gambling. Desperate to get out of debt, he visits a mysterious hunchback who will pay off Barnabas’ deaths but only for a painful sacrifice. Barnabas hits the hunchback and leaves for home to beg for forgiveness and to be let back into his childhood home. On his way home, he becomes the target for the Rider. Barnabas narrrowly escapes the Rider and makes it into his father’s home alive, but now Barnabas and his father and sister are targets for this frightening rider.

I really liked this short story. It starts out like a fable you tell your kids if you want to keep them out of trouble (“Don’t go past curfew, or the Rider will get you!”). But it has a surprising ending, that is actually quite empowering for one of the characters. Overall, it has a good deal of darkness and evil mixed in with sacrifice and hope.

In an interview with Alyson published at the story's launch, Alyson mentioned she wanted to combine Victorian Gothic with some dark magic. In this story, she ties them together very seamlessly. It also has a nice element of folklore to it - as I was reading, I wondered if this story was based on an old tale (I don’t believe it is). There is a good balance of back stories so that you get a feel for why the characters act as they do, although I would have liked to have spent a little more time in Leonie’s world.

For whatever reason, this story didn’t give me the usual feels that I usually get when I read Alyson’s work. I almost always love her short stories, but this one didn’t resonate with me as much as her other works. It also had more of a YA vibe to it - not that I dislike YA books - but it had a different tone in my mind compared to her other stories. But to be fair, it could be that the particular storyline didn’t really move me, because there is nothing I can point out as faulty in the writing itself.

In a nutshell, I would recommend this story to anyone who likes folklore, Victorian Gothic and/or dark magic reads. I’m looking forward to what Alyson comes up with next!

Click here to read an interview with Alyson 

Review by Kimberley 

NIGHT OF THE RIDER BY ALYSON FAYE