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The Cormorant cover art

The Cormorant

By: Stephen Gregory
Narrated by: Matt Godfrey
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Summary

"[An] artful first novel, reminiscent of the tales of Poe... Gregory uses a low-key style and subtle lyricism to build an atmosphere of nightmarish horror in a tale that could become a classic." (Publishers Weekly)

"[A] first-class terror story with a relentless focus that would have made Edgar Allan Poe proud." (New York Times)

"[N]o summary can do justice to the subtlety of Gregory's first novel, with its fresh, vivid, sensual prose and its superb descriptive and evocative power. An extraordinary novel - original, compelling, brilliant." (Library Journal)

"A work of tremendous self-assurance that leaves the reader with a lingering sense of unease and announces the arrival of a considerable new talent." (British Book News)

A young family receives a welcome surprise when old Uncle Ian dies and leaves them a cottage in north Wales. For Ian's nephew and his wife, Ann, it seems a stroke of incredible good fortune, enabling them to leave their unfulfilling lives in the city for a newfound freedom in the remote seaside cottage. There's just one catch. Uncle Ian's will has a strange condition: The couple must care for his pet cormorant or forfeit the bequest. They think nothing of it at first: Uncle Ian was eccentric, and the bird is amusing in a way. But when the cormorant begins to show a violent and malevolent side, they soon find that Uncle Ian's gift may not be a blessing but a curse. 

Stephen Gregory's first novel, The Cormorant (1986), received widespread critical acclaim, winning the prestigious Somerset Maugham Award and earning comparisons to the works of Poe.

©1986 Stephen Gregory (P)2018 Valancourt Books LLC

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Listener received this title free

Great story read with a preacher's voice

listen to the warbling up and down voice. awful. sorry as people have to make a living but terrible choice.

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Old Creepy Story

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand it is very well written. The author has an excellent way of describing a scene, drawing you in and immersing you into the folds of the story. But on the other hand it is a very slow tick with mostly subtle hints of supernatural undertakings which are left open to your imagination to decipher, like an old black and white haunted house film. Sometimes the story is mundane, focusing heavily on the families domesticity within the cottage, which I did not care for. However because the author is such a skilled wordsmith it keeps the story going with the expectation of greater things to come. Then there is the 'bath scene' that pops up out of nowhere. It's disturbing, unnecessary and just seems to be written in for shock factor but done in a very unsavoury way. Without giving the scene away, the parents actions/reactions before and after 'the act' didn't make sense, especially in a family setting. All in all it seemed exploitative. Like this scene, sporadic big scenes would happen and then just fissile out without narrative or after effect.

Overall I appreciated the clever writing but it is not a book I enjoyed. Although it is labeled as a horror it is more of a thriller. occasionally things would happen, none of which were scary, just creepy. I was given a copy of this book for free of my own choosing and have voluntarily left this review.

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silly fake accent ruins audiobook

can you remember that episode of friends where Ross put on a British accent to impress college students? The narrator here is doing the same thing. i couldn't listen to this. i had to buy a hard copy instead.

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okay

interesting story at first... trailed off mid way. Was freaked out and put off by the bath scene, not in a good way!
meh

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