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The Owl Killers

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The Owl Killers

By: Karen Maitland
Narrated by: David Thorpe
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About this listen

England 1321: Deep in the countryside lies an isolated village governed by a sinister regime of Owl Masters. But their dark status quo is disturbed by the arrival of a house of religious women. Why do their crops succeed when village crops fail, their cattle survive despite the plague? Accusations of witchcraft and heresy run rife, while the Owl Masters rain down hellfire and torment on the women, who must look to their faith to save them from the lengthening shadow of evil... a shadow with predatory, terrifying talons.

©2011 Karen Maitland (P)2011 Oakhill Publishing Ltd Genre Fiction Gothic Historical Horror Literary Fiction Mystery Scary Exciting Fiction Witchcraft Suspense Village

Critic reviews

"Maitland has conjured up a medieval world startling in its brutality and unrivaled in it's fury." ( Booklist)
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What did you like most about The Owl Killers?

Gripping plot, brilliant characterisation.

What did you like best about this story?

The beautifully crafted mix of mysticism, mainstream religion, feudalism and emancipated women.

What does David Thorpe bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

The excellent voicing of the different characters.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I really sided with women in the story. I listen in the car and didn't want journeys to end due to the gripping plot.

Any additional comments?

Now a hooked Karen Maitland fan!

Truly fabulous book on set of unlikely heroines

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Once again Karen Maitland weaves a story that keeps you hooked, told in a great performance by David Thorpe who brings each character to life.

Fantastic story

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Having had a bad run of books that I hadn't really enjoyed, finding this was a welcome breath of fresh air. This is the second of Karen Maitland's books I've listened to, the first being Company of Liars, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Sadly I thought Company of Liars overlong and over complicated but The Owl Killers was fabulous and I achieved that curious state where I yearned for the end but didn't want to finish.

I'm still not sure about the title. The book had some superb strong, female characters and some real villains but the whole owl killer thing seems almost superfluous to the story and it would have worked just as well without it. All Ms Maitland's characters are well drawn and our narrator, David Thorp, did an excellent job in portraying them, even the women.

It took me the best part of a year to think of reading this second novel of Ms Maitland's. I suspect it won't take me that long to get round to listening to yet another!

Slightly curious title

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This is either my 3rd or 4th book by Karen Maitland and my feelings about them have been mixed so far. The last book of hers I read wasn't so enjoyable so this one sat on my wish list for a while until I needed something to read and didn't have anything else in view, so bought it. Happily, I enjoyed it much more than the last one - a well drawn and developed narrative that tripped along happily and kept me entertained. It was pretty predictable and not wildly creative, but enjoyable enough.

Better than expected

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As usual, Karen Maitland has produced masterpiece of exciting entertainment. David Thorpe narrates at a suitable pace and gives a unique voice to each character. I recommend this book as well as others from this author.

Exciting enjoyable page turner

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