No one can deny, William Trotter has a unique sense of adventure. His
Civil War epics revealed his talent for plot and character. But they
didn’t prepare me for the grand sweep of romanticism and peril that his
new novel laid on me. Warrener’s Beastie is an ambitious
character-driven tour de force principally set in the Faeroes Islands. In
our world spy satellites, GPS, and Google Earth, the Faeroes are a left
over Lost World steeped in sinister beauty.
Warrener’s Beastie abounds with romantic adventure, volcanoes,
crust-hugging entities, and treachery—a celebration of suspense. Trotter
succeeds in cultivating a mood that brings to mind a good Stephen King
novel. He
captures details that most writers wouldn’t notice, such as stun grenades
that "flash bright enough to outline the veins in his eyelids".
Throughout the 686-page novel I was impressed by the breadth of his
ability to strike the right notes utilizing an astonishing array of
expressions and descriptions.
Few writers can match Trotter’s precise and unique phrasing.
|
"Great place for a monster to hide out,
isn't it?"
"You know, I really wish you hadn't said
that!" |
Warrener was raised by a grandfather who imbued him with a passion
for cryptozoology, literature, and military adventure. His university
studies permit him opportunity to trek to Lapland for his thesis. It’s
there he gets his first glimpse of creatures of mythic lore. From there
fate leads him to the Faeroes Islands, an archipelago in the wintry north
Atlantic Ocean between the United Kingdom and Iceland. He meets Eiden
Poulsen, a veteran U-boat hunter. He falls under the spell of Poulsen’s
daughter Elbusa. To any man, Elbusa is a beautiful young woman with a
strong spirit; to Warrener, she is a Norse goddess. Their passionate
affair leaves him emotionally crippled and spiritually unsatisfied for
years to come.
He returns home to finish his studies about the time the war in Vietnam
heats up. Eager to earn his martial stripes, he enlists in the Special
Forces. Destiny denies Warrener; he ultimately ends up as a special
correspondent in Pleiku just in time to greet the Tet offensive.
Leaving the military Warrener degenerates into a bitter young professor
who savages the hip artists of his generation. He crosses paths with Karen
Hambly, a younger student who possesses strange flickers of clairvoyance.
With her help Warrener finally finds a goal worthy of his ambitions:
revealing the legendary Vardinoy Beast of the Faeroes. He mounts a monster
hunting expedition with Poulsen and Elbusa, a hack-and-stab film director,
his porn star wife, a Jewish journalist, and a lusty Hell’s angel who is
convinced he’s a reincarnated Viking berserker. Treachery and deceit
defrock Warrener's quest but he fails to buckle. Every aspect of an
adventurer’s fantasy is included: weapons, equipment, books, and booze.
The only thing left is to find the monster. And survive.
|
She saw the cliffs spread before her, riven by knife-thin
chasms, and she knew where he had taken her and she has an appalling idea
of why. He pushed her over the chasm. His vision was sharp now,
combat-charged with adrenaline, and he was certain that he saw a change in
the texture of the darkness inside the chasm: the darkness had substance
and was rising up to meet her falling body, so that she did
not plummet into the abyss so much as sink very slowly out of sight. |
Author William R.
Trotter is the author of fifteen books, including Winter Fire, The Sands
of Pride, and his sequel, The Fires of Pride.
For more
information, please visit the author's website:
trotterbooks.com
