09-09-2010, 08:41 PM
I don't remember this book (though I am sure I have read it) but I do recall that Michaels' books went downhill during the 90s...she no longer writes under this name (she is also the highly successful mystery novelist Elizabeth Peters.) I remember that a number of her later books featured heroines with bad attitudes and otherwise dislikable characters. I'm slowly working my way re reading some of her early books. Someone might correct me but I think the first two, Master of Black Tower and Sons of the Wolf are the only true Gothic romances. I just finished her third, Ammie, Come Home which is a tale of seances and ghostly possession, and am now on Prince of Darkness, witch cults in modern day (1970) New England. Her output vacillates between Suspense and Ghost Stories with a little dab of romance along the way. I would wager to say that her popularity is due to the strong supernatural element in a number of books as well as the ghost stories (The Crying Child, Here I Stay, Walker In Shadows). When they are good they are VERY good (if you like that sort of thing - which I do). Her later output, Smoke and Mirrors, Search the Shadows, Shattered Silk, etc, were not very memorable to me.
