Waking Brigid-Francis Clark

Waking Brigid
Francis Clark
Forge, Feb 2008, $25.95
ISBN: 9780765318107

The Civil War has been over for almost a decade, but Savannah remains under siege as it has been for about a century. A cabal of evil magicians opened a portal that enabled the demon Belial to enter the city. He grants his followers power, wealth and prestige as long and performs their evil demands. When one of the coven members wants out he is driven crazy and locked away in an insane asylum. During those rare lucid moments, he explains what is happening to him as he waits for Belial to kill him.

Sister Brigid has the Sight and untapped powers that go back generations to her ancestors, but have remained dormant in her as the Church has frowned on their use for centuries. Now they are active in Sister Brigid. The Church summons a group of dedicated mages to fight the coven and destroy the demon, but they prove too weak. They need the awakening powers that Brigid possesses if they have any chance at dispatching Belial to hell. Beliel easily defeats the insurgents leading to a mano a mano albeit demon vs. Sister in a battle of magic.

WAKING BRIGID is a chilling horror story that will scare readers with its sense of reality caused by mixing real events that occurred in Savannah in 1874 into the horror storyline. Brigid was given to the Church when she was seven although her family were pagans who followed the ancient ways so that she received some witch training before she was sent to Georgia to live. She comes into her own when she is forced to confront the force of hate emitted by the demon, but she does not know what she is or how much strength she possesses or if she has enough until the final confrontation with the loser most likely spending eternity in hell.

Harriet Klausner