The Lucifer Chord

September 2, 2013
A massive reforestation project invites malignant supernatural visitations in this enjoyable but unsatisfying tale. Arboreal specialist Tom Curtis, desperate for money, agrees to help dying businessman Saul Abercrombie replant his Welsh estate with the types of trees that thrived there in the Dark Ages. Despite unsettling encounters with a vindictive thorn bush, a laughing cairn, and his doppelganger in a church window, Curtis finds rewards in the friendship of Aber-crombie’s daughter, and in his hefty pay. Through selective disclosure of information and quick scene changes, Cottam (The Colony) slowly uncovers hidden connections. As Abercrombie’s true motivation emerges and workers disappear, pagan professor Andrew Carrington arrives from London, hoping to prevent the return of an ancient demonic presence. Cottam infuses his story with a convincing sense of eeriness and a well-handled shift from normality to dread, but his aggressively telegraphed (“What could possibly go wrong?”) and increasingly far-fetched supernatural manifestations degrade the otherworldly to the ludicrous. Readers unshaken by the implausible will enjoy Cottam’s imaginative exploration of the power of discredited myths.