The Demon Plague

Joreid McFate
Zumaya Publications (2004)
ISBN 1554102235
Reviewed by Sondra Fowler for Reader Views (5/06)

Salem Massachusetts 1692, Patience Gladstone stands before the town magistrate accused of witchcraft – Salem Massachusetts 1992, Crystal Patience Gladstone Donovan stands at her great-grandmother’s funeral. “The Demon Plague” starts as a traditional tale of the Salem Witch Trials and ends quite another way. We follow the path of a crystal amulet bearing a star shaped flaw as it weaves its way through time. At the heart of this journey is a plot by a future race of people borne of a distant disaster. Crystal finds herself the heir of this amulet but no sooner than she gets it, the amulet is gone. Soon after Crystal finds the amulet missing, a charming teenager named Ba Tuti claiming to be the Moon to Crystals star. Ba Tuti reminds Crystal of a poem learned as a child:

Flesh that bears the ancient star, Passed from womb to womb; May crystal right The demon blight, While guarded by the moon.

The two begin a close friendship forged by trials and adventure. To say more would spoil the story for others.

The author weaves a fanciful tale - a mix of sci-fi, history and mystery. You grow to care for these women and join in their fight. McFate did a lovely job weaving one time into another. There was no jarring of the mind and the times and methods were believable. There were twists and turns and you never knew what to expect around the next corner. It was an enjoyable and quick read that I had to fight to put down, finding that I missed the characters when it was over.

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