Ring Shout

by P. Djèlí Clark

IN AMERICA, DEMONS WEAR WHITE HOODS.

In 1915, The Birth of a Nation cast a spell across America, swelling the Klan's ranks and drinking deep from the darkest thoughts of white folk. All across the nation they ride, spreading fear and violence among the vulnerable. They plan to bring Hell to Earth. But even Ku Kluxes can die.

Standing in their way is Maryse Boudreaux and her fellow resistance fighters, a foul-mouthed sharpshooter and a Harlem Hellfighter. Armed with blade, bullet, and bomb, they hunt their hunters and send the Klan's demons straight to Hell. But something awful's brewing in Macon, and the war on Hell is about to heat up.

Can Maryse stop the Klan before it ends the world?

• ISBN10: 1250767024
• ISBN13: 9781250767028
• Publish Date: 1 November 2020
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: St Martin's Press
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 176
• Language: English

Reviews

[Berls]

This is going to be a DNF for me at 28% :( To be fair, I wasn't particularly enthused to be reading it, but it was a book club pick so I thought I'd give it a try. Thing is, the reason I wasn't interested was that it was horror (which I don't like) -- and yet, horror has nothing to do with why I am quitting it. I just am bored AF. I feel no connection to the characters, the setting, nothing. This is just not my type of book in general, I think. Lots of the "N" word, not used pejoratively but still, I don't like that. And the general tone just isn't grabbing my interest. I see that lots of people have enjoyed it and I will say, the narration is GREAT if you've considered listening to it. I just wasn't the right audience for the book.

It was a good book, but the demon stuff was a bit over the top for me.

[Quirky Cat]

I received a copy of Ring Shout in exchange for a fair and honest review.

P. Djeli Clark has done it again. Ring Shout is once again a highly anticipated and talked about novella, and for all of the right reasons.

There are monsters hidden in the hearts of men. Sometimes, that is a figurative statement. Other times, it's literal. This is a story about the latter. The Ku Klux Klan is full of monsters – again, literally and figuratively.
That's where Maryse Boudreaux and her allies come into play. They hunt and fight these monsters, with the help of their experience, and Maryse's magical and singing sword.

“But I hunt monsters. And I know them when I see them.”

P. Djeli Clark has such a way with words. It's powerful, and empowering at the same time. He blends fantastical elements with history, and turns them into something new, and yet something that we can all connect to.

It's a talent that makes Ring Shout stand out so strongly. The description alone might have made that fact obvious, but there is so much more going on in this novella. Honestly, it almost defies description. It's wonderfully done, and I cannot recommend it enough.

Frankly, for a moment there I had forgotten that this was a novella, and not a full-length novel. That is how much P. Djeli Clark managed to fit into these pages. It's practically bursting at the seams, just begging to pull readers in and captivate them.

The timing of this release was not lost on me. I'm sure it's something that P. Djeli Clark had been working on for a while now, but the timing could not have been better. It hits the nail on the head that is our current political climate, making points and doing so with grace.

Check out more of my reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks