Will Rabjohns, champion of the Animal Kingdom, is on a tireless crusade to photograph the demise of any and all species. Where does this obsession come from? Only a return visit to his childhood can tell him, but this same trip will leave him with more questions than when he started.

After strange things happen to him, Will has no choice but to track down the source of his childhood anguish, and we are taken on a fascinating journey from the US to the Scottish Isles.

My Thoughts

Clive Barker has two distinct styles of writing - his all-out horror (Hellraiser, The Books of Blood, etc.) contrasts quite dramatically with his fantasy writing.

This second style of Clive's style has always enthralled me. His ability to weave fantastic concepts into the fabric of the world we know regularly has me turning the pages into the early hours of the morning.

Sacrament is certainly no exception - the entire plot takes place in our reality (although perhaps not one most of us have experienced), but there is always something there on the edge of that reality - something paranormal, but incredibly believable. The main character in Sacrament is ready to accept the strange things that happen, and so are we as we follow the story to its conclusion.

An excellent story, with only one point that let it down slightly for me - unusually for Clive Barker, the last chapter left me feeling that something was missing or incomplete. No real sense of closure. Apart from that - go out and read it!