Coffins
I was recently having a discussion with a young man in his early 20’s and asked about his favourite book, because that is what bibliophiles do. He immediately said this Freak the Mighty by Philbrick. This is the fourth volume I have read by the author in as many weeks. And it was something completely different!
The description of this volume state:
“In rural Maine, a stop on the Underground Railroad is menaced by a supernatural force in this terrifying novel of pre–Civil War horror.
Davis Bentwood has nearly finished medical school when he meets an abolitionist dwarf walking across Harvard Yard. Jeb Coffin is a nonpracticing doctor, a devoted student of transcendentalism whose home life has been shaken by tragedy. The two men become friends, and Coffin invites Bentwood to rural Maine to save his family from itself. The Coffins are noted abolitionists, their home a stop on the Underground Railroad, and lately they have been menaced by a supernatural terror. The tragedies are countless: two brothers killed, a father driven mad, and a baby frozen solid in its crib.
At first Bentwood cannot bring himself to acknowledge the impossible horrors that have cursed this family. But he will not survive his sojourn in Maine unless he can open his mind to the possibility that something evil is waiting in the dark.”
The description of an earlier print edition was:
“Physician Davis Bentwood, making a lengthy housecall at the Coffin family mansion on the coast of Maine, finds the newborn grandson of Captain Cash Coffin, stiff and cold as a block of ice, in a cradle not ten feet from a roaring fire. Young Davis can find no medical explanation for the baby's death.
After a mysterious accident at the family shipyard caused the simultaneous death of his twin sons, Cash Coffin locked himself in study, and threatened to shoot anyone who approached. Cash's youngest son, the dwarf Jebediah, has asked his old friend Davis to try to help the old man.
Another Coffin son, an experienced ship's master, dies at sea in a freak accident that defies a natural explanation. And on a moonless night, Davis Bentwood is awakened by an eerie light that leads him to the Coffin family's darkest secret.
Cash Coffin traded in slaves.
Davis Bentwood's blood-chilling discovery holds the key to the family's destruction. Can the ancient evil being visited upon the Coffins be stopped?”
Philbrick writes midgrade literature, young adult books and adult fiction. And some are even published under other pen names. I just randomly picked this as the next volume to read. It was a tossup between this and Strange Invaders. I have friends who call me a ‘completionist’ in that I find an author I really like and try to read everything they have in print, or have published.
I will admit it took a while to get into this one. I had not read the description or any reviews I just dove in. I struggled at the beginning and had a hard time seeing where the story was going. But then figured it out and raced through to the end. It is definitely not for middle grade readers and I would not even recommend it for tweens or teens. It did however remind me several books and series I have read over the years some of those are:
What's Bred in the Bone - Robertson Davies
City of the Dead - The Haunting of Derek Stone 1 - Tony Abbott
A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
The Tin Drum – Gunter Grass
This Thing of Darkness - Fiorella De Maria and K.V. Turley
And a few others. As mentioned I struggled and it almost ended up on my ‘did not finish’ pile. However I am very grateful I stuck it out and once I was hooked I could hardly put the book down.
This was a dark tale, a tale of slavery, regret, family secrets and a curse. It is a story that will stay with readers, especially American readers for much of it is their history. It is also the story of friendship. And it is about a young man caught up in something well beyond his experience and understanding. Written as an actual historical account it is a weighty work. But one I can recommend.
Books by Rodman Philbrick:
Max the Mighty Series:
Freak the Mighty (1993)
Max the Mighty (1998)
…
House on Cherry Street Series: (with Lynn Harnett)
1. The Haunting (1995)
2. The Horror (1995)
3. The Final Nightmare (1995)
…
Werewolf Chronicles Series: (with Lynn Harnett)
1. Night Creature (1996)
2. Children of the Wolf (1996)
3. The Wereing (1996)
…
Visitors Series: (with Lynn Harnett)
1. Strange Invaders (1997)
2. Things (1997)
3. Brain Stealers (1997)
…
Wild Series:
1. Wildfire (2019)
2. Wild River (2021)
3. Wild Wave (2024)
4. Wild Blizzard (2026)
…
Other Books:
Shooting Star (1982)
The Black Moon (1989)
Brothers and Sinners (1993)
The Fire Pony (1996)
Abduction (1998) (with Lynn Harnett)
The Mighty (1998)
Dark Matter (2000)
Rem World (2000)
The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds (2001)
Coffins (2002)
The Young Man and the Sea (2004)
Lobster Boy (2005)
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg (2009)
Listening To Kids In America (2011)
Zane and the Hurricane (2014)
The Big Dark (2016)
Who Killed Darius Drake? (2017)
We Own the Sky (2022)
…
Written as William R Dantz:
Pulse (1989) (as by William R Dantz)
The Seventh Sleeper (1991) (as by William R Dantz)
Hunger (1993) (as by William R Dantz)
Nine Levels Down (1995) (as by William R Dantz)
Written as by W R Philbrick:
The Big Chip (1990) (as by W R Philbrick)
…
J.D. Hawkins Series:
1. Shadow Kills (1985)
2. Ice for the Eskimo (1986)
3. Paint It Black (1989)
4. Walk on the Water (1991)
…
T.D. Stash Series:
1. The Neon Flamingo (1987)
2. The Crystal Blue Persuasion (1988)
3. Tough Enough (1989)
…
Written as by Chris Jordan:
Randall Shane Series:
1. Taken (2006)
2. Trapped (2007)
aka Lost
3. Torn (2009)
4. Measure of Darkness (2011)
…
