Night Visitor

Ghosts, Time Travel, Fairies, Magic and Scotland figure in this delightful story. I liked it. I had one little wish -- I got a bit confused with the love scenes - wish they were a little more detailed and longer.

I am one of the male managers of WISE Writers and Readers, and I generally leave the reviewing to Lady Ashorah, the head of WISE. But I wanted to say the male readers at WISE loved this book!!Melanie is a super writer, with a haunting, evocative quality that leads the reader into a drama drawn from real historical events. She is one of the strongest historical writers around.WISE WrIters and Readers Book of the Month for MAY and Book of the Year for 2001

Taffy and Malcolm are extremely beleivable charactors in a fantastic faerie filled plot. The plot is fey but the Taffy and Malcolm are 3-D humans. Part of what makes this book so believalbe is that it is based on real historical fact and the resulting ghost story that sprang up around a real life piper/hero. The real Malcolm knowingly gave his life for what he beleived in. Moreover, the death he suffered was not kind.This books just gets better the more often you read it.

Tafaline Lytoon blithely pedals her bicycle in a sport dress, takes photographs of archeological digs, shoots a gun, and hikes through lonely country -- much to her father's chagrin. Her clothing is more concerned with comfort and indestructibility rather than fashion or appearance -- much like her approach to life. She realizes that most suitors are more attracted to her looks, her fortune, or entree to her father than to her. Taffy's father asks her to photograph the skeleton of the famous ghost piper of Duntrune, Malcolm MacIntyre. According to legend, Malcolm played the pipes at risk of his own life to warn his clan of impending disaster. His plan worked but in retribution the enemy brutally killed him. Now, on stormy nights, he comes to play his pipes upon the wall. When she touches the piper's bones, a connection is made between Taffy and Malcolm.The span between the centuries that Malcolm and Taffy occupy soon grows thin as each sights an apparition of the other. The echoes of words carry across the centuries until Taffy finds herself drawn into a journey leading her back through the centuries to the ugly wars between clans and the days when the faerie still held sacred space.Melanie Jackson deftly weaves a tale that honors the myth, magic and lore of Scotland. Based on the true story of the piper of Duntrune, she masterfully blends fact with fantasy to present a fast paced, riveting tale. Indeed, this spanning of time and history will capture your imagination in a romance that will touch your heart. Very highly recommended.

Night Visitor was absolutly spellbinding. I picked it up and embarked on a new adventure with an author I had not read as of yet. Not only do I like Melaine Jackson's style of writing, but the characters (Tafeline and Malcolm) were extremly real and very convincing. I loved the story line and the fact that fairies were involved. Kudos to Melanie for making the reader believe that the transition from one time to another was simple but to add a believable fairy story line was great. I would highly recommend this book and am going to buy her other two Iona and Manon tonight!