Previous SFF Author: Livia Blackburne
(1923-1993)
John Fenwick Blackburn (born Northumberland, 26 June 1923; died 1993) was a British novelist who wrote thrillers, horror novels, and The Flame and the Wind (1967), an unusual historical novel set in Roman times, in which a nephew of Pontius Pilate tries to discover the facts about the crucifixion of Jesus. His horror novels are often structured as thrillers, with detective story plots involving international espionage, but leading to a supernatural resolution. This means that, as with some of the books of James Herbert, many of Blackburn’s horror novels are notable for pace and plotting rather than for atmospheric effects. Blackburn specialized in mixing modern concerns such as germ warfare and international conspiracies with ancient traditions and curses, often to ingenious effect. Many of his books feature stock characters, including General Charles Kirk of British Intelligence and his friends, the scientist Sir Marcus Levin and his Russian wife Tania. Blackburn’s novels Nothing But the Night and The Gaunt Woman were the basis for screenplays. The Gaunt Woman appeared as a made for TV movie in 1969 as Destiny of a Spy and Nothing But the Night was released to theaters in 1972.
Bury Him Darkly by John Blackburn
Although it’s been almost 18 years since I last read English author John Blackburn’s first novel, A Scent of New-Mown Hay (1958), I still vividly recall several segments of the book, mainly due to the forcefulness of the writing therein. And really, with its plot conflating a female ex-Nazi scientist, deserted Russian villages, and a fungoid mutation that is slowly spreading across Europe, the book is inherently hard to forget.
Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4.5 | John Blackburn | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
A Scent of New-Mown Hay by John Blackburn
The old whimsical phrase “there’s fungus among us” might not sound so amusing after a reader finishes John Blackburn‘s first novel, A Scent of New-Mown Hay. This short (my New English Library paperback edition from 1976 is only 160 pages long) but densely written book originally appeared in 1958, and is a curious combination of sci-fi, horror and spy thriller. I first came to hear of it after reading a very laudatory article on the novel in the excellent overview volume Horror: Another 100 Best Books edited by Stephen Jones and Kim Newman.
Sandy Ferber´s rating: 4 | John Blackburn | Horror, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Previous SFF Author: Livia Blackburne
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Interesting! I have to say I had a "Jim and Huck underwater" moment, reading your synopsis.
No doubt about it--I have to read these.