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When the Night Bells Ring

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Don't awaken what sleeps in the dark.

In a future ravaged by fire and drought, two climate refugees ride their motorcycles across the wasteland of the western US, and stumble upon an old silver mine. Descending into the cool darkness of the caved-in tunnels in desperate search of water, the two women find Lavinia Cain's diary, a settler in search of prosperity who brought her family to Nevada in the late 1860s.

But Lavinia and the settlers of the Western town discovered something monstrous that dwells in the depths of the mine, something that does not want greedy prospectors disturbing the earth. Whispers of curses and phantom figures haunt the diary, and now, over 150 years later, trapped and injured in the abandoned mine, the women discover they're not alone . . . with no easy way out.

The monsters are still here—and they're thirsty.

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    • Library Journal

      October 1, 2022

      Waynoka and Mads, "Dust Devils," are traversing a near-future climate-disaster landscape in Nevada, searching for shelter and water in a barren desert when they stumble upon a Silver Rush--era ghost town. They explore an abandoned mine for a possible source of freshwater, but when Mads is badly injured on the descent, the two women are forced to shelter in a natural cave, where they discover the diary of Lavinia, a resident of the town back in 1869. What follows is a harrowing story of survival, told in two time frames--Waynoka as she searches the tunnels in an attempt to find both water and escape, and Lavinia's diary entries, which unveil the monstrous truth hidden deep within the land itself. The constant unease of each story line is broken only for the brief second it takes to turn the page from one narration to the next, as the tension builds relentlessly until the novel's shockingly horrific conclusion. VERDICT Seamlessly blending Western, ancient evil, and climate horror tropes, Kaplan (It Will Just Be Us) has created an immersive, chilling, and compelling tale that fans of Christina Henry and Camilla Sten will devour.

      Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Booklist

      Starred review from September 15, 2022
      Climate refugees Mads and Waynoka are trying to make it across the desert to the eastern U.S., where they can escape disastrous drought and heat. Left horribly dehydrated in a ghost town, they decide to explore a mine in hopes of finding water flooded in its caves. To their horror, a ladder breaks from under them, leaving them stranded in a pitch-dark cave system prone to collapse, where they and their flashlights discover a diary, written by a woman named Lavinia Cain in the 1860s. In Lavinia's entries, she describes a town haunted by a monstrous threat--something that was released from the same dark, damp caves that Mads and Waynoka are trapped in now. Kaplan's novel has some strange detail choices that require the reader to suspend belief. However, When the Night Bells Ring is delightfully creepy, and its suspenseful pacing, well-written diary entries, and compelling characters make up for any narrative missteps. The Strange Lady out in the desert--who all the children know--the claustrophobia of the tunnels, and the book's questions about human greed and violence will leave readers unsettled in all the best ways.

      COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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  • English

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