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HUNTED by Christopher Russell

HUNTED

by Christopher Russell

Pub Date: May 1st, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-06-084119-5
Publisher: Greenwillow Books

This 14th-century tale of plague, greed and religious zealotry compels from start to satisfying finish. Brind, found as an infant among mastiff pups on Sir Edmund’s manor, knows dogs better than humans. Now 14, he ably serves as Edmund’s huntsman, training and caring for the pack. Glaive, pack leader, is as intelligent as young, oddly black Gabion is reckless. Russell opens with Lady Beatrice’s plague-struck death—a tragedy that smites the manor and leaves Edmund inchoate with grief. Brother Rohan, an opportunistic, itinerant snake of a friar, manipulates Edmund with one eye on Beatrice’s jewels and cloth of gold. The friar’s lies—that French servant Aurelie’s a witch, Gabion a “hellhound” and Brind, accursed “Plague Bringer”—make Edmund banish the children, Gabion and Glaive. Smart, stubborn Aurelie and intuitive, earthy Brind, struggling to reach a supposed safe haven, endure dreadful events—Brind’s near drowning, Auriele’s live entombment and more. Edmund, atoning for engendering the children’s dangerous quest, pursues them—but not alone. Set against the scrim of plague, the story, replete with intricate plotting, unlikely heroes, base villains and unrelenting action, makes for riveting historical fiction. (Historical fiction. 10-14)