The Dead Men Stood Together

Chris Priestley is an author who normally delivers, and this very freely adapted prose version of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner at first seems to have quite a lot going for it. But re-telling a famous story for over 200 pages inevitably means there is going to be some repetition, and while there are some genuinely horrific moments there are other times when the author is clearly under strain having to say the same thing yet again in as many different ways as he can. By the end he has told readers so often how horrible everything is that the overall effect is inevitably muted. If this story leads readers back to Coleridge’s great poem, well and good. But as a stand-alone novel it is something of a disappointment from an author who on top form is right out there with the best. Previously coming good with Mister Creecher, a clever re-invention of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Story, perhaps Chris Priestley should return to the gothic riches of his own imagination for his next novel.