By These Ten Bones is the most excellent, spellbinding, enchanting tale you'll ever read!

books:

	• By These Ten Bones Clare B. Dunkle Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), 2005 - 240 pages average customer review:based on 13 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Wonderful!

Reading this book was a complete treat for me. By These Ten Bones has a way of completely submerging you into a world of fantasy, of which you never want to let go of. I think all readers- werewolf fans or not :) - will immensly enjoy this book, I know that I did.

This Book Is Fantastic!

I loved it! It has just the right mixture of romance, self-sacrifice, and hair-raising parts to be absolutely perfect! I am a die-hard Tolkien fan, but I would definitely put this book on the same level as his work. It was very well done! A great read for children and adults alike.

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Bones and blood

Having completely revamped goblins and elves in her Hollow Kingdom trilogy, Clare B. Dunkle turns her hand to werewolves in "By These Ten Bones." This dark little fantasy is set in long-ago Scotland, when superstitions ran rampant and witches might still be burned.

Two travellers come to Maddie's town -- a drunken old man, and a quiet young carver. Then the carver is found covered in claw marks, and is taken in by Maddie's family, while they try to find the evil supernatural creature responsible for it. But Maddie finds out the hard way when the carver -- whose name is Paul -- enlists her to chain him up in the woods for a day.

Turns out that Paul is possessed by a parasitic werewolf, which turns him into a bloodthirsty monster once a month, and it's getting stronger. And with his companion jailed (and then killed) by a thuggish villager, he has no one to keep him restrained. Desperate to save Paul -- both from the villagers and the werewolf -- Maddie searches for a cure. But to cure Paul, she may have to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Like vampires, werewolves have been pretty much done to death. So it takes something special to make a werewolf story stand out the way "By These Ten Bones" does. For one thing, Dunkle reinvents the werewolf -- here's it's less a shapechanger, and more a demon. No wolfly tendencies. Just a sort of shadow with claws.

And it's all set in a very ordinary village, full of old prejudices against anyone who is different, such as the scholarly, crusty Lady Mary. While Dunkle allows that these people had good intentions, she doesn't hesitate to show all the ugliness of what they are doing. Only a few people, such as Maddie and the kindly priest, dare to be just and open-minded.

The whole thing is wrapped up in Dunkle's detailed writing, which gives the story an autumnal, faded atmosphere. She also includes some genuinely chilling moments, such as Paul's first transformation, or when old Ned's chopped-off head appears to be following Maddie.

But this is not just a horror story, or even a story about prejudice, but a love story. Maddie is a likable everygirl (not terribly pretty, by her own admission) who is has plenty of fears and uncertainties, but loves Paul enough to endanger herself. And Paul shakes off the "traumatized youth" cliche, since his curse makes his feelings all too understandable.

Clare B. Dunkle gives readers a new spin on werewolves, which isn't easy to do. "By These Ten Bones" succeeds as horror, historical fiction, and as a love story.

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By These Ten Bones is the most excellent, spellbinding, enchanting tale you'll ever read!

By These Ten Bones is by far the most enchanting, spellbinding and engrossing tale you will ever read. I was so absorbed in the book that it only took me a minimal three hours to read it. Carver, Maddeleine's love, though silent and shy at first, is an affectionate and sincere character. Maddeleine is courageous and practical and together they form a most inseparable bond. I absolutely fell in love with Carver, later known as Paul, for the detailed description the author gives him. There is almost an innocence to him, though he hides a terrifying secret. Dunkle's characters seem to come to life. Read These Ten Bones to unlock the perplex mystery, suspense, horror and romance hidden just beneath the cover. And I must warn you, it will leave you wanting to read more... I myself am a victim...

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one of five

This book got me into Dunkle's writting. And I stumbled across Hollow Kingdom. IN the long run I became a huge fan. I display hardcovers of my favorite books around my room. Currently there are only five. Two of them are Dunkle books.

By These Ten Bones is not fantasy at all. It feels very real. Like this may have happened and Dunkle was channeling when she wrote this. The cultural references are very good, and I cen see the valley quite clearly in my mind.

I read books in cycles. Romance, fantasy, mystery, ect. And By These Ten bones usually ends up being last since I save the best for last.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

There's hidden places all over this land-old, old places. Places with a chain for them to chain up the wolf when it's time.

A bone-chilling tale of werewolves and love, set in medieval Scotland

A mysterious young man has come to a small Highland town. His talent for wood carving soon wins the admiration of the weaver's daughter, Maddie. Fascinated by the silent carver, she sets out to gain his trust, only to find herself drawn into a terrifying secret that threatens everything she loves.

There is an evil presence in the carver's life that cannot be controlled, and Maddie watches her town fall under a shadow. One by one, people begin to die. Caught in the middle, Maddie must decide what matters most to her-and what price she is willing to pay to keep it.

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