The Birth of a New Moon Book

Award-winning author of A Grave Talent, Laurie King is fast establishing herself as one of the most gifted contemporary crime writers. The Birth of a New Moon is her sixth novel, and signals something of a departure from her two popular series: the "Kate Martinelli" and the "Mary Russell" novels. This book introduces Anne Waverly, Professor of Religious Movements and sometime consultant to the FBI, who takes on the task of infiltrating the "Change" community--a religious cult which may, or may not, be about to degenerate into a bloodbath. The tension of this strange, often compelling book derives from that uncertainty, and the gradual characterisation of Waverly's complex involvement--past and present--with new religions. For a thriller, the pace of the novel is remarkably restrained, even slow. King is keen to dwell on the mundane detail of the everyday, to compile her story as if she were building a profile, weaving a set of connections between the form of her novel (its seven sections correspond to seven stages of alchemical reaction) and its themes: the crucible of personal and collective change, the lure of cult religion and, above all, the multiple "characters" of Anne Waverly--Professor, infiltrator, heroine. --Vicky LebeauRead More