Sixty-One Nails (Courts of the Feyre, #1)

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Sixty-One Nails (Courts of the Feyre #1)

by Mike Shevdon (Goodreads Author)

3.85 of 5 stars 3.85 · rating details · 1,236 ratings · 184 reviews

There is a secret war raging beneath the streets of London. A dark magic will be unleashed by the Untainted...Unless a new hero can be found. Neverwhere's faster, smarter brother has arrived. The immense SIXTY-ONE NAILS follows Niall Petersen, from a suspected heart attack on the London Underground, into the hidden world of the Feyre, an uncanny place of legend that lurks...more

Paperback, 528 pages

Published 2009 by Angry Robot

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Feb 16, 2012 N E White rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sixty-One Nails is Mike Shevdon’s first book. But it doesn’t feel like it. The characters are well defined, the plot engaging, and the story arc brings a satisfactory conclusion to the first book in a series that I predict will become one of my favorites.

The setting is modern day London. But in this world, magic boils beneath the streets. The Feyre, magical creatures from ancient times, walk among the underground trains and rivers hoping to survive among humanity. One group of the Feyre, the Unt...more

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Aug 07, 2011 Ed Fleetwood rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I picked this up as a "filler" while waiting for Ghost Story; and I loved it! The only problem with it as a "filler" was that I read almost the whole thing in a single day.
The pacing is good (witness how long I wasn't on it); you care about the characters; it's clearly been well researched with regard to aspects of English folklore. Plus, I'm so into the Faeries as bad guys these days, thanks to Jim Butcher and Mark Chadbourn (though long since Terry Pratchett told it how it was in Lords and Lad ...more

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Jan 06, 2011 Kristin (MyBookishWays Reviews) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fae, fantasy

You can see my review here: http://mybookishways.blogspot.com/201...

The book opens with Niall Petersen having suspected heart attack by the London Underground, and being saved by a mysterious stranger that calls herself Blackbird. Thus begins Niall's journey into the mystery of Feyre. This book was strange, and by strange I mean that it kept me eagerly turning the pages, even though...not much happens! There is some action, make no mistake, but most of the novel revolves around the developing re...more

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May 16, 2013 JJ DeBenedictis rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book is about a man who discovers he's part Fey in a particularly un-fun way--he has a heart attack in the London Underground and then a nasty spirit tries to possess his almost-corpse.

I generally enjoyed this book. It mixes action, historical fact, and myth into a tasty adventure tale of a man finding out he has to give up the life he's made for himself in order to protect his child's life. I liked the prose and I found the main character an interesting change from typical fantasy heroes....more

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May 13, 2013 Jenni rated it 4 of 5 stars

After reading my first Gaiman book "Neverwhere", my next choice from the pile that a friend had loaned me was obvious, once I saw the commendation on the cover.

"A Neverwhere for the next generation." Honestly, how could I resist?

Sixty-One Nails pulled me in from the first pages, watching Niall's day turn from bad, to worse, to bizarre, with the introduction of Blackbird. The story unfolds at a fast pace, giving you a feel for how quickly Niall's life changes in the book. You are carried along wi...more

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Apr 27, 2013 Mihir rated it 3 of 5 stars

Full review over at Fantasy Book Critic

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: I had read the book blurb which the plot line sounded all-to-familiar. However the book cover and the title nagged at my mind. I then happened onto this piece by Mike Shevdon about urban fantasy which made me very very curious to read this book. In retrospect I've learnt that the title and the front page are very important to the story!

Sixty-One Nails is set in London and features the primary character of Niall Petersen, who leads an or...more
Full review over at Fantasy Book Critic

OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: I had read the book blurb which the plot line sounded all-to-familiar. However the book cover and the title nagged at my mind. I then happened onto this piece by Mike Shevdon about urban fantasy which made me very very curious to read this book. In retrospect I've learnt that the title and the front page are very important to the story!

Sixty-One Nails is set in London and features the primary character of Niall Petersen, who leads an ordinary life but with the added weight of being a father and a testy relationship with his ex-wife. Readers are introduced to him in the underground subway where shortly after witnessing an accident, Niall experiences something similar to a heart attack. His rescuer is a woman who goes by the name of Blackbird and mysteriously calls him Rabbit as she comforts his fears of his heart and condition. The story line quickly picks up as Niall learns that he may have a possible Fey background. All the unwanted attention due to this possible link causes him to try and run. Niall tries to learn the ropes of how to adjust and survive in a world in which he has no clue about the rules and day to day living. Blackbird is his only contact to this hidden world, and she is very slow in passing information along to Niall. It appears she is part wary of him and part fascinated by him. Together they learn about who is behind the attack on Niall which leads to them trying to change the world that they are familiar with.

Mike Shevdon takes an interesting twist by linking the plot line with an ancient ceremony that is still taking place in current day London. I found this to be the highlight of Sixty-One Nails, as Shevdon seamlessly mingles the origins and traditional ceremony of the entire event and makes it a focal point of the book. The actual origins and history are nicely explained in the afterword of the book and come complete with proper references and further reading for those readers that were interested in it.

The story line of Sixty -One Nails follows the protagonist as he moves from London to the countryside and back again. I feel a reader more familiar with the London setting and countryside could appreciate how eloquently, Shevdon wrote about it.

There are some negatives of the book for myself. First, the events which occur all happen within a period of less than a week. However the prose is cumbersome in places as the story moves at a very slow pace in some areas. It took me a while to come to grips with this writing style as it seemed to take until around page 80-100 to pick up the pace of events.

The second negative was that of the main character coming across as a bit bland. As Niall is supposed to be the main focus of the story and readers are viewing the whole story through his eyes, he seemed to be a bit subdued or laid back. His reactions to the events that are happening to him and the changes around him came across as indifferent. He understood and came to grips with his power a little too quickly for my liking. This may be a result of the fact that I found Blackbird's character to be more interesting then Niall. Maybe the author intended it to be so, as Blackbird is a bit flamboyant with a mix of mystery and 100% Fey'ree fatale.

In the end I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes for something different in the urban fantasy sub genre. Mike Shevdon might not be the next big thing, but he's the next fresh voice in this genre. I look forward to what he writes about next and especially look forward to see what he brings to the second book in The Courts of the Feyre series.(less)

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Feb 19, 2013 International Cat Lady rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm surprised this book has as many 4 and 5 star ratings as it has. Three stars is my general rating for a book that wasn't bad, but wasn't particularly good either - and that pretty much sums it up for this book. I found it in the book section of a thrift store, and picked it up because I saw the word 'Neverwhere' on the front cover. More specifically, it said "A Neverwhere for the next generation." As Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere is one of my favorite stories, I knew I had to get this book - altho...more

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Jun 02, 2012 Joan Reeves rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: cross-genre, mystery-thriller, fantasy

Lot to Like About This Book

Occasionally, I tiptoe through the fantasy genre if I find a book that appeals to me for some reason or other. The hook sentence in the product description made me think 61 Nails might be a fantasy novel I would enjoy.

I believe, as Danielle Steel once said: "A bad review is like baking a cake with all the best ingredients and having someone sit on it." I never want to demolish anyone's best effort so I carefully compose a book review. Though I can't give this 5 stars,...more

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Jan 31, 2012 dawn armfield rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy, sff

This book begins with the protagonist, Niall Petersen, feeling ill in a Tube station, then falling from what is apparently a heart attack. He is brought back to consciousness by "doctor" Blackbird (only one of her names) who says he does not need to go to the hospital. What ensues is an adventure into the streets of London, a history of English rituals, and a glimpse into the world of Fayre (I say a "glimpse" because we only learn a little about what this world is really like in this first book)...more

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Nov 09, 2011 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This story follows Niall as his world is ripped to shreds and he along with newly acquainted "friend" Blackbird run around solving a mystery to keep the rest of the world inhabitors from having their lives ripped to shreds. There are some important items that are set in a ritual that is performed every year called the Quit Rents. The ritual was made to keep the Untainted from coming in and out of the worked as they pleased to kill what they considered the tainted. Even with their adversity to ir...more

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May 30, 2011 Lorelei rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy

Boring story, boring and repetitive dialogue, extremely slow action without the poetic pay-off but worst of all entirely lacking in charm and humour with two very unlikable lead characters.

The two main characters conversations don't seem to move past 'new fairy boy interrogating very old fairy lady' about what all this new fairy stuff is about and then debating whether or not to go on the 'quest' at the centre of the plot - at each stage of the plot.

At one stage the two main characters have spe...more

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Oct 15, 2010 Savannah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: digital, faerie, fantasy, fiction, romance

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 06, 2010 Joel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ok, so if you saw my review of Neverwhere, you know what I think fantasy books should be: (1) rip-roaring adventures in (2) well-constructed fantasy worlds.

This book is a pretty good adventure in a well-constructed world. I'm having trouble deciding between 3 and 4 stars because this is a good book for fantasy, but not a great book as literature. I decided on 3, but would probably be more like 3.5.

The story takes place in an alternate London where magical beings still roam alongside regular folk...more

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Dec 30, 2009 Charlotte rated it 4 of 5 stars

The trouble with fairies is: they're not cool. British folk-lore in general, in fact, can be a bit embarrassing, largely because many of the more powerful, dark or sinister elements got watered down in the Victorian era into the likes of Andrew Lang's fairy books, the Cottingley hoax, and Morris dancing. Any book aiming, therefore, to take on fairyland has a big cringe-factor obstacle to overcome. I struggling with the whole fairy issue during the opening of "Sixty-One Nails" (and spelling it Fe...more The trouble with fairies is: they're not cool. British folk-lore in general, in fact, can be a bit embarrassing, largely because many of the more powerful, dark or sinister elements got watered down in the Victorian era into the likes of Andrew Lang's fairy books, the Cottingley hoax, and Morris dancing. Any book aiming, therefore, to take on fairyland has a big cringe-factor obstacle to overcome. I struggling with the whole fairy issue during the opening of "Sixty-One Nails" (and spelling it Feyre didn't do anything to lessen my discomfort), but was able to get past that into a rather enjoyable modern fantasy novel. Niall is middle-aged and doesn't have much of a life outside work, since leaving his wife and daughter and moving into a flat on his own. One morning he's on his usual tube journey into work when he realises he is suffering from a heart attack. No-one on the platform seems particularly keen to help, except for an unremarkable middle-aged lady who introduces herself as Blackbird. Over coffee, Blackbird tells Niall that it wasn't just a heart attack from which she has just saved him - as he hovered between life and death a malevolent being (a member of the dangerous Feyre known as the Untainted) was trying to take over his body. This would have been possible because Niall himself is not fully human, and possesses Feyre blood, just like Blackbird. So Niall, now called Rabbit, comes to understand that he will now forever be hunted by the Untainted and will never be able to resturn to his old life. To make matters yet more complicated, the magin toxins left at Niall's flat by an Untainted huntress lead the police to suspect Niall of involvement in biological weapons, and by the end of the night he is the subject of a national manhunt. After a Jason Bourne-style flight across London, Niall is shown a vision of his future, and he and Blackbird are compelled to embark upon a quest to save all of humanity from the hunger of the Untainted.

While not brilliant writing, "Sixty-One Nails" is a real page-turner, and I would be likely to read the sequel (which is trailered in the back of this edition). I found the editing to be sloppy in places, with poor grammar used by the narrator and characters alike, and I also found the blurb and general ethos of the Angry Robot imprint to be off-putting. It's mission "is to produce books that appeal to everyone, from post-Dr Who and Xbox fans to long-time genre enthusiasts" and that's unlikely to succeed. I think the people at Harper Collins are underestimating the degree to which "long-term genre ethusiasts" don't like to be patronised or told what's cool. So ignore the back cover, ignore the annoying suggestions as to what headings you should file the novel under, read it for yourself and you may be pleasantly suprised. (less)

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Jul 18, 2012 Robert rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

One morning, on the way to work, the London Underground proves to take Niall Peterson to his limits - a suicide next to him, closures, disruptions, stressful phone calls to his ex-wife... no wonder he has a heart attack.

No wonder he dies.

Then he wakes up again, revived by a grey-haired elderly lady, and nothing will ever be the same again, for now he is one of the Fey, the Fair Folk, the Others, the mythical, magical races from stories.

Sixty-One Nails is a novel of urban fantasy set in London. F...more One morning, on the way to work, the London Underground proves to take Niall Peterson to his limits - a suicide next to him, closures, disruptions, stressful phone calls to his ex-wife... no wonder he has a heart attack.

No wonder he dies.

Then he wakes up again, revived by a grey-haired elderly lady, and nothing will ever be the same again, for now he is one of the Fey, the Fair Folk, the Others, the mythical, magical races from stories.

Sixty-One Nails is a novel of urban fantasy set in London. Few cities inspire as much urban fantasy as the big smog, and Sixty-One Nails is one of the better novels set here. The atmosphere is often rich and engrossing - if Hellboy 2 was to your liking, or perhaps Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovich, then chances are, Sixty-One Nails will be a pleasant experience, too.

Being the first novel in a series, we basically spend most of it learning the rules, receiving exposition, and following Niall as he stumbles from one enigmatic, secretive mentor figure to the next. A lot of thought clearly has gone into the meshing of myths and urban world, and it is well executed.

However, the novel disappoints a little on the editing. A lot of the dialogue is a bit clunky - treading the same ground several times over in quick succession, with repetition, questions being asked and answered the same way several times in the same scene. The amount of repetition is quite grating - it's as if the author needed to get some exposition delivered, had a go at it, wasn't quite happy, had another go, was happier, then decided to reinforce the point by having yet another go, and then, after delivering the same tidbit of explanation/exposition three times over in a single scene, decided to keep them all in the draft. I would have expected an editor to reign in this nonsense a bit. The dialogue also tends to meander a little, sometimes modern, sometimes in noble fair folk speech pattern, sometimes in enigmatic mode... the characters do not feel like they are quite settled, yet. As well done as the story is, the repetitive streak, occasional stylistic inconsistencies, and sometimes clunky descriptions let the book down a bit - all things that a good editor should have polished away before sending the book to the printers.

As it is, this is an enjoyable read, and one I would wholeheartedly recommend to people who like urban fantasy novels, London, or novels about the Fair Folk, but it falls a bit short of the highest standards / benchmarks. I wouldn't really recommend it to people who are not already fans of the genre - it could have been on a par with the best, but as it is, it's just a bit too rough and unpolished.(less)

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Apr 03, 2013 Geli rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-urban-fantasy

A book that left me puzzled over the fact of just how much I enjoyed it.
On one hand it's painfully obvious that this is the first book of the author. The dialoges and descriptions are all missing details, so much that sometimes it becomes hard to create a vivid world or even to just follow the dialoge to the point of "who just said this?". Normally, I would call the book sub-standart for this reason alone and never look at it again.
Not this time.
Because on the other hand, the author's raw talent...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Carolyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary, fantasy, fiction, magic, series

I really liked this. Although it is not technological (AT ALL), it really reminds me of the Matrix -- the idea of that other world beneath what we think is our world but in fact we are blind to this other layer and it's the one with real power. Of course here that other world is the Fey and not The Matrix, but hey... :)

Unlike Neo, however, this is not something Niall set out looking for.

I liked the code names, I liked the magic (the Ways [Robert Jordan reminiscent anyone?] and the glamours and...more

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Jun 18, 2012 Christopher rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm not sure why people are always trying to say a book "is the new..." or other, similar, things. It's fine to day one book is like another, or scenes from another. But they can't be too similar, or someone will be having some words.

I'm going to skip that stuff, you can read it elsewhere, or you can do it internally while you read this.

Urban fantasy: Yes
Vampires and
Werewolves: No
Fay/Fae/Fayre: Yes

Okay, whoever stayed this far might actually be interested.
I tend to go with out spoilers, but I...more

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Apr 04, 2011 Charlie Gollmar rated it 4 of 5 stars

Sixty-One nails is an urban fantasy set in a modern-day London along the same lines as Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere but in Shevdon's book the Feyre move in a world that more closely resembles the criminal underground than the ethereal creations of Gaiman.

I love stories that take mundane every-day ceremonies and events but atribute new, more fantastic meanings to them as Shevdon does with the Ceremony of the Quit Rents here in Sixty-One Nails. Niall is trying to cope with his newly manifested powers...more

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Jun 03, 2012 Brandt rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, urban-fantasy, recommendations-selection, favourites

Sixty-one Nails is an Urban Fantasy novel set in London.

When first we meet Niall Petersen he is a stereotypical divorced man in the beginnings of his forties, married to his work, and spending time with his daughter in the weekends.
When an attempt on his life awakens his latent, perhaps-evil, nature and magical powers, he is thrown into a world of fey that won’t necessarily allow him to live. He meets the mysterious woman Blackbird, who after having saved Niall’s life feels a certain responsibil...more

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Oct 22, 2012 Victoria rated it 4 of 5 stars

I picked this book up because it sounded similar to Neverwhere. It does have certain similarities-a regular man with a regular life, discovers a hidden world within London.

I really liked this story based in alternative London and the well developed characters within it.

The main character, Niall, is easy to relate to. And Blackbird introduces you to this alternative version of the world. A magical world around us, but completely unnoticed. Niall is at first unbelieving that he is in fact part Fe...more

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Aug 22, 2012 Jamie Welch rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is one of those books that sorta found me, as they sometimes tend to do, and generally when that happens the books are great. I love this mix of London and fantasy, Niall's acceptance of all this seems a little to blasé, but then again I guess when your life gets flipped upside down you really don't have a choice.
Niall, and Blackbird are our main characters and they feel real and well developed. I could relate to a lot of Niall's feelings and struggles and felt lime I was discovering new t...more

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Feb 23, 2013 Eleanor rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I couldn't stop reading this. I don't feel like it contains anything flashy or one amazing character or piece of worldbuilding or one amazing insight. But it seems to convey a sense of history, mystery, and dusty odd bits of an old, very diverse city, although as an American I really couldn't tell you if that city is London or not. Maybe London is too big for any one person to know anyway. I guess I would say this book is just quietly very, very good. I have all the currently published sequels i...more

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Feb 11, 2013 Colin Eastaugh rated it 3 of 5 stars

I picked up Sixty-One Nails, along with its sequel Road to Bedlam, during a half price sale on the Angry Robot website last year.

The big promise of "Neverwhere's faster smarter brother has arrived" drew my attention to it, even overcoming my concerns about the fey being involved. Often the fey are written as simply mysterious otherworldly creatures with no sense of threat which would lead to a pretty poor set of antagonists. Luckily Mike Shevdon writes his members of the Courts of the Feyre as...more

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Apr 26, 2011 Tony rated it 4 of 5 stars

Tolkein would have been proud to see this book published. I think it was one of the documentaries on a LOTR DVD that I remember hearing about the lack of genuine British mythology and how that was one of the main reasons for writing LOTR. This book certainly meets that criteria and must have taken a great deal of research into folklore. The whole premise for this book appears to be based around an ancient legal ceremony called the Quit Rents.
The story starts with Niall, a typical workaholic in L...more

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Oct 12, 2010 Alessandra rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-folklore-thriller

I just started this, and it very much reminds me of Karen Marie Moning's Fever Series, as I read those first a few years back. I'm not saying it's a copy, because it's definitely different, but some parts are very similar. That's not a problem for me as I'm salivating with anticipation for her last installment of the Fever series in January and this is helping me hold on a little longer.

OK so I finished it, after wrestling my boyfriend's Kindle out of his hands to read it. Let me say a few thing...more

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Aug 31, 2012 Roy Elmer rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

Sixty-One Nails is a good yarn. It's Mike Shevdon's first book, and it demonstrates his skill as a story teller and a great deal of creative flair, with some originality. The tale he tells, with a great deal of research and reference to folklore and history is really quite something. It draws you in, and it makes you want to carry on, finish and perhaps read through the rest of the series.

This book is not without its flaws, however. The plot is rather linear, it reads as if it was written by an...more Sixty-One Nails is a good yarn. It's Mike Shevdon's first book, and it demonstrates his skill as a story teller and a great deal of creative flair, with some originality. The tale he tells, with a great deal of research and reference to folklore and history is really quite something. It draws you in, and it makes you want to carry on, finish and perhaps read through the rest of the series.

This book is not without its flaws, however. The plot is rather linear, it reads as if it was written by an inexperienced author, with a lot of 'and then he did this, and did this, and then this, and then this', that flows in the sense of the story, but tends to jar for me as a reader, and smacks more of a lack of skill or practice than anything intentional.

The book is ostensibly a first person narrative, with Niall playing the part of narrator. I have some issues with Niall as a character, there's a certain yuppy arrogance that doesn't sit comfortably with me, but I'm not faulting the book for that. No. There is a juncture at which the author seems to write himself in to a corner with the first person narrative that has formed the structure of the book from start to finish, and instead of providing a creative way around this, or using an approach that's consistent with the rest of the novel, he chooses to employ a third person narrative that is not used elsewhere in the book. It detracts from what Shevdon is trying to do and draws the reader out of the account that Niall is giving to his audience.

I also felt that the final scene was a bit of a let down. The book, in its linear fashion had built up to a form of crescendo. Magic was introduced in various forms and a range and variety of folklore was touched upon that all felt like it was leading to something epic in conclusion. It just didn't happen, and it ended with a whimper, rather than a bang.

Sixty-One Nails is worth a read, don't get me wrong. Pick it up if you like dark or urban fantasy, but don't expect too much, and don't put it at the top of your list- you'll find yourself entertained during the journey, but disappointed once you get there.(less)

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Dec 08, 2010 Cristy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: faeries, series

(2.5 stars)I am usually a pretty fast reader, taking 1 to 2 days to finish 500 pages, but this book took me a good 6 days to get through. I wasn't able to really get into the story for nearly 250 page.. It felt wordy and overworked and I found that I was pushing myself just to get through it (I am not a quitter!). The overall plot was fine enough in itself; there was just so much description of every little thing, with so many tedious details that seemed unnecessary and then a lot of history of...more

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Oct 31, 2011 Noor Jahangir rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy

Sixty-One Nails is urban fantasy in the vein of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. Its set in London and follows the journey of an office worker into the realisation that the Fey are real and coexist alongside humanity. His adventure begins after he experiences a heart attack in the London Underground. He is revived by a mysterious pensioner calling herself Blackbird. She explains to him that he, like her, is half Fey and gives him the name Rabbit. Rabbit is being hunting by members of the Seventh Court...more Sixty-One Nails is urban fantasy in the vein of Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. Its set in London and follows the journey of an office worker into the realisation that the Fey are real and coexist alongside humanity. His adventure begins after he experiences a heart attack in the London Underground. He is revived by a mysterious pensioner calling herself Blackbird. She explains to him that he, like her, is half Fey and gives him the name Rabbit. Rabbit is being hunting by members of the Seventh Court of the Fey, the wraitkin, beings whose very touch means a horrible death. If he survives the night, he gets to see how deep the rabbit hole goes.
The cover of the book is simple, with a number of nails surrounding a sketch of a rabbit. The lettering is gothic looking and gives the impression that this is a horror novel, misleading to say the least.
The writing is nice and tidy and the open pages quickly hook one's sympathies for the protagonist and his problems and draw you into the world. There were a few niggles in missing letters and the arrangements of some words being jumbled, but overall didn't detract too much from the story.
The world-building isn't all that demanding but manages to convince that there is a magical side to London hiding beneath the civilized veneer of commerce and human industry. The plot cleverly revolves around a piece of London medieval tradition known as the Quit Rent Ceremony, which involves the presentation of six horse shoes, 61 nails and two knives (a blunt one and a sharp one) to pay rent for particular pieces of real estate. The author explains what he has uncovered about the ceremony in an appendix at the end of the book, but in the story builds up a delightful mythos behind these objects.
The characterisation is also well handled and you find yourself cheering Rabbit and Blackbird on through the book, hoping that they somehow overcome their peculiarities and form a loving relationship.
Ignore the Gothic book cover and take the time to read this book. You will not be disappointed.(less)

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May 24, 2012 Ade Couper rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a re-read , as I'm about to receive book 3 in the "Courts of the Feyre" series , courtesy of Mr Shevdon...

This is a fantastic read . Whereas some books start quite slow to let you get into the story , no such luxury here : in the 1st couple of pages you have someone jumping under a tube train , then Niall Petersen (the protagonist) having a heart attack , which (we later discover) was fatal.....

Niall is saved by Blackbird , one of the Fey - & by the fact that he has Fey blood in his...more

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About Mike Shevdon

Mike Shevdon lives in Bedfordshire, England, with his wife and son, where he pursues the various masteries of archery, technology, and cookery. His love of Fantasy & SF started in the 70s with C S Lewis, Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov and continued through Alan Garner, Ursula Le Guin and Barbara Hambly. More recent influences include Mike Carey, Phil Rickman, Neil Gaiman, and Robert Crais, a...more

More about Mike Shevdon...

Books by Mike Shevdon

The Road to Bedlam (Courts of the Feyre, #2)

Strangeness and Charm (Courts of the Feyre, #3)

The Eighth Court (Courts of The Feyre, #4)

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6673065-sixty-one-nails?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348088464l/6673065.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6673065-sixty-one-nails?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Sixty-One Nails by Mike Shevdon[/url]

Sixty-One Nails (Courts of the Feyre #1)

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