Publisher's Weekly
Ryan's latest collection contains 12 stories of fantasy and horror, but the fantasy is too often weighted down by a leaden style and a tame imagination, and the horror tales are too infrequently capable of raising more than a tremor of uneasiness. Some of the entries, like the title story, spring from the author's Irish roots, and these have a spontaneous, almost folkloric quality. Others, like ''Sheets'' and ''Hear the Whistle Blowing'' are entirely artifice, weak ideas mechanically fleshed out. ''The Lovely and Talented Maxine Kane'' is perhaps the best-written tale, but the protagonist's fate is arbitrary and unearned. This story and several others in the book, including ''Sand'' and ''Babies from Heaven,'' concern madness, but the treatments are superficial, and provide neither insights nor chills.

Library Journal
From the macabre religious overtones of ''Following the Way'' and ''Pieta'' to the gently inescapable horror of ''The Bones Wizard'' and ''The Rose of Knock,'' this collection of 12 stories (some previously published) by author/editor Ryan demonstrates a subtle approach to the fantasy-horror genre. Recommended for large libraries only. JC