BKMT READING GUIDES
Blood Club
by Walt Schnabel
Paperback : 260 pages
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Introduction
Membership has its price! A quaint New England town has a secret that hides behind the white clapboard houses and tall church steeple. The secret is as deep and dark as the local lake which has attracted visitors for two centuries. Brian Barrett followed his wife Sarah and young son Sam to Barlow to repair their shattered marriage and escape his romance with the bottle. One early spring morning, Barrett gazes through the rear window onto the school grounds which border his property. His attention is drawn to an aberrant ritual about to unfold on the play set. Barrett intervenes but soon realizes that this event is merely the opening volley of a battle he must wage with an ancient and unlikely evil that seeks to consume his family.
Excerpt
The long New Hampshire winter had been reduced to dirty piles of snow that hid in the shadows where the spring sun could not yet reach. Sugarhouse alchemy was beginning to convert the rising lifeblood of maple trees into amber gold as daylight waged its ancient battle with the darkness. ... view entire excerpt...Discussion Questions
From the author:What does New Hampshire represent in Blood Club?
Why is Richard (the Native American medicine man) an important character?
What does Goldie (the golden retriever that appears at the end of each section) represent?
Who is the true hero of Blood Club?
Was Brian’s fate inevitable?
Notes From the Author to the Bookclub
Note from author Walt Schnabel: Blood Club is a modern day myth, or hero’s journey, that pits the protagonist, Brian Barrett, against an ancient and unlikely evil that has nested in a small New Hampshire town. Barrett, a reluctant warrior, realizes that he must wage a battle with this malevolent force to prevent it from consuming his family. Mythology is an ancient form that developed from the storytelling traditions of indigenous people around the world. A mythological structure seemed a natural fit in developing story structure for my book given my love of supernatural elements and knowledge of Native American spirituality. Good and evil are natural forces that perpetually struggle for dominance of the human race. People that are purely evil or purely good are rare – but they do exist. Brian Barrett, the main character in my book, faces the forces of darkness that dwell within himself and in the village of Barlow, NH. The opening paragraph of my book metaphorically sets the tone for the battle that ensues: “The long New Hampshire winter had been reduced to dirty piles of snow that hid in the shadows where the spring sun could not yet reach. Sugarhouse alchemy was beginning to convert the rising lifeblood of maple trees into amber gold as daylight waged its ancient battle with the darkness.”Book Club Recommendations
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