The Macbeth Prophecy

Set in England's lush lake country, this new novel by the author of Six Proud Walkers is a brisk but forgettable tale of psychic intrigue. The serene village of Crowthorpe has always been home to an unlikely number of twins--and the number grows by two when the heartbreakingly handsome Selby twins visit and decide they must take up residence. Just about everything falls marvelously into place--almost suspiciously so--for Matthew, a school teacher, and Philip, a doctor. Several years later, Matthew's students are flourishing, while Philip's reputation as a brilliant physician is unparalleled. But at the same time, the twins have come to believe in the occult power of a local circle of stones, of a certain Celtic legend and of a spell that perhaps only they, with the help of Crowthorpe's others twins, can break. Fraser raises some intriguing points about what it's like to be one of two, and about how a sense of destiny can lead even apparently moral people astray. But her earnest storytelling here, expressed in both the first-and third-person, lacks the force necessary to make her characters properly compelling as they engage in escalating psychic adventures that culminate on--what else?--a dark and stormy night.