Regular marked price: $12.00Discount Price: $11.70
Cost Savings: $0.30 ( 2%)Price fluctuation possible.
How soon does it ship: Normal ship time within one day
Shipping? Absolutely FREE if you qualify for Super Saver Shipping.
Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9781593600808
ISBN number: 1593600801
Label: Cold Spring Press
Manufacturer: Cold Spring Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 336
Printing Date: November 07, 2006
Publishing house: Cold Spring Press
Sale Popularity Level: 788197
Studio: Cold Spring Press
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Martin is an ordinary Australian twenty-something, whose comfortable, well-ordered life gets turned on its head when he starts seeing and hearing things each night at the nearby semi-deserted railway yards: mysterious lights, people who disappear when followed, steam trains that aren¿t supposed to be there. Taken to the edge of sanity, Martin eventually learns that he is to ride the ¿night trains¿ every night back to wartime Europe to rescue Jews and help the resistance. But before the war ends, Martin will have to confront his SS nemesis, save the woman he loves, and face a terrible secret from the past that can destroy him before he can accomplish his mission. This is an extraordinarily original work, mixing a modern-day setting with alternate reality and time travel; it¿s both a supernatural war thriller and a fascinating psychological profile of what happens when your life gets turned upside down by events outside your control. Imagine Steven King meets Robert Ludlum on a night train crossing in Nazi-occupied Europe. A superbly original very first novel!
¿Tense, witty, frightening and complex, Night Trains is both a gripping, edge-of-your-seat supernatural thriller and a haunting, intelligent exploration of reality, and how the past can continue not only to disturb
but shape the future. Starting in a shared flat in a typical Australian city in an unremarkable present, it begins to shade very first into the terrifying landscape of nightmare and madness, and then into the even greater terror of wartime Poland. Though it has the disturbance-of reality quality of an M.R. James or a Stephen King, Night Trains is startlingly original in its substance and its impact. And Arthur Chrenkoff has managed to pack more incident, character, and meaning into his short, punchy yet luxuriously vivid and sensual novella than many writers manage in twice the length. It is, quite simply, an unforgettable novel, with remarkable filmic qualities.¿ ¿ Sophie Masson, author of Forest of Dreams (The Lay Lines trilogy) and The Lady of Flowers (both Random House) among many other books.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
-
Thank you, Mr. Chrenkoff, for bringing back the edgy tension and fire I once found in fiction but only in the beginning, in my teens. This brought it back -- brought it all back. Future editions might correct the occasional typos and grammatical errors; minor editorial input might have removed an odd elbow here and there -- but this edition I'll cherish because the printing flaws subtly add to the mini-cam/16 mm quality of images in feverish motion: jumpy, raw, washed out, jarring, etched in contrasts. What a ride. And what a journey. I knew something of the geography but not the settings; I knew certain events but not the people; but I took a ride on a riveting, well crafted piece of story-telling and came away with living memories. A separate thank you for that. And a tip for readers: don't wait.
Rated by buyers -
I started reading this book from my library and got so into it that when I had to return it only partially read I imediately purchased my own copy.
My initial experience was, that this was a neat premise by the author. But then I got very involved in the story as the time shifts present to holocaust became more vivid. What would I do if it were me making these trips and having to live in that world, rather than my own.
I cant recommend this story too highly for anyone who is interested in WWII, the holocaust, and of course trains.
Rated by buyers -
I too bought this book because I so enjoyed reading Mr Chrenkoff's blog. I don't read much fiction at all and so I knew this would be a stretch for me. And it was. However, it was rewarding. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I had to work at it at very first as I'm not used to reading fiction and the storyline had a typical "fiction" feel to it, the way characters were introduced and scenes set up... but as I got my balance I was able to really enjoy it and flew through it in a couple of days (ok, I was home sick with a cold) .
Good job Arthur. I look forward to your subsequent book. (and I still check your blog once and again to see if you'll start posting again...)
Rated by buyers -
This book is thought-provoking and philosophical in a way that manages to be so without being dull or pedantic. I read it in a single sitting, literally unable to put it down. Ask yourself the question with which the main character finds himself confronted: If faced with existential evil and with no way to do anything about it except what seems like marginal activities that promise little return, no reward, and grave danger (and with every opportunity to simply ignore it without personal consequence) what would you do? Turn away? Or risk everything even if it seems hopeless? And why?
Don't try to read this as a thriller with a plot, story, and ending that ties everything up into a neat narrative. This is a book about the emotional and philosophical journey made by characters who are real and believable for all that they are briefly and only cursorily described... in a way, Mr. Chrenkoff's characterizations remind me of the short stories of Chekhov (if you're interested in that sort of thing).
Regardless of literary merit, however, there is action and suspense and romantic interest in the sort of desparate and doomed way that makes the best tragic drama. All of it is set in a pseudo-noir atmosphere of literal (as well as existential) night, complete with the forlorn scream of the whistles and the rattle of the steam trains that provide the title. That these trains travel on harrowing journeys that echo the screams and journeys of the human characters is an amazing and gripping device that will drag you to a conclusion. And that conclusion will truly make you think on the journey you have just taken.
What makes us moral beings in an existential world of free will? What causes us to do the right thing, even at cost and without reward? Read this book and, when you get to the end, ask yourself these questions.
Rated by buyers -
Night Trains was entertaining, thought-provoking, and an all around great work of fiction.
Whereas most first-time authors play it safe and don't write anything complex, Arthur Chrenkoff molded an intricate web of time travel, deceit, genocide, and personal strife into a suspenseful, fascinating, coherent novel.
Being familiar with Chrenkoff's non-fictional work, I wasn't sure how well his proven talent with writing would do in a fictional genre, but from the opening paragraph I was captivated. His characters were well built, the plot was extremely interesting to follow, and I couldn't put the book down until I was finished.
It's clear that the author mingled his personal experiences from growing up in Cold War Poland with his life in modern Australia, which made for a more unique, believable, and enjoyable perspective throughout the book.
I highly recommend this book to fans of all genres looking for a great read, as well as to young writers who could use a gutsy example of how to write an outstanding very first novel.
Find other books like this one:
