THE BEGUILERS

Firebird, New York, 2001, 1^st pr thus.  ISBN 0-14-250139-5.  MMPB, 183 pages.  Very good; light edge and cover wear, tight binding; tiny remainder dot on bottom edge, stray marks on top edge; appears unread.  ‘In Rilka’s village, it isn’t safe to go out after dark.  That’s when the beguilers drift through the streets, as bright and visible as fireflies, tempting people to follow them.  Everyone knows their power – they hypnotize their victims and, in the end, lead them to their death.  No one has ever caught one, but every generation has offered up a beguiler-hunter, a tragic soul considered by the rest of the village to be insane.  When Rilka declares her Great Intention to capture a beguiler, her family and friends mourn her as though she is already dead.  Still, a determined Rilka sets out on her lonely, danger-filled journey up to the frozen mountains, where she will struggle to keep her strength and her sanity.  What she learns there will change her life – and the life of her village – forever ….’ (from rear wrap)