Wicked One: A Story of Suspense

by Mollie Hunter

Book Overview

Colin Grant has become a target for the wicked one, an Otherworld creature called the Grollican. At last Colin and his family emigrate to America to free themselves from the wicked one's tricks. But as they discover, the Grollican isn't so easily banished. Here is an enchanting tale of magic (School Library Journal) filled with humor and suspense.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0064401170
• ISBN13: 9780064401173
• Release Date: January 1980
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.2" x 7.6"
• Age Range: 10 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 5 and higher

Customer Reviews

A triumph of storytelling

Scottish folklore is brought to life, as Mollie Hunter gives a novel-length treatment to the stories of Colin Grant, a man beset by the magical Grollican. The Grant family works a small piece of land in Scotland, and Colin soon learns to his detriment that his temper makes him the perfect target of the Grollican, a lumbering invisible beast that delights in making itself a nuisance. As Colin tries scheme after scheme to rid himself of the Grollican, his young son Ian tries to befriend the wicked one who has come into their midst. This book is, in a word, awesome. Every chapter will delight a young reader by introducing an element of the supernatural or containing a big action secquence. I've never read another book like this, which gives such a wonderful modern voice to such ancience scottish sensibilities. The closest I can come for comparison's sake is "The Last Unicorn," by Peter Beagle. But this book is even better because it never surrenders to the impulse to let the modern plot overshadow the magic of the fairy-tale roots. I am shocked to see that this charmer is so unknown. If you are looking for something different to give a young reader, something that will engage them and given them a captivating glimpse into another world, this is the book for you.

Quick tempers never did so much damage...

Colin Grant is a Highlands forester with a loving wife, three fine sons, a kind nature--and a fiery temper that nearly ruins his life. His quick temper attracts the Grollican, an Otherworldly monster known as "the wicked one" that delights in playing malicious pranks on him in order to watch him fly into a rage. The angrier Colin gets, the more trouble the Grollican makes for him and his family, until it is almost impossible for them to live in peace. One by one Colin tries various methods of getting rid of the Grollican: ignoring it, hunting it with his three dogs, even confronting the fairy folk themselves. The Grollican retaliates with all the tricks it can devise, Colin goes after it again, and the situation continues to escalate until Colin is forced to face an unpleasant truth: if he doesn't learn to control his temper, he's never going to get rid of the Grollican. Now the real battle begins...I have never read anything by Mollie Hunter that I didn't like. That state of affairs continues with "The Wicked One." Colin is a likable and sympathetic character, easy to identify with (come on, admit it: if someone smashed up your garage, wouldn't you start shouting?). His wife Anna and youngest son Ian are similarly believable and enjoyable to read about, and even the Grollican has its moments in the limelight. One of the things I especially like about Mollie Hunter's books is the way she manages to convey both the attraction and the danger of the fairy folk. No cute harmless sprites or noble lofty elves here--these are an alien people, neither good nor evil because they do not exist within the framework of those concepts, capricious and cruel, or kind, as the mood takes them. Colin's dealings with them are more unsettling than any of his wrangling with the Grollican.I enjoyed this book very much. It contains edges of horror, a good deal of humor, fascinating characters, and a message that does not become moralistic. Entertaining to read (and re-read, and re-read), "The Wicked One" is a book I definitely recommend.