He was a small man, dressed in blood-red robes with yellow flames crawling upwards from the hem, and a cloth crown rising in folds and bulging at the back, where ribbons drooped over his shoulders like a waterfall. She had never seen a man dressed so foolishly. How could he hide? How could he get away when someone chased him? Then she remembered that he did not need to.
The Limping Man controls everyone who comes near him. But Hana and her mother are free of his power, until the day his soldiers raid the burrow, and Mam swallows poison rather than be burnt as a witch in People’s Square. Hana flees the city and in the forests and jungles beyond she makes friends with others who live beyond the Limping man’s reach.
When she meets Ben, son of Lo, they set out on a quest to discover the secret of the Limping man’s power and thus destroy him before his evil consumes the world.
The Limping Man is the gripping finale to the Salt trilogy, and, like its predecessors, moves skilfully through the physical and mental journeys of the characters. Each character has strengths and flaws which make them both likeable and real, and favourite characters from earlier offerings make appearances. The plot builds smoothly, with enough obstacles to keep the reader guessing.
Those who have not read the first two books could red this as a stand alone offering, but will get most value from reading the three sequentially.
The Limping Man , by Maurice Gee
Text, 2010
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