Customer Rating: 
Summary: For once, I agree with Stephen King
Comment: Like another reviewer wrote, I'm compelled to give my two cents worth because of the surprisingly negative reviews of what I consider to be a beautifully crafted novel.
Stephen King was right when he called NIGHTWING one of the best horror novels of the past twenty years. Make that thirty years at the writing of this review. The only negative thing I have to say about NIGHTWING and Martin Cruz Smith is that he has abandoned the horror genre in favor of thrillers such as the Arkady Renko series and DECEMBER 6. Those are fine reads, but a brilliant storyteller like Cruz Smith is sorely needed in horror fiction.
However, I can see why Cruz Smith stays away from horror literature when I see feedback such as "chapters are too long because they're over 20 pages," or the expressed opinion that there's not enough action. In fact, I found the story suspenseful and possessing of a cultural depth and insight that only a brilliant writer in command of his craft could pull off, and that's just what Cruz Smith does. So if you have a chance to read NIGHTWING, I say go for it and you won't be disappointed.
One thing does ring true throughout the other reviews - the movie adaptation was dreadful.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Not Free SF Reader
Comment: Yet another book giving bats a bad rap. A horror tale in the vein of large numbers of flying things run amok, if not stopped by plucky locals and the odd person with a modicum of knowledge. Think more along the lines of The Birds. Much better than the bad movie, being quite competently handled by Cruz Smith. A sheriff and a woman have to stop some very nasty chiroptera before they cause a lot of problems.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Good Book
Comment: I felt compelled to write this review after seeing the negative nature of the other posts. Why are there only four reviews anyway? It is not hard to be critical of "Nightwing" when you consider it next to Smith's other works. It isn't a particurly complex plot and the protagonist (though you get several different first person accounts) is somewhat flawed. And not in the traditional "likable tragic hero" sense, he is more just passive and melancholy. Once into the book, though, you do begin to develop a connection.
In the story vampire bats come across the Mexican border into American Indian country, and various bedlam ensues for our characters. Smith actually presents a supringly plausible plot for a novel involving migratory, ravenous bats.
It should be noted that the novel is not exclusively a bat adventure. The stoic Indian protagonist battle against the bats forces him to make hard choices about his identity and the future of his culture. I really did enjoy reading this book. In the last twenty pages I came to realize I had developed more empathy for the characters than I thought. Might not be Smith's best, but the bredth of what he attempts on the subject of personal identity is commendably ambitious.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Don't waste time, move to Renko
Comment: Written 25 years ago, Nightwing has only one of the talents we have come to admire in Martin Cruz Smith. Great research. Apart from that, the hero is not Renko and the story is basically a big yawn. Unless you 're really into that indian thing, move ahead to Gorky Park.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Where Were The Bats?
Comment: "Nightwing" didn't particularly spark my interest when I picked it up a few months ago at a book sale. But after reading "Vespers" by Jeff Rovin, I wanted to continue reading anything scary about bats. Finally, I decided to give it a try after seeing Stephen King's review on the front cover: "I consider it to be one of the best horror novels in the last twenty years."From the beginning, "Nightwing" doesn't appear like a horror book. We meet Youngman Duran, a Tewa Pueblo deputy, conversing with an old Hopi priest, his uncle, who predicts death and a new beginning for the Hopi people. Youngman doesn't pay much attention to the datura-addicted elder; he finds his prophecies almost comical.
Next Youngman is called to a ranch where three horses have been skinned and left to suffer and die. Nobody knows how it happened. Then the same thing later happens to Youngman's Hopi uncle previously mentioned, Abner Tasupi.
While Youngman is preparing the old man's body for burial, a stranger (Hayden Paine) intrudes and attempts to perform an autopsy on Abner. Paine is a bat specialist and has come up from Mexico to conduct a medical survey. Although Paine and Youngman don't get along at first, they later team up with Youngman's lover, Anne Dillon, to destroy the disease-spreading vampire bats.
The bats, however, play a very small part in this book. I wouldn't even consider it a horror book since the rough Southwest Indian lifestyle overshadows the bats. Furthermore, I'm not sure why the synopsis on the back cover focuses on a deadly mass of bloodthirsty bats when they only dominate a few scenes. I suppose it was the only way to lure anyone into reading this book.
There are some gruesome parts in Nightwing, but the worst ones I can remember are done by humans to animals. For example, a dog is suffocated in a bag instead of quarantined for the plague; a rabbit is slowly drained of blood for a sacrifice. The bat attacks didn't bother me (I expected them), but I was disgusted by the gratuitous animal torture.
The only reason why I gave this book three stars instead of two or one (which it deserved) is because it was written pretty well and there were a few times when it got exciting. Still, it was a waste of my time and I wouldn't recommend this book. It seemed pretty long too for a 210-paged book. That was probably because the chapters were on average 20 pages and paragraphs could run up to a page or more in length.
However, someone must have loved "Nightwing" because it was made into a movie in 1979. I never saw it and I doubt I will.
I do regret reading this book for the sake of bat horror. If you're looking for a good scare, read "Vespers" by Jeff Rovin, which is by far a better horror book than "Nightwing".
