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Liked It “This book was a very quick read for me. I started reading it before I planned to go to bed and ended up staying awake half the night reading the first half of the book. Really great plot. Wondering if there will be a sequel.” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“This book was a very quick read for me. I started reading it before I planned to go to bed and ended up staying awake half the night reading the first half of the book. Really great plot. Wondering if there will be a sequel.”
Jenn Donner wrote this review Wednesday, September 26, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Mythology, religion, magic and action make for an interesting and exciting thriller.
Kristen R wrote this review Sunday, August 19, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
When Sarah Miller comes to the aid of an elderly woman who appears to be being mugged, she has no idea that she has just involved herself in a centuries old battle that could lead to the end of the world as we know it.
Sarah takes the old woman, Judith Walker, home with her, after seeing her to her own flat and realizing it's been trashed. But once Sarah is seen to have been "with" Judith, the shadowy people who are trying to kill Judith are now on Sarah's trail.
Thinking Judith gave an artifact to Sarah, these people - who will stop at absolutely nothing to get it back - murder Sarah's entire family, making it look like Sarah herself is guilty of the horrible crime. Sarah is soon on the run, trying desperately to figure out what is going on, how she's involved, and what to do next. Her only ally is Judith's nephew Owen, to whom, Judith's dying words are directed via Sarah, and whom Judith tells Sarah to take the artifact to.
This is a very good story. The author blends mythology, religious history, myth and magic to make for a very intriguing and entertaining story. There is quite a bit of violence in the story, although it is mostly implied rather than being graphic and gory details. You know people are dying, and in gruesome ways, but you aren't subjected to every bloody detail, and can gloss over that if you are not a fan of gore.
The story mostly revolves around Sarah and Owen, two ordinary young people who are mystified and terrified to suddenly be dragged into an epic battle between good and evil. They have no idea what to do or whom to trust, and it's the actions they take and how they handle the situation that really makes for an interesting character-driven plot.
My only real complaint about the story was the ending. The actual ending itself was fine, and what I wanted to happen, but after the detailed and exhaustive setup the author writes leading up to the ending, the ending itself seemed extremely abrupt and abbreviated when it actually came. It was almost as though the author ran out of steam towards the end and just wanted to get it done. Although it was a bit jarring, this didn't detract too much from the overall story, which I really did enjoy.”
“Well, it's a tough choice, as a book it was okay. But, the starting protagonist is an old lady, I'm not sure how to react to this one. Whatever may be your expectations, I guarantee that you'll be surprised. It was a lot and I mean lot of Blood, violence and gore, very graphic detailing of murder.”
Heliocentre - I'm the centre of things! >:D wrote this review Saturday, May 19, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“A fast paced story of myth and legend. Intriguing and informative.”
Kristen P wrote this review Sunday, March 11, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Waiting for the next one! I liked it!”
KMCG wrote this review Saturday, February 18, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Very good! Dark, but good. I hope they continue the story.....”
Janet D wrote this review Thursday, February 16, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Hmmm... a dark and twisted story about astral beings, demons and hallowed artifacts... violent and sexual. Disturbing yet strangely engrossing. The tone of it reminded me of "The American Horror Story" (on FX). I couldn't turn away.”
Dawn P wrote this review Thursday, February 2, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I love this book! So love it! There were parts that were scary, but the plot was full of mystery and adventure. Don't miss this for the world, minus any merlin episodes. :)”
SoulsticeX3 wrote this review Saturday, January 21, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“In compliance with FTC guidelines, I received this book from Macmillan Audio in exchange for an honest review.
In Libris Veritas wrote this review Saturday, January 14, 2012. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
First I want to start with how fantastic Kate Reading is. She not only has a rather soothing voice but she's fabulous at providing the different voices, with different accents. I think it was an awesome move on Macmillan Audio's part to get her to read this, since it's set in the UK it only makes sense to have someone with the proper accent. I've heard other audio books that were not so well thought out in that aspect.
Now on to the actual story. It's certainly not what I was thinking it was going to be, but that's not a bad thing in this case. The blurb is rather spot on and it's not the plot that surprised me entirely, it's more of how very straightforward this is. It should be noted that this is not something you would call a light read, and there is a significant amount of violence, sexual content, and cursing. In both cases it's fairly blunt and anyone who can't stand a lot of either in a book should probably steer clear. I did find some of the violence really cringe-inducing because of some of the detail and at times had to take small breaks. The sex scenes are not what I would call erotic or overly sensual as they are fairly straightforward, but they are somewhat detailed and slightly numerous. However seeing as this is a book that deals with demons and ancient and primeval powers it makes sense.
The plot itself is really thought out and researched, and I personally really enjoyed the mixing of thriller and mythology. The Hallows of Britain are are not something I've seen in fiction before so I find it to be a refreshing change of pace from all the Greek and Fae lit that is out there. I had heard of the Hallows, but they are not something I was very familiar with before this novel. Now I'm extremely curious about them and kind of hoping that this won't be all Scott has to write about them. Unfortunately I would say that some of the characters lack the same detail as the plot. Sarah Miller is a great character and feel terrible for her, but I had a hard time really connecting to her counterpart Owen. The same thing goes for the Dark Man and Vivian. I felt that the Dark man was a great villian who was mysterious and creepy with an easy to understand motivation, but Vivian was hard to understand. The more I read the less I understood her reasoning to help gather the Hallows.
The writing is rather fluid and descriptive, which when paired with the short chapters and cliff hangers you end up with a book that's hard to put to down. I do recommend this, it comes with a word of caution. It's not a young adult novel like Scott's Flamel series, and it's not something that can be considered light in any sense of the word. It is a really good book though, and I'm certainly going to look into Scott's other work.”
