Product Description
Where does the fever of illusion stop…
and the cold truth begin?
This unique debut thriller combines forensics, fantasy, and edge-of-your-seat suspense like never before. In a world where sorcery is illegal, someone is murdering young women in ways that defy all reason—and all detection. Only one man knows how to track such an untraceable killer, a man called to deliver justice by an onslaught of…
For Dubric Bryerly, head of security at Castle Faldorrah, saving lives has become a matter of saving his sanity. A silent killer is afoot, savagely mutilating servant girls and leaving behind no clues and no witnesses—except the gruesome ghosts of the victims. Ghosts that only Dubric can see.
Caught in the eye of the grisly storm is Nella, a linen maid working to free herself from a dark past—if she can survive an invisible killer’s rampage. But with the death toll rising and Nella under the protective wing of a man who may be a prime suspect, Dubric must resort to unconventional methods. With the future of Faldorrah and countless lives at stake, including his own, he can’t afford to be wrong. And if he’s right, the entire kingdom could be thrust into war.
Comments
This book was recommended to me. I opened it eagerly on the day I bought it.
On the first page of this first published novel, in the Acknowledgments, I read:
“I’d also like to thank my agent, William Reiss, for taking a chance on Dubric and I.”
On I?
Confidence in the author shattered. Book returned to pile of the Great Unread to wait a more humble turn.
Rating: 1 / 5
The story captivates you from page one and keeps you intrested well into the end. I cannot wait to read the next book. It is Quency in the middle ages with a twist of the fey and other great details not to be mentioned for spoilage.
Rating: 4 / 5
I realize I’m in the minority on this one, at least so far. However, I found it really disappointing. The characters are flat — all the good characters are GOOD with a capital G, standing up straight and speaking precisely, while all the bad characters are slovenly, with runny noses and bad grammar. Speaking of grammar, the author has a real problem with the proper use of “I” and “me”, generally getting it wrong, which becomes very annoying very quickly.
As for the mystery, the red herrings are wildly obvious, as is the identity of the murderer. I spent half the book just waiting for the protagonist to catch up with me. And our heroine, who starts out as a strong and interesting character, winds up spending most of her time huddled in her boyfriend’s arms “mewling”… I kid you not, “mewling”… with fear.
The “gimmick” of setting a supposed procedural in a fantasy world just doesn’t make up for the thin story. The fantasy elements aren’t particularly original either… cloaks of invisibility and referring to weeks and months as “phases” and “moons” are about as wild as it gets.
I was really looking forward to this one, and I’m really not impressed. This one goes in the giveaway pile, and I won’t be picking up the next one.
Rating: 2 / 5
I too had the issues with editing- I am seeing this more and more often though. Are editors no longer trained in grammar? Do they rely solely on spell check and grammar check? I think they must since matching tenses and pro-nouns seems to be something I see more problems with every year across all genres of reading material.
That QC issue aside- I really enjoyed this gruesome murder mystery set in a medieval world in a post-apocalyptic, post-technological age.
The action was swift and came from all sides and angles. The killer’s identity was kept in the dark till near the end even though is pretty easy to pick up on the clues. I liked the use of logic in forensics without any high tech tools. Truly takes me back to the simple who done its of the past. Did I mention plenty of gruesome murders and paranormal happenings to keep things interesting? I look forward to more work by this author and just hope the editing improves.
Rating: 4 / 5
I’ve just had time to start reading the book. But it is interesting so far.
Rating: 5 / 5