Assessment:

Plot: Mongrain takes what could have been a series of disastrously clichéd tropes and weaves them together into an entertaining and thrilling fantasy that manages to be dark and lighthearted in good balance.

Prose: The book moved at just the right clip, the dialogue was usually crisp, and the prose (both at sentence level and overall) hit its targets.

Originality: While no single element of the book was particularly unique, they were thrown together in an interesting and entertaining way: the immortal with the vampire lover, hunting a ritualistic killer, getting help from police and spectral dogs, and so on.

Character Development: With just slight nudges away from cliché and towards depth, Mongrain makes human even the non-human characters, giving them souls both metaphorically and, in the case of the vampires, literally. They are at their best and develop the most when their weaknesses and preconceptions are severely challenged.

Blurb: An enticing mash-up of immortals, vampires, dark magic, and hard-nosed police officers (who don't believe in immortals, vampires, or dark magic—yet) results in that most spectral of creatures: a fun thriller. 

Date Submitted: April 26, 2017