4 out of 4 stars
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The Apocalypse Suppression Administration, ASA, assembles a small group of people for a top classified mission. The mission involves time travel through a portal, back to the medieval Roman ages. But why? When Peter Hadrian, a cop, gets attacked by a strange creature in his line of work, the scientists' fears had come to haunt them - vampires.
Peter, Luke, Bat and Kolemis go back in time with the intention of killing Vlad Dracula, to forever banish vampires and prevent them from making it to the modern times. But not everything is what it seems and, because of an individual's selfishness and greed for power, the group's mission is at a risk of epic fail. Will they succeed and return to the present? Who is the villain that will sleep with the enemy?
Christopher J. Pennington writes a novel with a compelling and gripping plot, that will have the reader flip by pages, and not realize the story ending. The Hand Bringer tells a story of how vampires came to be, and how they were dealt with then. A historical fiction so intriguing, it is written in the third person's point of view. The setting is in medieval Romania. It is full of gore scenes and innumerable sword fights. The author writes out humorous, crisp conversations that will make the reader look forward to dialogues, especially the ones that involve the character of Luke.
The characters were well fleshed out and diverse, making the story very credible and the characters relatable. Back stories are woven into the main story seamlessly, and the plot has impeccable continuity. For a lengthy story as this, I was impressed how the number of typos were almost insignificant ( a total of two throughout the story). The story is action packed - there was never a dull moment in the plot. This is what I loved about the book and I rate 4 out of 4 stars.
The author uses a simple language ,but with vast vocabulary. He also created admiral characters - Peter and Luke. Peter was a strategist, and everything he did had to be planned. Of course this yielded the desired outcomes. He was also very courageous bordering recklessness, and had superior leadership qualities. Throughout the book his character grew and developed impeccably. Luke on the other hand never had a dull moment, even in dire situations. He was always the clown of the group. The reader will appreciate too the numerous twists, turns and layers. There was never predicting who would betray the other, this is what kept me glued to the book.
Friendship and loyalty stood out conspicuously in the story. I feel these two themes not only propelled the plot, but were initiators of the plot. Also, situations where there was lack of the two themes, spiced up the story and gave the plot depth.
There is no aspect of the book I disliked. Though I feel the concept of "seenjite" (a blood-based microorganism), got lost in the bigger story. I recommend the book to lovers of historical fiction, and fantasy novels involving vampires. The book was definitely professionally edited. Literal quality of the novel was top notch.
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The Hand Bringer
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