Review by finebunchofnothing -- The Hand Bringer

[finebunchofnothing]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Hand Bringer" by Christopher J. Penington.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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The Hand Bringer is a novel with elements of historical fiction and science fiction, written by Christopher J. Penington. This a story about a Dallas cop Peter Hadrian who, having lost his wife and his son, is desperate to find answers, explanations, and justice. After being attacked by a man of unbelievable strength, he is taken to a governmental agency where he is genetically transformed into the perfect warrior. Hadrian becomes a member of the team that is sent back in time, to medieval Romania, with a single goal of eliminating vampirism that, in the modern world, is threatening to destroy humanity. To do that, he has to find and kill Prince Vlad Tepes, better known as Dracula.

The idea of the book is the thing that I liked the most about it. It's original, it's interesting, it's unpredictable; the author has managed to present both the modern and the medieval world in a very believable way and it almost felt as if I traveled back in time together with the characters of the story. The book wasn't boring to read, as there was something new, be it a fight, a strategic plan, or an emotional romantic scene, happening pretty much on every single page.

And yet I also have to point out some of the things that I disliked. For instance, some things lacked explanation and left me wondering whether this explanation wasn't necessary for the story, or the author simply couldn't come up with one. When one of the characters died, this was casually stated post-factum; I would have liked to know the circumstances of his death. Some dialogues seemed unrealistic, and the way that characters acted or made decisions sometimes made no sense to me. If there was one thing in the story that I found hard to believe, it was the emotional state of one of the main characters. She seemed to have mood swings that, in my opinion, weren't justified well enough.

The editing of the book wasn't flawless either, as I found a few errors and typos. Besides, sometimes the dialogues weren't separated by line breaks, meaning that it was difficult to realize when the words of one character ended and the words of the other one began.

However, overall, The Hand Bringer was an exciting and fascinating read, and I rate it 3 out of 4 stars. The things that I disliked about this book are rather minor, and they didn't affect the impression that it left on me too much. I applaud the author for making such a complicated, yet believable story and for successfully attempting to explain how time travel works. I recommend this novel to the fans of science-fiction, especially to those who like books about vampires: this book would be perfect for such an audience.

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The Hand Bringer
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[[Danielle]]

I also enjoyed how original the storyline is! It made a rather overdone topic interesting. I also had difficulty with understanding a certain character's mood swings and wish there was more justification as well.