Review by lwahls2 -- The Hand Bringer

[lwahls2]

[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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If you are looking for an action-packed book with vampires, time-travel, and religious undertones, then The Hand Bringer by Christopher J. Penington is your next read. Luke and Peter are regular cops who are pulled into a world where vampires are real, time travel is possible, and romance is complicated. When Peter is attacked while answering a call, a secret government agency takes both men to a secure facility that launches them back in time to stop "vampirism" from spreading. Immediately they hit a snag in their plans and are forced to make the jump back in time early, half-trained, and partially prepared for the journey they are about to embark on.

Along the way, they befriend knights and peasants and even an ex-con who made the jump with them. As they fight their way through the middle ages, Peter realizes their mission is not what it seems, and betrayal can come in all forms. The complicated twist at the end of this book was incredibly mind-boggling. I had to reread the explanation a few times to try and piece everything together. The author attempts to explain the twist through dialogue between two key players, but some of the parts were lost in translation.

I really wanted to like this book. The plot had all of the fixings to be incredibly exciting, and I grew to love the heroes, hate the villains, and terrified of being bitten by a vampire. The author almost tries to make it too complicated in the end. Time travel is a complicated thing to write about and should be handled carefully. The conversation around changing history is typical in such books, but the author glosses over that point. There was an odd, confusing loop at the end as our heroes jump through the portal into different periods trying to find their way back home.

This book also had religious undertones sprinkled throughout. God is mentioned frequently, and some parts seemed almost prophetic. Peter had visions that came from a higher power about his mission in life. They were a bit out of place at times, and I could have done without them.

I did, however, love the characters in this book. By the end, I was rooting for Peter, Luke, and Boriana to survive and be together for all time. They were funny and witty and full of life. The author does a great job building these characters throughout the story. So much so that I didn't want the story to end. I wanted to continue reading about their lives even after this particular story ended.

I give this book a 3 out of 4 stars. Some parts could be better explained, and there were incredibly distracting grammar mistakes. The formatting on the Kindle version was also off. The author's name showed up mid page rather than at the top, and there was a lot of missing punctuation. This could be only in the Kindle version, but it needs to be fixed.

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The Hand Bringer
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