Review by AntonelaMaria -- The Hand Bringer
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AntonelaMaria
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Review by AntonelaMaria -- The Hand Bringer
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Hand Bringer" by Christopher J. Penington.]
The Hand Bringer by Christopher J. Penington is a sci-fi and a fantasy novel that revolves around vampires, time travel, and romance.
Peter Hadrian is a Dallas police officer who has Romanian heritage. He tragically lost his wife and son, and he is desperate for some answers. After answering a home disturbance call, he gets bitten by a vampire. ASA - Apocalypse Suppression Administration headquarters is the place where he is rushed by the ambulance. The doctors there save him by genetically changing him into a powerful weapon. Soon he will time travel to Middle Ages, together with his cop friend Luke and three others. His mission is to find and kill Dracula, and with that, save the modern world.
I enjoyed reading this book. It took some time to get into the plotline, but soon I was intrigued by the storyline. I liked Peter as our leading protagonist. Christopher J. Penington is a former police officer with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. There was a huge amount of research he put into this book. Some of his characters are real-life people like Vlad the Impaler and Turkish Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror. I was impressed with that part of the story and how everything was incorporated into the plotline.
Even though towards the end of the book, though some minor side characters, the author explains every major twist and turn, and why things happened, we still don’t learn why Peter is Hand Bringer, and what exactly that means. It is still all very vague to me. Considering the title of this book, I find this unresolved issue very important. I would like to know that more than the other things that are revealed. I found them redundant. That is just my opinion, as I don’t enjoy it when the authors do it. It feels like a very cheap way of building the storyline.
I would rate this book with three out of four stars. This is a lengthy and dry read, with some exceptional dialogue. I love the plot twists and incorporation of Dracula into the storyline. It is already seen, but still a very much fresh way of plotting a fantasy book. This is a very cohesive book with a satisfying ending. So, I can’t rate it any lower. However, my rating is not perfect, for reasons already mentioned. Also, past and present storytelling can be very confusing. I didn’t find any grammatical errors, besides unusual placements of the words in dialogue. I guess that was intentional by the author.
I would recommend this book to all sci-fi and fantasy readers, even historical fiction lovers. Especially if you enjoy reading about vampires, you will enjoy this book too. There is the underline theme of a romance story there, which makes the happy ending very satisfying. Be warned that dialogue has a lot of profanities.
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The Hand Bringer
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The Hand Bringer by Christopher J. Penington is a sci-fi and a fantasy novel that revolves around vampires, time travel, and romance.
Peter Hadrian is a Dallas police officer who has Romanian heritage. He tragically lost his wife and son, and he is desperate for some answers. After answering a home disturbance call, he gets bitten by a vampire. ASA - Apocalypse Suppression Administration headquarters is the place where he is rushed by the ambulance. The doctors there save him by genetically changing him into a powerful weapon. Soon he will time travel to Middle Ages, together with his cop friend Luke and three others. His mission is to find and kill Dracula, and with that, save the modern world.
I enjoyed reading this book. It took some time to get into the plotline, but soon I was intrigued by the storyline. I liked Peter as our leading protagonist. Christopher J. Penington is a former police officer with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. There was a huge amount of research he put into this book. Some of his characters are real-life people like Vlad the Impaler and Turkish Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror. I was impressed with that part of the story and how everything was incorporated into the plotline.
Even though towards the end of the book, though some minor side characters, the author explains every major twist and turn, and why things happened, we still don’t learn why Peter is Hand Bringer, and what exactly that means. It is still all very vague to me. Considering the title of this book, I find this unresolved issue very important. I would like to know that more than the other things that are revealed. I found them redundant. That is just my opinion, as I don’t enjoy it when the authors do it. It feels like a very cheap way of building the storyline.
I would rate this book with three out of four stars. This is a lengthy and dry read, with some exceptional dialogue. I love the plot twists and incorporation of Dracula into the storyline. It is already seen, but still a very much fresh way of plotting a fantasy book. This is a very cohesive book with a satisfying ending. So, I can’t rate it any lower. However, my rating is not perfect, for reasons already mentioned. Also, past and present storytelling can be very confusing. I didn’t find any grammatical errors, besides unusual placements of the words in dialogue. I guess that was intentional by the author.
I would recommend this book to all sci-fi and fantasy readers, even historical fiction lovers. Especially if you enjoy reading about vampires, you will enjoy this book too. There is the underline theme of a romance story there, which makes the happy ending very satisfying. Be warned that dialogue has a lot of profanities.
******
The Hand Bringer
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
“Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”
The Minpins by Roald Dahl
The Minpins by Roald Dahl
