4 out of 4 stars
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Raven's Peak is the first book in the World on Fire series by the author Lincoln Cole, and follows on from The Ninth Circle . It details the journey of a young hunter, Abigail Dressler, in her fight against demons, her desire to recall lost memories wiped away by a previous demonic possession and her struggle to comply with the orders of the Council of Chadlea when those orders go against her desire to both protect human life and discover the location of her mentor. She is faced with an uphill battle as it appears that she is not only fighting demons but also members of the Council and finds an unlikely allay in the form of Haatim , who unwittingly becomes embroiled in Abigail's world.
The book starts with one of the best prologues I have read. Actually, I find a number of prologues are quite boring and one can tend to skim through them to get to the heart of the story, but this one answered some of the questions which left me hanging from The Ninth Circle, although admittedly it still let me with some questions. However it set the scene for what was to come and awakened my curiosity. In the prologue we find out what has happened to Arthur, Abigail's mentor and saviour. The once respected hunter, ravaged by the anguish of losing his wife and child by the betrayal of someone within the organisation, is no more the figure of the hunter that he once was. He has been locked away from society and lives in a solitary world, languishing upon his deeds as he withdraws into his own cocoon. However his services are called upon once more and he faces his biggest trial to date when he's told that his former colleagues and a -lose family member have fallen foul of the demons.
Next we are introduced to Haatim, a young man who has a lot of soul searching to do and Abigail Dresser, a demon hunter which, I thought was an interesting choice of main character. She doesn't come across as having a strong sense of faith in God but she has some and is focused upon her quest compared to Haatim who has lost his faith following a tragic event and who appears to be rather weak and naive. His eyes are opened when he becomes embroiled in Abigail's world.
I particularly liked the simplicity of the text which, for me, makes reading enjoyable and I feel that the book could be read by a wide variety of audiences irregardless of their reading ability. The plot was easy to follow and kept up the suspense. I felt myself being drawn into the plot and feeling empathy with Abigail, her fears, feelings and reproaches and became intrigued about the real motives of the Council, questioning myself whether those in office were genuine or perhaps we would find a few demons lurking there. You have to read the book to find out about that one.
Being a Catholic, living in Kenya where witchcraft and, allegedly, demonic possession is a regular occurrence, has possibly influenced my fascination with the subject of demons and hence this book but even without my own experiences I feel the plot is quite plausible and I felt quite connected with Abigail's fears and emotions. Similarly, when Haatim had to face his fear of swimming under water, I too could feel his fear and relate it to my own fears. I can't wait to read the next book in the series and catch up with what happens to them after dealing with the events in Raven's Peak.
Overall I would recommend this book, especially to readers who don't like to read books containing a lot of blood and gore. There are some descriptive parts, mainly in the prologue, which made me shudder at the thought of the actions being carried out but none that gave me sleepless nights. A thoroughly good read, easy plot to follow and dare I say, thought provoking.
I would give this book4 out of 4 stars 4 because I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and it has given me the motivation to read the next book in the series.
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Raven's Peak
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