4 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Raven’s Peak by Lincoln Cole is the first book of the supernatural thriller trilogy World on Fire, where we are getting introduced to Abigail and Haatim - an unlikely pair, stuck together due to circumstances.
The book begins with a masterfully written prologue to the story. It focuses on Abigail’s guardian Arthur, who leaves his life of solitude inside a prison cell to find three kidnapped girls, avenge fallen demon fighters and save Abigail. He banishes the demon from the face of the earth only to get stuck with him in hell.
The story then continues five months later when a former Theology student Haatim accepts an offer from a strange man to follow Abigail. The man believes she wants to kill him. By accepting the offer Haatim hopes to earn some easy money, instead in a blink of an eye he gets sucked into the world crazier than that of the religious books he used to study. After Abigail, who hunts demons for an ancient Council, saves Haatim from several demon attacks and finds out about his family ties to the Council, she reluctantly agrees to let him come along to the town of Raven’s Peak. She is summoned to investigate some strange behavior there.
Driven by guilt for Arthur’s death, Abigail is determined to do whatever it takes to find the demon responsible, even if it means defying the direct orders to stay away. She also hopes to prove herself worthy to the Council after her prior failure that caused Arthur his life. Her last assignment in Raven’s Peak is supposed to do just that. Yet nobody could have anticipated this seemingly simple task turning into the fight for thousands of lives. The future of the whole town and their own lives are at stake after Abigail and Haatim come face to face with a powerful demon.
I have to start the review by saying that I loved the book. The story captivated me from the beginning and kept me interested until the last sentence. It was well composed and dynamic. The characters of the book were depicted exceptionally well.
The prologue alone is worth a separate book. It focuses on a man, who has lost his will to live. Arthur is depicted so realistically, that you can almost taste his guilt, desperation and the loss of faith. Masterfully playing with words, the author allows us to take a peek inside Arthur’s head. Even without clear knowledge of what exactly got him locked inside the top secret prison, the reader knows - it was horrible enough to make him choose dark and moldy prison cell voluntarily.
There is one particular sentence in the prologue: “Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster.” I believe it could as well represent the idea of the book itself. What is the thin line between right and wrong? Does one really need to be possessed by a demon to become a monster? Can a killing ever be justified? What makes a sacrifice for a greater good justifiable? Is the decision to destroy thousands of lives to save the world still justifiable?
The author, in my opinion, is remarkable at creating the personality of his characters. He shows us that one does not need to be possessed by a demon to be ill-natured; like the college kid, who cares more about getting wet in the rain than finding a lost child in the woods. Within seconds of introducing him to the reader, the author succeeds at turning him into less sympathetic creature than the demon that Abigail keeps imprisoned.
Even Abigail and Haatim have their own demons. They are full of doubt, hesitations, fear and guilt. Their faith in God is crippled. It was one of the reasons why I found this book so intriguing. You could never be sure, what decision Abigail and especially Haatim would make next in the face of danger and where the story would turn from there.
It was refreshing to discover a different type of main hero of the book. Haatim is as far from being a hero as he could ever be. For this very reason, his gradual transformation is even more valuable. Furthermore, the contrast between fearless Abigail and hesitant to the brink of cowardice Haatim adds a lot of intrigue to the story.
With an exception of a few typos, the book was well written. I give it 4 out of 4 stars. Lincoln Cole is an excellent storyteller and a skillful writer. I would recommend it to anyone who likes supernatural stories and imperfect heroes. It was an interesting read and I am certainly going to get the next two books to find out what happens next.
******
Raven's Peak
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like lucia_kizas's review? Post a comment saying so!
