3 out of 4 stars
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The Hand Bringer by Christopher J. Pennington is a book that tells a story of a group of modern-day specialists who travel back in time. The reason they do so is so that they can avert a chain of events that can destroy the whole of humanity as a result of vampirism. The mission takes the main hero, Peter Hadrian, a police officer, to medieval Romania in search of Prince Vlad also referred to as Count Dracula, whom they are led to believe that he is the source vampirism. The mission sounds to be a simple one but once they get back in time, Peter and his team realise that there’s more to be done. Along the way, Peter and his unlikely group of collaborators would gain enemies, change loyalties, build unions of friendship and love, and find out the real reason why had to travel back in time.
The book has an interesting plot with some amazing action scenes. As the story continues, the plot becomes more and more intense. The book also has enjoyable humor that had me laughing in some sections in the book. The fact that the author has added a modern twist to a vampire tale makes for an interesting read.
I did like the way the author developed the characters in this book, each one of them had well-developed personalities. Peter Hadrian, the main character and the one in charge of the mission has been genetically altered in the ASA lab to give him abilities different from those of other characters. Luke McElroy is Peter’s best friend and I couldn’t help but admire their loyalty to each other. Luke was my favourite character. I also liked the way everything in the story came to a wonderful conclusion in the end.
What I didn’t like about the book was the excessive use of profanities, graphic torture and sex scenes. I felt that they were a little bit too much and they could have been avoided without interfering with the story. The lengthy periods when the author decided to be too descriptive in the book made it more sluggish, something that I also didn’t like.
People who love time travel and medieval stories will surely love and enjoy this book. I wouldn’t recommend this book for young children since it has sex scenes (they are not too detailed) besides lots of violence and profanities. I rate this book 3 stars out of 4 stars as a result of the many errors I encountered. This book may also be offensive to very religious people especially those of the Christian faith since there are components from the Bible that are incorporated into this story.
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The Hand Bringer
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