Reviewed
by: ?wazithinkin
Genre:
Urban Fantasy/Romance/Mythology
Approximate
word count: 90-95,000
words
Availability
Click
on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes &
Noble, or Smashwords store
Author:
“Karissa
lives in North Carolina with her kid, her husband, the occasional
in-law, and a very hairy husky. Some of her favorite things are
coffee, chocolate, and super heroes. She can quote Princess Bride
verbatim. She loves to read and has a sweet tooth for fantasy,
sci-fi, and anything in between. Sometimes her husband convinces her
to put down the books and take the motorcycles out for a spin. When
it snows, you'll find her on the slopes.
Karissa
also paints and draws and harbors a grand delusion that she might
finish a graphic novel someday.”
Find
out more about Karissa Laurel
on her website or Facebook.
Website:
Facebook:
Description:
“Solina
Mundy lives a quiet life, running the family bakery in her small
North Carolina hometown. But one night, she suffers a vivid nightmare
in which a wolfish beast is devouring her twin brother, who lives in
Alaska. The next morning, police notify her that Mani is dead. Driven
to learn the truth, Solina heads for the Land of the Midnight Sun.
Once there, she begins to suspect Mani’s friends know more about
his death than they’ve let on. Skyla, an ex-Marine, is the only one
willing to help her.
As
Solina and Skyla delve into the mystery surrounding Mani’s death,
Solina is stunned to learn that her own life is tied to Mani’s
friends, his death, and the fate of the entire world. If she can’t
learn to control her newfound gifts and keep her friends safe, a
long-lost dominion over mortals will rise again, and everything she
knows will fall into darkness.”
Appraisal:
This
book did not take long to grab my attention. Steeped in Norse
Mythology, wolves, and mystery, this was a no brainer for me. Solina
Mundy considers herself a simple girl from North Carolina, however,
she has always had prophetic dreams. Lately they have become
terrifying as she continues to dream of her brother’s death in
Alaska. Mani was attacked inside his apartment by a wolf. Solina
intends to close out his affairs, apartment, and track down his
murderers. The police really don’t have a clue, all they saw were
the mundane facts of the case and they have exhausted any leads they
had.
Mani’s
employer, Aleksander Thorin, Mani’s best friend and Thorin’s
business partner, Val Wotan, try to help Solina in her quest.
However, she can tell the guys aren’t being completely honest with
her. So Solina teams up with Skyla, Mani’s girlfriend and employee
of Thorin Adventure Outfitters, and they quickly find themselves in
over their heads. The wolf is now stalking Solina while Thorin, Val,
and Skyla try to protect her.
Karissa
Laurel does an excellent job of tying Norse Mythology into a modern
setting with the living progeny of gods who were killed during the
epic battle of Ragnarok. These descendants have become complacent in
the status quo and have been drifting along for ages. One survivor of
Ragnarok is in the process of shaking things up to take control and
bring on another apocalypse. There is intrigue, mystery, romance, and
danger for all concerned. The characters are diverse and well defined
and all are flawed. These flaws are the main source of the twists in
the plot that drove the story forward. I was totally drawn into the
relationships between all the players: Thorin, Val, Solina, Skyla,
the Valkyries, Baldur, the wolves, and Helen. This is an original
story with unique characters from Norse Mythology that sucked me in,
I blame author Lynne Cantwell for my obsession with Mythology right
now.
This
is a fascinating story that is well written, has entertaining
dialogue, a fair amount of humor, and lots of tension. The ending
caught me off guard with a huge twist. I can’t wait to read the
sequel.
FYI:
I
found no instances where this could not be considered young adult
appropriate.
Format/Typo
Issues:
I
found no significant issues in proofing or formatting.
Rating: ***** Five stars
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