Sunday, January 22, 2012

Book of the Week - Sunset



Title: Pact Arcanum Book One - Sunset
Author: Arshad Ahsanuddin
Publisher: Smashwords
Length: 145,000 words
Rating: 4.5 Quills
Tags: paranormal, vampires, fantasy, law enforcement, musician, second love, spy, alternate world

Blurb

By Day

Los Angeles, 2040. When the terrorist known as Medusa threatens to kill millions with a stolen nuclear bomb, Nick Jameson makes a fateful decision. He reveals himself on global television as a Daywalker – a vampire with a soul. To save Los Angeles, Nick exposes not only his own gifts but three separate cultures based on millennia-old magic. 

By Night

The three metahuman races exist in careful balance, working to maintain a fragile peace. Nick and his fellow Daywalkers successfully master their natural bloodlust. The Sentinels, armed with both magic and steel, repress their warlike instincts. And even some Nightwalkers, normally their natural enemies, have deserted the Court of Shadows to join the triple alliance. Nick Jameson is deeply involved with two such Nightwalkers – handsome Lorcan and powerful Rory. Both men love Nick. But neither can protect the new Ambassador to Humanity from the events he has set in motion.

By the Sword

Jeremy Harkness was lured into Medusa’s service under false pretenses. A loner with no one and nothing to cling to, he was willing to die for his cause. But the night Medusa tried to obliterate Los Angeles, Jeremy met Nick Jameson, triggering the onset of his own psychic gifts. For Jeremy is the third race of metahuman, a Sentinel, born to kill the Nightwalkers with no quarter asked or offered. And neither Medusa nor the Court of Shadows will settle for peace when they can make war…

Review

Nick is forced to reveal not only his powers but the existence of supernatural beings to the whole world on national television in order to prevent a group of terrorists from blowing up a nuclear bomb. This is the start of this action packed story. In the end he befriends one of the terrorists, Jeremy, when it is revealed he is a latent sentinel and was just awakened. Sunset is a story that seems beyond categorizations. It is a fantasy novel filled with ancient vampires, power filled sentinels with genetic memory to kill those same vampires. It is a science fiction romp with space flying and futuristic weapons. It is an espionage thriller with layers of deceit and alliance that are ever shifting. And it is a romance in which you can never really decide who you want to win the final affections of our main characters. But more importantly, this was an engrossing and engaging read that I would highly recommend.

Arshad built a comprehensive world that you can just imagine yourself in as you read through the pages. And more importantly, he filled it with a cast of characters that you can't help but fall in love with. They are stupid and arrogant and do all the wrong things for all the right reasons but then they are caring and self-sacrificing and genuinely awesome. 

However, there were a few jarring moments. I was a bit confused and possibly overwhelmed by the romantic triangle (square?) with Rory, Lorcan and Jeremy all being in love with Nick. Rory and Lorcan's obsession with Nick did not seem to add to the story and just muddied the waters. Perhaps more with this plotline will be revealed later in the series and I will discover why it was absolutely necessary but as is I think the story would have been better without this strange arc. There were a few other minor details that pulled me out, such as it seemed that almost every one of the main characters used to be an internationally acclaimed musical artist. It wasn't bad, just odd. 

Nevertheless, despite these few jarring moments/plotlines I absolutely loved this book. It had the kind of in depth plot, world building and character development that is missing in a lot of books these days. 4.5 Quills.



You can find Sunset (Pact Arcanum #1) for $3.99 at Smashwords. So go out and read it!!!

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