R.B. Wood

For such a short book it is baffling how this story could be more confusing.
A Girl, Jeannine survives hurricane Katrina while the rest of her family perishes. She is “rescued by two degenerates who hold her hostage and rape and torture her. She loses a leg. A cop rescues her and becomes a guardian angel but then a quack therapist gets involved and helps her then these two move to New York and she becomes a lawyer but then she goes back to New Orleans to help the cop who is no longer a cop but a criminal and then the ghosts and the monsters and the voodoo and the visions and the hallucinations…..
Absolutely zero editing was done to the story.
Somewhere there was a story in this book but the reader would have to be on LSD to follow it. Is it a mystery, is it horror, is it fantasy, are the main characters experiencing complex hallucinations?
Who knows because absolutely nothing is linear in this story.
Clearly I am not the targeted reader for this book.… (meer)

I picked this one up from Amazon.com back when it was listed as free, and finally got the time to read it. From the start I had a hard time putting it down! From the opening sequence, of a dead lady talking to Symon on a plane, to the end of this novel, I was displaced from my settings and pulled into the story.

I enjoyed how the author was able to combine magic into the regular world, plus add the Good versus Evil fight of God and Lucifer. Some of the traits of the characters were a bit hard for me to just accept. One example is of Symon, who is mouthy and sarcastic to all in any given situation. Maybe I just have not known people like that. Also, he seems pretty apathetic about anything that doesn't affect him personally. How they find out they have magic is unclear - whether it is a born trait, or some special natural talent (I am guessing it is this one). Each character has a different magical skill set, but the extent of their usage, or how many 'spells' is not covered. Perhaps this will be more explained in future stories, as well as more background on characters.

Overall it was enjoyable and I will be watching for other books by this author.… (meer)

I seem to be having more and more of these heaven vs. hell books land on my metaphorical doorstep for me to review. And don't get me wrong, I don't mind one bit at all. I like these books because these are the kinds of books that make a person think about things while they are reading them. Not only that but they also draw from a persons internal knowledge base about religion and their own beliefs while telling a story, and how can you not likee a book that does that.

The book is really fast paced, which I appreciated. I have a hard time when a book takes a while to get started or has a long lag time in the middle of the book. It's in those moments when I want to put a book down and then never have the desire to pick it back up again. So again I say hooray for the fact that this book is face paced. It reads kind of like a mystery with an urban fantasy twist. So every flip of the page feels like you are getting one step closer to developing your own theory about what happened, or even finding out what happened for real. I do have to say one thing about the pace, while it keep me interested throughout the bulk of the book, I do think maybe the ending went on to long. When an ending goes on for two long, as a reader I start to feel like I didn't enjoy the book as much as I really did because it feels tedious getting through the last couple of pages. It's not a huge sticking point though, because like I said the book is fast paced, and kept me interested throughout most of the book.

Symon as a character is interesting from the beginning, because he lives in a life or a world that I don't think I would have imagined. It's interesting, the concept of having the Catholic church using magic to fight evil (and personally I can't help but think how cool that would actual be). But Symon really has to go through a journey throughout the book, not just to rescue his mentor, but a personal journey as well. He has to have some character growth along the way, which I enjoyed, because when a character doesn't grow throughout the book, whats the point? I also like that he is not the perfect guy, that he has made mistakes, and that generally speaking he is just as flawed as the rest of us are. It makes him easier to identify with and easier for me to feel an attachment to him early on in the book.

I also enjoyed that Symon wasn't taking on this journey by himself, he had a group of people from his past who were involved in the task at hand. I like this because it really outlines that one person cannot do it all, and the team dynamic was really great. Sure people but heads, or sometimes they get along, but when people unite for a common goal it allows the reader to not just get behind the main character but also to like the secondary characters. And more so than that it gets them more involved in the plot in general.

Overall, I would have to say this book is pretty good. I enjoyed the religious theme, while building on it, it wasn't offensive and was a great take on it. I liked the characters, the writing, and the fast paced nature of the book overall. I would definitely see how people who enjoy urban fantasy would enjoy this book, I'm not sure if the paranormal romance folks would feel the same, but I certainly wouldn't rule it out. It's a good book and a fun read.… (meer)