Review by WordHound -- Raven's Peak by Lincoln Cole

[WordHound]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Raven's Peak" by Lincoln Cole.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Raven’s Peak by Lincoln Cole, the first book in the World on Fire series, is a fantasy novel, and its plot includes religious and supernatural ideas.

In the prologue, we meet Arthur, also known as “The Reverend”, who, by his own choice, remains imprisoned as retribution for his unspeakable crimes. After being told that a demon has killed Abigail, his adopted daughter, he leaves the prison for the first time in years in order to hunt the demon. Finding Abigail alive, but possessed by the demon, it seems like he is faced with an impossible choice: destroy the demon or save his daughter. Ultimately, he sacrifices himself to stop the demon and save Abigail.

Months later, Haatim is hired to follow Abigail, but gets more than he bargained for when a member of The Ninth Circle, a demon organization, marks him as a host for possession. Meanwhile, Abigail is trying to complete an assignment for The Council, but all she really wants to do is look for Arthur. Abigail saves Haatim and, reluctantly, agrees to take him with her on her assignment and her hunt to discover what happened to Arthur. Haatim learns from Abigail that he has a family connection to The Council.

While investigating reports of supernatural activity in the town of Raven’s Peak, Abigail and Haatim find evidence of demons. A shocking discovery gives the town new meaning for Abigail. The situation soon becomes dire and a matter of life or death for the citizens of the town. Her efforts to save everyone put Abigail’s life on the line and the reader is left with a bit of a cliffhanger.

Religion is a theme that isn’t fleshed out in this book, but seems likely to play a larger role later in the series. Haatim lost his faith after the death of his younger sister to cancer and is urged by his family to regain it. Readers learn that prayers are one way to defeat demons. What isn’t clear is what the author’s intentions are with this theme. Is he trying to convey that faith is needed? Or is the ambiguity of this theme intentional?

I found it interesting that Haatim’s family connection to The Council was revealed early in the book; I thought it could have been revealed later for greater effect. Since the reader knows this detail before Haatim, the revelation is a bit anticlimactic. There were only a couple small plot twists in this book, so it seems like the author missed a big opportunity to create another. Despite the lack of plot twists, I wouldn’t call this book predictable. The subject matter is unusual enough that it wasn’t too obvious where the book was going.

It seems like this book is really an introduction to the world, characters and problems that we will learn more about in later books in the series. Both The Council and The Ninth Circle are important groups in this story, but the reader gets very little information about them. The same is true of Arthur; it is implied that he played an important role in The Council, but this isn’t clearly explained. Additionally, it is suggested that his prior crimes and imprisonment could have made him less than human somehow. Clearly, there is still a lot to learn about the demons and demon hunters in the World of Fire universe.

I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars because I enjoyed reading this novel and plan to read the sequel. I’m curious to learn more about what Arthur did to end up in prison, how the demons affect people and how Abigail will get herself out of trouble. I liked the fact that the story didn’t try to force the two main characters into a relationship. I didn’t notice any grammar or punctuation errors in the novel. I didn’t think Raven’s Peak deserved a four-star rating because it didn’t captivate me like other books I’ve read, but it was an enjoyable read overall.

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Raven's Peak
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