Review by riazziea -- Raven's Peak by Lincoln Cole
Posted: 22 Jul 2017, 17:59
[Following is a volunteer review of "Raven's Peak" by Lincoln Cole.]

3 out of 4 stars
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In the words of Lincoln Cole, the author himself, Raven's Peak "is crazy. This is crazy" (1652)*, "way more than I expected" (1619), "just keeps getting better and better" (2127). This is a book where something new happens on every page.
It starts out with a boy named Haatim who has just finished graduate school, with a degree in Theology and no clue what to do with it. Because of an unfortunate occurrence at home, he flees India to find time for himself. Returning to Arizona, where he was previously studying, hoping to find peace and figure out his life. That is, until he is unknowingly thrown into the world of the supernatural. Managing to stay alive (only barely) and making an unlikely ally along the way. The two are lead to the town of Raven's Peak where it appears the townsfolk are going insane, and it seems to have something to do with the ruins of the old town. Can these two find the source of the insanity? Will they be able to stop it? Will they, too, go, insane?
If you are a person who enjoys the supernatural, then this is the book for you. If you enjoy the thrill of the hunt, or are one that enjoys suspense, this book keeps you on your toes; you never know what is going to be on the next page. You have all heard that saying "it was so good I couldn't put it down." Well that is definitely true for this book, because you just need to know what happens next. There is some violence in this book so I would suggest it for the young adult range and up.
I rate this book a 3 out of 4 stars. I believe that this book is quite an engaging read, unfortunately I cannot give it a 4 because I continually had questions as I was reading that I feel were not thoroughly answered, or were not answered in a timely manor. Also, the main meat of the story felt like it took too long to be approached. There was a lot of wind up before the main conflict, which is usual for novels, but here Cole used multiple smaller conflicts that muddled the idea that the town of Raven's Peak was the main focus. If he chose a different main subject, put more time for the characters to be in the town of Raven’s Peak, or introduced it sooner, I feel that it would have been more of a success.
While the multiple conflicts seemed to make the piece a bit overwhelming at times, I do want to applaud the author for his skill in being able to intertwine multiple story lines effectively. Each subplot that was introduced within this first book of the trilogy was thought out. While each new plot twist seemed irrelevant to begin with, when the connections were made further on in the story it makes the reader think, and would sometimes answer some questions that had been previously brought up.
Overall Raven's Peak was a captivating read. As a reader I was taken in by the story and became invested in the characters. The work itself had a few typos and phrases that were worded oddly. But there were not enough to bring the reader completely out of the story. For it being the beginning of a trilogy, I am hoping to see some of the questions that were not answered in the first book answered in the others. This is definitely a book I would recommend for anyone looking for a fast paced read.
* Page numbers are in reference to the Kindle format: MOBI of Ravens Peak at the standard text size.
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Raven's Peak
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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3 out of 4 stars
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In the words of Lincoln Cole, the author himself, Raven's Peak "is crazy. This is crazy" (1652)*, "way more than I expected" (1619), "just keeps getting better and better" (2127). This is a book where something new happens on every page.
It starts out with a boy named Haatim who has just finished graduate school, with a degree in Theology and no clue what to do with it. Because of an unfortunate occurrence at home, he flees India to find time for himself. Returning to Arizona, where he was previously studying, hoping to find peace and figure out his life. That is, until he is unknowingly thrown into the world of the supernatural. Managing to stay alive (only barely) and making an unlikely ally along the way. The two are lead to the town of Raven's Peak where it appears the townsfolk are going insane, and it seems to have something to do with the ruins of the old town. Can these two find the source of the insanity? Will they be able to stop it? Will they, too, go, insane?
If you are a person who enjoys the supernatural, then this is the book for you. If you enjoy the thrill of the hunt, or are one that enjoys suspense, this book keeps you on your toes; you never know what is going to be on the next page. You have all heard that saying "it was so good I couldn't put it down." Well that is definitely true for this book, because you just need to know what happens next. There is some violence in this book so I would suggest it for the young adult range and up.
I rate this book a 3 out of 4 stars. I believe that this book is quite an engaging read, unfortunately I cannot give it a 4 because I continually had questions as I was reading that I feel were not thoroughly answered, or were not answered in a timely manor. Also, the main meat of the story felt like it took too long to be approached. There was a lot of wind up before the main conflict, which is usual for novels, but here Cole used multiple smaller conflicts that muddled the idea that the town of Raven's Peak was the main focus. If he chose a different main subject, put more time for the characters to be in the town of Raven’s Peak, or introduced it sooner, I feel that it would have been more of a success.
While the multiple conflicts seemed to make the piece a bit overwhelming at times, I do want to applaud the author for his skill in being able to intertwine multiple story lines effectively. Each subplot that was introduced within this first book of the trilogy was thought out. While each new plot twist seemed irrelevant to begin with, when the connections were made further on in the story it makes the reader think, and would sometimes answer some questions that had been previously brought up.
Overall Raven's Peak was a captivating read. As a reader I was taken in by the story and became invested in the characters. The work itself had a few typos and phrases that were worded oddly. But there were not enough to bring the reader completely out of the story. For it being the beginning of a trilogy, I am hoping to see some of the questions that were not answered in the first book answered in the others. This is definitely a book I would recommend for anyone looking for a fast paced read.
* Page numbers are in reference to the Kindle format: MOBI of Ravens Peak at the standard text size.
******
Raven's Peak
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like riazziea's review? Post a comment saying so!