Review by Melchi Asuma -- The Hand Bringer
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Melchi Asuma
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Review by Melchi Asuma -- The Hand Bringer
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Hand Bringer" by Christopher J. Penington.]
Cop. Vampire. Bite. Mad scientist. Existence. Time. Love. War Such is the linear development of the plot of The Hand Bringer. The author, Christopher Penington told the story by weaving it through different timelines and incorporating various themes, characters, and topics to bring to life the story of Peter Hadrian, also known as Petru Cel Salvator.
Peter Hadrian, who is a cop, encounters a vampire during a routine crime call alongside his partner Luke. In the scuffle, the vampire (Alexandru) bites him which renders him unconscious. Upon waking up, he finds himself at a secret government lab owned by an agency known as ASA (Apocalypse Suppression Administration.) The scientists at ASA, headed by Dr. Chester Kolemis, inform him of the existence of vampires and that vampires could prove to be a very big problem for humanity as they know it. To stop this, the ASA scientists devise a plan to go back in time and kill the first known vampire (Vlad Dracula of Romania) after making Peter extremely stronger. For Peter, the allure in this mission is that the scientists promise him that they will help him go back in time to save his wife and kids. However, what Kolemis does not divulge to them is that he has a selfish ulterior motive in wanting to go that far back into the past. He also fails to tell them about the cyclic nature of time and its implication on the mission. A lot of other factors also come to play to facilitate and make or break this mission, a key factor being Boriana -Peter's wife. The success of the mission rides a lot on Boriana who is an unknown factor at the time.
I loved the plot and the twists and turns that the story took us on. There was always an unknown variable, a figure hiding in the dark just waiting to pounce on us. The plot was also quite fascinating as it raised several questions such as, "Who exactly was Peter's first wife? Was it Boriana, who was his historical first wife, or was it his other wife, who was his living first wife? Such is the promise of any tale that weaves different timelines into a single story. The Hand Bringer was no exception.
The narration was also compelling and suspense-filled. Christopher J. Penington is, indeed, a talented writer who knows exactly how to keep his audiences yearning for more. The Hand Bringer is a difficult book to put down once you start reading it. The only flip side to it was that there were parts of the story that were difficult to put down and connect to the other parts of the story. For example, I did not quite understand how Peter came to be known as The Hand Bringer. It just happened. How and why Peter turned on Dracula's army was also not very clear to me.
That aside, this was a very enjoyable book. I spotted only a single grammatical error, indicating just how professionally this book was edited. I have to award it the full 4 out of 4 stars rating and I know that it will be enjoyed by anyone who is a lover of sci-fi and fantasy novels.
******
The Hand Bringer
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Cop. Vampire. Bite. Mad scientist. Existence. Time. Love. War Such is the linear development of the plot of The Hand Bringer. The author, Christopher Penington told the story by weaving it through different timelines and incorporating various themes, characters, and topics to bring to life the story of Peter Hadrian, also known as Petru Cel Salvator.
Peter Hadrian, who is a cop, encounters a vampire during a routine crime call alongside his partner Luke. In the scuffle, the vampire (Alexandru) bites him which renders him unconscious. Upon waking up, he finds himself at a secret government lab owned by an agency known as ASA (Apocalypse Suppression Administration.) The scientists at ASA, headed by Dr. Chester Kolemis, inform him of the existence of vampires and that vampires could prove to be a very big problem for humanity as they know it. To stop this, the ASA scientists devise a plan to go back in time and kill the first known vampire (Vlad Dracula of Romania) after making Peter extremely stronger. For Peter, the allure in this mission is that the scientists promise him that they will help him go back in time to save his wife and kids. However, what Kolemis does not divulge to them is that he has a selfish ulterior motive in wanting to go that far back into the past. He also fails to tell them about the cyclic nature of time and its implication on the mission. A lot of other factors also come to play to facilitate and make or break this mission, a key factor being Boriana -Peter's wife. The success of the mission rides a lot on Boriana who is an unknown factor at the time.
I loved the plot and the twists and turns that the story took us on. There was always an unknown variable, a figure hiding in the dark just waiting to pounce on us. The plot was also quite fascinating as it raised several questions such as, "Who exactly was Peter's first wife? Was it Boriana, who was his historical first wife, or was it his other wife, who was his living first wife? Such is the promise of any tale that weaves different timelines into a single story. The Hand Bringer was no exception.
The narration was also compelling and suspense-filled. Christopher J. Penington is, indeed, a talented writer who knows exactly how to keep his audiences yearning for more. The Hand Bringer is a difficult book to put down once you start reading it. The only flip side to it was that there were parts of the story that were difficult to put down and connect to the other parts of the story. For example, I did not quite understand how Peter came to be known as The Hand Bringer. It just happened. How and why Peter turned on Dracula's army was also not very clear to me.
That aside, this was a very enjoyable book. I spotted only a single grammatical error, indicating just how professionally this book was edited. I have to award it the full 4 out of 4 stars rating and I know that it will be enjoyed by anyone who is a lover of sci-fi and fantasy novels.
******
The Hand Bringer
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
