Review by Miraphery -- The Hand Bringer

Miraphery · Post by **Miraphery** » 01 May 2020, 12:48

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Hand Bringer" by Christopher J. Penington.]

4 out of 4 stars

Share This Review

Do you love adventurous stories about vampirism, science, and time-travel? then The Hand Bringer by Christopher J. Penington is definitely for you. It is also about love, friendship, and betrayal.

Peter Hadrian is a police officer, who recently lost both his wife and son. This put him in despair and made him seek solace in alcohol. He encountered an unknown creature, later identified as a vampire, while on duty. Unfortunately, he was bitten during the struggle. Thereafter, he was taken to a facility, where he underwent a lot of experiments to become someone totally different: much stronger and with increased sensory abilities. He is supposed to go on a mission centuries back to fight vampires when they were fewer in number. This was so much to take in. Could this agency be trusted? Would they be successful?

The Hand Bringer is a fiction of 387 pages, told in the third person narrative. Penington sought help from his Romanian friends and clearly researched on the Romanian history, language, and culture. Romania was one of the settings in the plot and his research paid off. The language was clear and understandable. Some Romanian phrases were used but they were interpreted or told in such a way that the reader could easily ascertain their meaning, for example "Strigoi" means vampire and "Da" means yes.

I commend him for using his experience as a police officer and his time in the military to enrich such a beautiful story. I loved his good descriptive ability, seen as he described characters or places. Dialogues were used excellently and this made the characters come alive. I also enjoyed that the plot was so captivating and unpredictable. He used humor to spice up the story as well.

The plot was complex but that was resolved towards the end. It, however, was not a problem.
The plot and characters were well developed. I loved the leadership skills and intelligence Peter portrayed. He was a lovable character although he had his flaws. The way Pennington introduced the characters was smooth and I did not have any issue differentiating them.

The book has a couple of sex scenes that were not explicit. It contains violent scenes. I observed the use of profanities and offensive language. It has few grammatical errors which did not disrupt my flow. It was indeed professionally edited.

I recommend this book to mature adults who love adventure, vampires, and are not sensitive to violence. There is absolutely nothing I dislike about the book. I give The Hand Bringer 4 out of 4 stars because it is well written.

******
The Hand Bringer
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

Marty_Kelly · Post by **Marty_Kelly** » 02 May 2020, 16:54

I agree with you about Peter having his flaws but that in it's own way contributes to making the character look real... Nice review.

Post by **Sushan Ekanayake** » 02 May 2020, 22:01

A thorough and a ice review. Thanks for the insight regarding another good book

Miraphery · Post by **Miraphery** » 03 May 2020, 12:05

Marty_Kelly wrote: ↑02 May 2020, 16:54 I agree with you about Peter having his flaws but that in it's own way contributes to making the character look real... Nice review.

Yes, I agree. Thanks for commenting.

Nzube Chizoba Okeke · Post by **Nzube Chizoba Okeke** » 05 May 2020, 11:43

I do well with adventures but vampires, I'm not certain about that. With all I've read here, it's no doubt that this book would be fascinating. Thanks for this review.

Miraphery · Post by **Miraphery** » 05 May 2020, 15:06

Zee_Zee wrote: ↑05 May 2020, 11:43 I do well with adventures but vampires, I'm not certain about that. With all I've read here, it's no doubt that this book would be fascinating. Thanks for this review.

Thanks for commenting.

Post by **Melisa Jane** » 07 May 2020, 01:35

This is my current reading. I already like the first few pages. Nice review!

Erandi Ekanayake · Post by **Erandi Ekanayake** » 10 May 2020, 21:26

This is one of the interesting books I have read and reviewed. It's happy to see that you too have enjoyed this book. Your review is informative and interesting. Great job!