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

[cstegmil]

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

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4 out of 4 stars

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Raven’s Peak, by Lincoln Cole, is the first book in The World on Fire series. This is a demonic horror genre book, written with three main characters. The book starts out extremely strong and pulled me in right away. The opening prologue is one of the best book openings I have read in a long time.

I was immediately drawn to the first character, the Reverend, Arthur. I found myself wondering, is this person good, evil, crazy, or extremely disturbed. You find out this character is a bit of all those. The author does a great job building a complex character who pulls at your emotions. The Reverend was a demon hunter for an organization called the Council of Chaldea, an organization protecting the world from supernatural forces. He has spent the last five years voluntarily locked away in an underground special jail. The Council asks for his help one last time, and the only reason he agrees is to help his ‘daughter’ Abigail, who has gone missing on a mission with two other Council demon hunters.

The book then cuts to Haatim, who is a young man struggling with depression after the death of his sister. He has spent the last few months full of pain and running away from many aspects of his life. Unknown to him, he has connections to the supernatural world, and becomes involved with a demon who offers him a job. Little does Haatim realize, this demon has other plans for him.

The third main character, Abigail, has been struggling for months with the Council ever since Arthur saved her from an extremely strong demon. In the process of saving her, Arthur is now missing. Abigail has made it her priority to find the demon who took Arthur. A demon plot, involving both Abigail and Haatim, puts them on a path to working together. After foiling that plot, Haatim decides to accompany Abigail on what is supposed to be a routine assignment to a small isolated town called Raven’s Peak. Once there, the plot deepens as Abigail investigates strange supernatural occurrences. Along the way, she discovers she has missing memories that will help her to find Arthur, and with Haatim, they also have to battle one of the strongest demons Abigail has ever faced.

The only small issue I had with the book is Haatim’s naivety sometimes seemed unbelievable. For example, there is a scene where he is not sure what end of a gun to point and shoot. This character has a graduate degree, and has lived away from home for several years, so that naivety seemed a bit farfetched. Another example is given his father’s connection to the supernatural world, Haatim is still completely clueless of any supernatural existence. I can understand some level of surprise, but perhaps if the author had provided additional insight into how his father covered up his supernatural connections, it would have made this a bit more believable. Overall though, this issue did not detract from my enjoyment of the book, and I was still rooting for and connected to Haatim.

Overall, I enjoyed reading Raven’s Peak. The plot follows a pretty standard good versus evil demon paranormal story. However, the unique and complex aspects of the characters are what really drew me in. The characters are not just fighting evil demons, they have struggles, emotional scars, and wrestle with their conscious while fighting for good in the world. I thoroughly look forward to the next book in this series. For readers like myself, sometimes cliffhanger ending can be frustrating, as you need to wait for the next book in the series. The good news is book two and three in the series are already published, so no need to wait for the next book.

I give this book a 4 out of 4 stars. Raven’s Peak engaged me, I was invested in the characters and plot, and I found myself reading it late into the night. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series. Lincoln Cole lists one of his favorite authors as Stephen King, and readers who enjoy that genre (Pet Sematary, The Stand, It), will enjoy this book. Although I am a reader who typically enjoys longer books, it is impressive how much quality content the author was able to put in 219 pages. This book strikes a good balance between horror and paranormal, and therefore will appeal to readers who enjoy both those genres.

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Raven's Peak
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Like cstegmil's review? Post a comment saying so!

[Jaime Lync]

I also cringed at that scene where Haatim asked what point of the gun to point. I also read and reviewed this a while back and I also wondered about the Reverend. Great review.

[Abdullai Rogers]

It is great to know it i will add it on my bookshelve