Urban Fantasy published by Berkley 28 Jun 22
The We are powerful magical beings who walk amongst humans. Etherialists are humans who have magic the evil We want to steal. Alice, at nine years old, is enslaved and bonded to an evil We and now lives for revenge. Owen, tortured by his past, swore never to return to the one home he knows and travels with his band of musicians making music wherever he goes. Sparks will definitely fly when they come together with their conflicting yet similar objectives.
This is quintessentially a story about good and evil, heaven and hell, love and family with a lot of curve balls thrown in for good measure.
Alice has honed herself into a weapon and survives on hate. Her one goal is to find and destroy the evil We who bonded her when she was just a child and stole her innocence and childhood. She wears a shroud that keeps the bond muted, even though it is extremely painful to her. She finally decides she’s tired of running and chooses to look for Kerogan and take the battle to him.
Owen, in the meanwhile, has been trying to outrun his demons, constantly running and staying one step ahead of the hunters who hunt the We and Etherialists. He has in his care a young woman whom he is protecting from a forcible bonding until she comes of age. When, it seems, all doors are closing in his face, he returns to the one place that was once home to him and to the woman who nurtured him but swore to kill him if he ever returned.
Alice comes to the same place, seeking answers on where she can find her nemesis. Here both their paths collide, and they become aligned through common goals and strong chemistry. Will they and the people who they love and call family survive the inferno? The story is interesting and completely different from anything I’ve read before, though the pacing could stand some work.
Debut author Brian Feehan is son of the legendary Christine Feehan, whose paranormal and fantasy romances have been a big part of my reading repertoire. Despite being a long-time fan of paranormal and urban fantasy, this story was a bit of a stretch for me with its references to the gates of heaven and circles of hell. It’s definitely something I would urge readers of urban fantasy and paranormal romance to try.
Grade: C+
Summary:
The We—beings who existed long before humans ever did, filled with powerful magic—walk among us. Owen and Alice are both etherealists—rare humans born with magic who are targets for those We that wish to take it from them. At nine years old and against her will, Alice’s soul was tied to one such powerful and evil We. She escaped and was trained to be a weapon so she might one day break the bond and safely return home. Everything is going to plan…until she meets Owen.
Owen is a musician who is trying to outrun his past while keeping those around him safe in an increasingly dangerous world. Owen keeps them on the move until a band of hunters crosses their path. Owen must go home—a place he swore he’d never return to—and seek protection from the We who could destroy them. And then he meets Alice. Only through finding each other do either Alice or Owen have a chance of survival.
Other books in this series:
