Another GREAT Editoral Review for ANNIHILATION!!
Diane Donovan, Senior Reviewer, MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW
Annihilation By Kaylin Mcfarren
Creative Edge Publishing LLC
9781685640569
$18.95 Paper/$4.99 ebook
https://www.amazon.com/ANNIHILATION-G...
Readers of occult fantasy will find Annihilation a revealing tale that explores the stuff of nightmares. It opens with a prologue that recaps past events affecting protagonist Samara Daemonium, explaining why she keeps a demon-killing knife in her bedside drawer and why this threat still looms over her world.
It reviews her relationship with Legend and the current nightmare she lives with day and night: "For whatever reason, guilt was eating her alive, making her believe she was responsible for killing her best friend, a conniving slut, and the amber-eyed demon she wasn’t supposed to love anymore."
Although the prologue is unexpectedly long and detailed for a recap introduction, it segues neatly into the next scenario, in which demons from Hell assemble to mount their latest surge, presenting quite a different milieu in which Queen Lucinda and Hecate discuss awakening dormant powers to find a path to freedom.
As the story moves between human and demon realms, it develops powerful characters on both sides, whose intentions and perspectives are revealed against the backdrop of violent confrontations both psychic and physical.
Kaylin Mcfarren does an excellent job of juxtaposing these special interests in a way that makes both adversary and angels feel realistic and even relatable, melding both with a sense of unexpected humor that emerges at different points in the saga: "As the car rolled down the street, Samara rocked from side to side in the back seat, overwhelmed by what she was seeing. “I can’t believe I’m really here. ON EARTH! None of my friends will ever believe this! A REAL CAR!”
Eliza glanced at Damian. “Yeah, good idea, Bro. She’ll have no problem fitting in…if we’re going to a sanitarium.”
From horrible mistakes and efforts to change attitudes set in stone to Samara's encounter with Lucifer and the false promises which lure her, Mcfarren crafts a winning chronicle that holds many subplots, twists and turns, and inspections that keep readers not only on their toes, but wondering about the ultimate definition of good and evil intentions.
Eventually, Samara comes to question her family roots and the transformations that have affected them all: "Tyrus closed his eyes and bowed his head, breaking her heart. What had happened to her strong, brave uncle? To the remarkable creature that protected their family for years? They had laughed and joked, despite their differences in age. He would never say that he loved Ariel, but he felt happier in her presence. And as for her father, they were closer than brothers. Where in Hell were they? How could they allow this to happen?"
Readers seeking more than a classic good-versus-evil scenario will delight in the complex psychological streams of thought in Annihilation. Its danger doesn't just come from outside, but from within.
As changing hearts bow to adversity and the weight of new realizations, Annihilation evolves a fine personal focus that will keep readers engaged in the outcome of more than just primary protagonist Samara and her choices.
It's unusual to find an occult fantasy title that touches psychological revelation readers, but Annihilation achieves this and more, providing not just an engrossing foray into courage and self-realization, but an investigation of the foundations of good intentions gone awry and the gray area that exists between good and evil.
Readers seeking more than one-dimensional action will relish the questions and answers that arise in the course of the rollicking good read that is Annihilation.
Annihilation
Annihilation By Kaylin Mcfarren
Creative Edge Publishing LLC
9781685640569
$18.95 Paper/$4.99 ebook
https://www.amazon.com/ANNIHILATION-G...
Readers of occult fantasy will find Annihilation a revealing tale that explores the stuff of nightmares. It opens with a prologue that recaps past events affecting protagonist Samara Daemonium, explaining why she keeps a demon-killing knife in her bedside drawer and why this threat still looms over her world.
It reviews her relationship with Legend and the current nightmare she lives with day and night: "For whatever reason, guilt was eating her alive, making her believe she was responsible for killing her best friend, a conniving slut, and the amber-eyed demon she wasn’t supposed to love anymore."
Although the prologue is unexpectedly long and detailed for a recap introduction, it segues neatly into the next scenario, in which demons from Hell assemble to mount their latest surge, presenting quite a different milieu in which Queen Lucinda and Hecate discuss awakening dormant powers to find a path to freedom.
As the story moves between human and demon realms, it develops powerful characters on both sides, whose intentions and perspectives are revealed against the backdrop of violent confrontations both psychic and physical.
Kaylin Mcfarren does an excellent job of juxtaposing these special interests in a way that makes both adversary and angels feel realistic and even relatable, melding both with a sense of unexpected humor that emerges at different points in the saga: "As the car rolled down the street, Samara rocked from side to side in the back seat, overwhelmed by what she was seeing. “I can’t believe I’m really here. ON EARTH! None of my friends will ever believe this! A REAL CAR!”
Eliza glanced at Damian. “Yeah, good idea, Bro. She’ll have no problem fitting in…if we’re going to a sanitarium.”
From horrible mistakes and efforts to change attitudes set in stone to Samara's encounter with Lucifer and the false promises which lure her, Mcfarren crafts a winning chronicle that holds many subplots, twists and turns, and inspections that keep readers not only on their toes, but wondering about the ultimate definition of good and evil intentions.
Eventually, Samara comes to question her family roots and the transformations that have affected them all: "Tyrus closed his eyes and bowed his head, breaking her heart. What had happened to her strong, brave uncle? To the remarkable creature that protected their family for years? They had laughed and joked, despite their differences in age. He would never say that he loved Ariel, but he felt happier in her presence. And as for her father, they were closer than brothers. Where in Hell were they? How could they allow this to happen?"
Readers seeking more than a classic good-versus-evil scenario will delight in the complex psychological streams of thought in Annihilation. Its danger doesn't just come from outside, but from within.
As changing hearts bow to adversity and the weight of new realizations, Annihilation evolves a fine personal focus that will keep readers engaged in the outcome of more than just primary protagonist Samara and her choices.
It's unusual to find an occult fantasy title that touches psychological revelation readers, but Annihilation achieves this and more, providing not just an engrossing foray into courage and self-realization, but an investigation of the foundations of good intentions gone awry and the gray area that exists between good and evil.
Readers seeking more than one-dimensional action will relish the questions and answers that arise in the course of the rollicking good read that is Annihilation.
Annihilation
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