When Rhett Carter finally manages to communicate with his cursed father, he wants nothing more than to discover a way to save him. The only problem: The closer he gets to Martin Carter, the faster he'll die. To help, Laney secretly seeks out Rhett's father, embarking on a dangerous mission. Unbeknownst to her, she's followed by Bil Nez, Hex, and Grogg. Separated from Rhett, their lives sit on a knife's edge.
Meanwhile, with bloodthirsty packs of Shifters prowling around New Washington, the only hope for survival is Rhett's ability to unite the humans and magic-born. A tenuous alliance is formed: the Reaper and his Necros; the Clairvoyants; Floss and her witch hunters; and the humans. But will it be enough to defeat their enemies and restore order to a world in chaos? And will Rhett and Laney ever have the chance for a normal life, a life they both desperately want?
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David Estes has written more than 40 science fiction and fantasy books. He loves chatting with his readers, all of whom he considers to be his friends. David lives in Hawaii with his beautiful Aussie wife, Adele, his moody cats, Bailey and Luna, and his rambunctious sons, Beau and Brody.
-The Fatemarked Epic- For fans of A Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, and The Way of Kings! Four kingdoms. A century-old war. One ancient prophecy that could change everything.
-The Kingfall Histories- a follow up series to the #1 Amazon bestselling series, The Fatemarked Epic
-Strings- “A wonderful retelling of the Pinocchio story…I simply couldn’t put this book down.”—Rysa Walker, bestselling author of TIMEBOUND
-The Dwellers Saga and the Country Saga. Voted books to read if you enjoyed the Hunger Games on Buzzfeed and Listopia.
-Salem's Revenge trilogy- the witch apocalypse begins!
-Slip Trilogy- "Someone must die before another can be born..."
-The Adventures of Nikki Powergloves- Kid superheroes? 'Nuff said.
The third and final book in my Salem's Revenge series is now OUT! I'm so excited to share the final chapter in Rhett's adventure with you all. This series pushed me to the limits because I cared about my characters so much that at times it clouded my judgment. But don't worry, my awesome team of beta readers and the editorial staff at my agent pulled me off the ledge and helped me make the hard decisions that I hope will make BURN an epic conclusion to the series! Here's a link to the book's page on Amazon:
**There will be spoilers for both Brew and Boil in this review, but none for Burn**
"A nightmare awakens, Opening one bruised eye. Although they scream, it doesn’t listen, Doesn’t care, Doesn’t feel, Doesn’t hate nor love. Only takes. And because it breathes fire, the world will burn.
Burn, Rhett Carter"
And so starts the conclusion to this epic trilogy! The Necros and the Clares have joined in with the few remaining humans to defeat Flora and the Shifters. But neither humans nor the magic born in their camp are happy with the truce, forcing Rhett to choose sides. Meanwhile, Flora is planning the attack of the century.
I absolutely LOVED this book! It was an epic conclusion and I loved every minute of it! I also thought the story had a perfect balance of action and suspense, comedy and silliness, snarkiness, and tear-jerker moments. The story flowed so easily, with never a dull moment, and I was completely hooked from beginning to end.
The thing I love the most, though, is the characters. This is an insane cast of dynamic characters, and made the story very entertaining. This really is a dark story with lots of horrible things happening and death everywhere, but it still has these moments of complete hilarity that had me laughing out loud while I was reading!
First of all: Tillman Huckle The underground arms dealer and fanatic gamer who always tells Rhett like it is. I especially loved this exchange between them:
"He makes a good point, even if changing the name of New Washington seems like the least of our worries. Even still, we need something to give the people hope. Something to help us start over. Something to make us all feel connected to each other. A new name might just do that. “How about Unity?” I say. Huckle laughs, and at first I think it’s because he’s just used a grenade launcher to blow up a pocket of the walking dead. “What about Peaceville? Or Harmonytown? Or did you consider The Land of Butterflies and Kittens?” Huckle says. "
LOL
Then there's Mr. Jackson, THE REAPER as he's known by almost everyone. A very creepy dude, with lots of secrets, even more than we thought. Something about him just intrigues me. Rhett wonders about him a lot as well.
"Is he seriously joking with me? The master of the dark art of raising the dead has become a standup comedian? Surely this is the end of the world."
XAVE! He grew and grew on me all through the series, and the final book gave him a few well deserved highlights. Xave is incredibly smart, brave, and wise.
"“Everyone deserves help when they need it,” Xave says, “even if they think they don’t want it.”
And then there's Grogg, the huge troll made of mud, and Hex, the wonderdog! Their adventures throughout the story are PRICELESS! We even get several chapters from their POV! These were huge highlights of the book for me!
"As his legs once more gain hold on the earth, Hex tries to remember why he’s here, what he’s doing. Protect…um…protect someone…protect… Chipmunk!
Flowers are sniffable. Weeds are scratchable. Grass is munchable and usually full of lots of curious creatures. And yet, despite the abundance of all three of these plants in his immediately vicinity, Hex finds himself on the roof, chasing after Grogg, who’s more fun than all three put together. "
And then we have Bil. Bil really grew on me in this book. In the previous one, I was really not happy with his character, but he really redeems himself in this installment! Even better are his exchanges with Laney!
"“Life is but a random echo,” Bil Nez says. Apparently I woke him up when I was trying to calm myself down. “Thanks for that,” I say, desperately wishing Normal Bil was back. I might not like Normal Bil that much, but compared to Crazy Bil, Normal Bil feels like an old friend. He ignores my sarcasm. “Life reverberates off the walls of a cave, searching for a way out, but it always fades away.” “You should write these things down and publish a coffee table book,” I say."
LANEY!! My fave character of the story still had me laughing and chuckling throughout the adventure! I just love Laney, her sarcasm, snarky, bravery, and fierceness. She. is. AWESOME!
"Laney practically chokes on her laugh. “Woo her? You couldn’t woo a cocker spaniel. Just the thought of you ‘wooing’ anyone makes me want to woo my pants.”
And finally, there's Rhett, our MC full of contradictions. He seems like a simple character, but there's a lot more going on to him underneath. Definitely one of the most interesting MCs ever!
"All I know is that my life feels like a giant April Fool’s Joke most of the time. Either that or a mysterious box that has something different in it every time you open it."
The twists in this book...I can't even! HOLY CRAP BEANS, the twists were completely surprising, and they just kept on coming! (Although I will admit I did figure out a smallish one near the end ;) ) David Estes is quickly becoming the master of twists, and is magic at pulling them out of his hat!
The last thing I want to talk about is the ending. This ending was one of the best endings I've ever read, for a book, and a trilogy. I LOVED every single word on that last page. It tied everything up neatly and had definite feels. It made perfect sense and gave me what I wanted as a reader.
This trilogy is truly a gem, and I am sad to say goodbye to these amazing characters. Maybe the author will surprise us with some more stories about them in the future (hint, hint).
And now I'll leave you with a few of my favorite quotes.
"Double negative,” Rhett says. “Doesn’t that make a positive?” “Damn,” Rhett says. “I thought I was being clever."
“Don’t kill the humans, the zombies, the guys in the dark cloaks or the girls that glow like the sun. Oh, or the crazy old woman with the fingernails growing out of her head.”
"Time is the great devourer, taking days, months, and eventually years from us all. It doesn’t discriminate, doesn’t differentiate, shows no mercy."
**I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.**
The final book in the Salem's Revenge series left me a bit breathless and very much in awe of the wordsmithing talent of David Estes!
All of our favorites come together again for an epic battle between good and evil. Although this book can be very dark at times, Estes makes sure to balance the dark with the light as we get the hilarious antics of Hex the wonder dog and Grogg the mud troll. Laney and her snarkiness make her one of my all time favorite characters as she throws one zinger after another.
New characters are introduced who make a huge impact on certain events while old not so favorites become new favorites. Estes weaves his magic once again to give us twist after twist which are never expected!
And those feels!! Estes always gets to me. Without fail, there are always moments where tears will leak and trickle down my face, both happy AND sad.
The pacing was spot on, and just as you could breathe again, I'd find myself holding my breath again, or giggling like an idiot, or gasping in horror. I completely lost myself as I was immersed in Rhett's mission to bring peace to the Witch Apocalypse.
I'm sad to see this series end. I'll miss Rhett, Laney, Hex, Grogg, and even Bil Nez and Tillman Huckle!
Can't wait to see what Estes comes up with next!!
*I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.*
WOW! Just... WOW! This book was totally incredible! Not only was it well-written, with an excellent cast of fantastic and well-rounded characters, but the plot was a rollercoaster ride of twists and turns, with so many emotional ups and downs I spent the time I was reading it alternating between laughing, crying, cheering, and groaning. What an absolutely awesome ending to the series!
I started this series because a witch apocalypse and beautiful covers are my jam. This is such an interesting concept that it is easy to lose yourself in it and the characters. I was a little nervous to see what this third book was going to intel because the second book was sick. It did not disappoint. I mean the author even added a new point of view and I nearly fainted from excitement. He added Hex as a point of view. I mean seriously that is so awesome. He was a underrated character in the first books that I'm glad he got a point of view.
My favorite character is Laney. She is such a sassy smart mouth girl. The author really put rather clever remarks that make her fun to read. She is funny, strong, smart, and courageous. She is a easy character to look up to.
My favorite moment was between Grogg and Hex. Those two are hilarious together. It was such a tender and sweet moment but it was amazing.
I will be recommending this series to all of my fantasy loving friends. If you like witch gangs, rivalry, friendship, love, a weird mud creature and Hex than this series is for you.
Throughout these novels, I laughed, cried, got furious, confused, but one thing was consistent throughout--there's always hope. Thank you, Mr. Estes, for another epic series!
I, personally, could have done without commentary from Hex but that is just me. I'm probably one of the few who dislike Watership Down because of the animal's speaking as if they view life from a human perspective. (anthropomorphism) I don't remember if that is why I also didn't care for The Art of Racing in the Rain, but I imagine it is. Hex pretty much has a unique viewpoint, probably due to his magical abilities, so he didn't grate as much. His obsession with Grogg is hilarious.
This story has a satisfying conclusion. Much like real life, not everything turns out in the good guy's favor. There is great loss for many and as voiced by the Reaper, the war is not over.
I was going to note what I considered a great observation about human nature but it is already quoted in the sidebar.
I would enjoy reading more about these characters, especially Trish in her reincarnation.
I did not want the story of Rhett, Laney, and the magic born to end, but it did and I'm pleased with the ending. This book came to an end like a good movie, leaving me satisfied and thoughtful.
If there's a way to tell a fantastical tale and make it realistic and exciting then David Estes has managed to do just that.
From curses and death to love and birth, every word is perfect. Not perfect in a way that that isn't any errors, but perfect in a way that leaves you satisfied that you took the time to read it.
If you haven't read the trio of books that term this story then you should. You'll be happy you did.
I really want more, but the author ended the series that has kept me riveted, beautifully! The storyline is unique and satisfying, riddled with action, humor, love, and life lessons. Truly a MUST read. I will miss Hex most of all!
Decisions decisions decisions. More than just good v evil. It takes us through choices and why we make them. We see the main characters grow up more as they face the final battle. David Estes does a great job showing us the froth of the characters.
Now knowing the secret of Martin Carter, Laney decides to try to see if she can do something about his curse because she loves Rhett Carter. She and Bil Nez are captured though and it will take all of their combined efforts to find a way out of their predicament. On the other side is Rhett, who is desperately trying to keep the peace between the magic born and humans before the all-out battle he knows will happen in three days’ time.
I didn’t think the chapters from the POV of Hex or Grogg were necessary. Grogg reminded me of Lord of the Rings’ Gollum in many ways. Grogg also reminded me of Perry in the Dweller Saga, whose function in the story I also did not get.
This third and final book in the trilogy was super exciting and full of action in the all-out final battle while still leaving the story open as a world to play in for further books.
What I loved the most about David Estes’ writing is the characters. He sums them up and their relationships with each other himself in this book, “Laney Harris, the Master of Witty Comebacks and Love of my Life, Tillman Huckle, the Surprisingly Brave Gamer and Weapons Seller, Hex, the Wonderdog (and so much more!), Grogg, the Master-less Mud Troll, Floss, the Pierced Non-Witch-Hunter, Trish, The Breaker of Curses and Bringer of Hope, Rain Carter, The Prodigal Daughter, Martin Carter, My Dad, and yes, even Bil-freaking-Nez, who hasn’t had a blackout in months, and the Reaper, who’s not such a bad guy after all.” Estes is able to build an entire world and an entire cast of characters without losing any understanding of who is who and what is what. He layered the story and the characters perfectly throughout the books so that I knew each and every one.
"Burn" is the third book of the "Salem's Revenge" trilogy by David Estes. He is one of my favorite Dystopian authors and this series fits right in. Not your typical apocalypse story...a witch apocalypse is pretty entertaining. Great characters, fast paced, twist and turns in the plot, and good writing. Pack full of flawed humans, evil witches, a magic dog, and lots of fighting scenes. There is violence and some is pretty graphic, no sexual content, and no swearing. I can recommend for high-schooler's and up. I give it five stars, my favorite out of all three.
So obviously I couldn't put the last installment down. The whole series was so different from the other witch/warlock fantasy novels I've read. I kept waiting for Rhett to find out he was magic born and bring good to that world. Spoiler alert... He is not magic born, but he and Laney bring so much light and love that I couldn't help but love the series!!!
Burn... Oh what an awesome read. The fight continues for Rhett,hex,laney and Bill. Twists and turns and some laughter all rolled into this final chapter. I sure hope David Estes brings them back into another book.
I've absolutely loved this series. I got the first book free from the author after joining his mailing list, and I couldn't stop reading the series after that (thank goodness for KU!)! With a novel premise behind it - apocalypse by witches - great writing that pulls you in, makes you love/hate the characters, and keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very last page, these books are the best I've read in ages. I highly recommend them to everyone who likes their books full of action, adventure, and a little difference from the norm! Ps please can someone find me a dog like Hex - he's just awesome!!