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The Warrior
John Nightwalker is a strong, rugged Native American soldier who has seen many battles. While hunting down an old enemy, he crosses paths with Alicia Ponte. On the run from her father–a powerful arms manufacturer–Alicia seeks to expose her father's traitorous crimes of selling weapons to our enemies in Iraq. But Richard Ponte will do anything to stay below the radar…even if it means killing his own daughter. Drawn to the mystery that surrounds Alicia, John feels compelled to protect her. Together they travel through the beautiful yet brutal Arizona desert to uncover deadly truths and bring her father to justice. But their journey is about to take an unexpected turn…one that goes deep into the past.
325 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 31, 2009
73 people are currently reading
484 people want to read
About the author
Sharon Sala
279 books2,303 followersBiography
Sharon Sala is a Native Oklahoman and still lives within a two hour drive of where she was born.
First published in 1991, she is a New York Times/USA Today, best-selling author with a 135 plus books published in seven different genres, including Romantic suspense, Mystery, Young Adult, Western, Fiction, Women’s Fiction and Non-Fiction.
Industry Awards include:
Eight-time RITA finalist. (Romance Industry award)
The Janet Dailey Award.
Five-time Career Achievement winner from RT Magazine.
Five time winner of the National Reader’s Choice Award.
Five time winner of the Colorado Romance Writer’s Award of Excellence.
Heart of Excellence Award.,
Booksellers Best Award.
Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award RITA, presented by RWA.
Centennial Award from RWA for recognition of her 100th published novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
March 1, 2009
Reviewed for queuemyreview.com; book release Apr09
Fans of Native American lore and the paranormal will be thrilled with Sharon Sala’s new book “The Warrior”. This is a story of love, loss, revenge, and resolution. When an early Native American warrior is too late to save the rest of his village from Spanish marauders, he keens his sorrow and lust for revenge to his gods…and they answer. Until he spills the blood of the man who killed his woman, he will not die. This is his story, and his revenge.
John Nightwalker cannot die, at least not yet. For over 500 years he has searched the world each time he feels the essence of the killer reborn, but never managed to catch or kill his enemy despite coming close once or twice. He’s learned to keep to himself, helping others when he can. But he is always alone, just he and his nightmares. Until the day he helps a woman escape from a man and feels ‘the’ connection. She’s not the one he’s searching for…but she is of his blood.
Alicia can’t believe her life has gone from privilege to peril so quickly. But knowing her father the way she does, she’s afraid he will not give up or stop hunting until she is dead. When the handsome Indian protects her from one of her father’s hunters, she has no idea that he has ulterior motives for helping her. And the closer they become, the more she realizes just how little she knows about this man who heals his own wounds…but before long that just doesn’t seem to matter.
I like the thought of reincarnation, but with my luck I’d come back as a slug! I found this story very different from the current stock of paranormal romances available. The hero is a very strong character who’s also a bit of a victim in that he really has no idea how the magic he’s involved in works. His revenge is literally what he lives for, but he also uses his abilities to help out his fellow man. The concept of gods and angels, ingrained prejudice, and the human fear of the unexplainable are all skillfully played out within the boundaries of the relationship between the main characters.
The story moves between several states and the pace is quick which intensifies the reader’s suspense. The pull between the hero and heroine is strong from the first and becomes believable even with their vast social differences. I quite enjoyed reading “The Warrior”. Sharon Sala’s books tend to be rather ‘hit or miss’ for me, but this one is definitely a hit!
Fans of Native American lore and the paranormal will be thrilled with Sharon Sala’s new book “The Warrior”. This is a story of love, loss, revenge, and resolution. When an early Native American warrior is too late to save the rest of his village from Spanish marauders, he keens his sorrow and lust for revenge to his gods…and they answer. Until he spills the blood of the man who killed his woman, he will not die. This is his story, and his revenge.
John Nightwalker cannot die, at least not yet. For over 500 years he has searched the world each time he feels the essence of the killer reborn, but never managed to catch or kill his enemy despite coming close once or twice. He’s learned to keep to himself, helping others when he can. But he is always alone, just he and his nightmares. Until the day he helps a woman escape from a man and feels ‘the’ connection. She’s not the one he’s searching for…but she is of his blood.
Alicia can’t believe her life has gone from privilege to peril so quickly. But knowing her father the way she does, she’s afraid he will not give up or stop hunting until she is dead. When the handsome Indian protects her from one of her father’s hunters, she has no idea that he has ulterior motives for helping her. And the closer they become, the more she realizes just how little she knows about this man who heals his own wounds…but before long that just doesn’t seem to matter.
I like the thought of reincarnation, but with my luck I’d come back as a slug! I found this story very different from the current stock of paranormal romances available. The hero is a very strong character who’s also a bit of a victim in that he really has no idea how the magic he’s involved in works. His revenge is literally what he lives for, but he also uses his abilities to help out his fellow man. The concept of gods and angels, ingrained prejudice, and the human fear of the unexplainable are all skillfully played out within the boundaries of the relationship between the main characters.
The story moves between several states and the pace is quick which intensifies the reader’s suspense. The pull between the hero and heroine is strong from the first and becomes believable even with their vast social differences. I quite enjoyed reading “The Warrior”. Sharon Sala’s books tend to be rather ‘hit or miss’ for me, but this one is definitely a hit!
March 31, 2009
Another solid book from author Sharon Sala. I was hooked right from the start. The Warrior is a very vibrant and emotional tale that had me reading even when I had other things to do.
The story begins with a prologue that takes place 500 years earlier. Night Walker is a second chief to his tribe, which sits on the Georgia coastline. He knows something bad is coming, he feels it. Then a greedy, heartless explorer arrives and he and his men slaughter the entire tribe, including Night Walker's beloved wife, White Fawn. Night Walker is the only one to survive. In his raging grief, he vows revenge on the man responsible, and the Old Ones oblige. He will live forever in a state of stasis until he is able to kill the soul of the one he hates.
And since that time, Night Walker, who now goes by John Nightwalker, has roamed the earth searching for the reincarnation of the soul he seeks. He's come close, but never been able to kill him. Then one day he rescues a woman in danger and the clenching sickness in his gut tells him she is somehow connected to the evil soul he has to kill.
Alicia Ponte lived a privileged life, but when she finds out her father has been providing arms to terrorist, she runs away, horrified at what she now knows. When her father finds out she knows, he'll do anything to stop her from talking. If it hadn't been for John's rescue, she would have been a goner. She's grateful for his help, and strongly attracted to the enigmatic Native American. Even when she finds out that he has his own plans for her father, she sticks with him, knowing she needs all the help she can get to survive. But as the two spend time together, John's need for revenge is blurred by the growing bond between him and Alicia. Would she believe him if he told her the truth about his life? And even if he did, would they be able to have a future together?
The best thing about this book, to me, was the characters. With all the detail and the emotions, they came to life on the page. John wasn't perfect (noman person is) but I really felt for him as I was reading this story. He had such pain in him over what happened to his tribe, and the loneliness he suffered, missing his wife and past life. It was hard not to suffer right alone with him. I liked Alicia, too, but not as much as John.
At times the story is a bit sad and morose because of all that. The prologue is enough to bring a tear or two to your eyes. Then there are flashbacks and nightmares, and John's emotions about what he's been through. It made the book a little depressing at times, but the vibrancy of it all also made the story all the more real.
The suspense plot is on the basic side, but I liked what Sala did with the bad guys actions near the end. That shark thing...*shudder*...very creative. So while this book wasn't very complicated or intense in the area of the suspense plot, it wasn't a big deal because this book was about the story as a whole...the characters, the emotions, the relationship, etc. When it all came together, it made a solid, interesting story that I really enjoyed reading.
Even saying all that good stuff, the book did falter a little bit for me in the second half. Mostly in the relationship aspect, and I think it was because the trust between the two characters was very frail. There was love between them, but the trust wasn't entirely there. As crazy as John's story was, I wished Alicia was a little more open to possibility and showed more belief in him. It was kind of a turn off when she'd think to her self that she didn't care that he was crazy as a loon; she loved him anyway. Even at the end of the book, there's no clear sense of whether Alicia accepts his history. She should, given what's happened, but there's no reconciliation moment on that issue. I really wanted her to tell him she was sorry for doubting him. But the book ended leaving that issue a little up in the air. Which all in all left the relationship angle of the book feeling a little off for me.
Still, this was a very enjoyable book to read. Not surprising, though. Sala knows how to tell a great story. I think I've only read one book by her that I didn't really care for. So liking this one wasn't a surprise, and I think other fans of Sala will enjoy it as well.
The story begins with a prologue that takes place 500 years earlier. Night Walker is a second chief to his tribe, which sits on the Georgia coastline. He knows something bad is coming, he feels it. Then a greedy, heartless explorer arrives and he and his men slaughter the entire tribe, including Night Walker's beloved wife, White Fawn. Night Walker is the only one to survive. In his raging grief, he vows revenge on the man responsible, and the Old Ones oblige. He will live forever in a state of stasis until he is able to kill the soul of the one he hates.
And since that time, Night Walker, who now goes by John Nightwalker, has roamed the earth searching for the reincarnation of the soul he seeks. He's come close, but never been able to kill him. Then one day he rescues a woman in danger and the clenching sickness in his gut tells him she is somehow connected to the evil soul he has to kill.
Alicia Ponte lived a privileged life, but when she finds out her father has been providing arms to terrorist, she runs away, horrified at what she now knows. When her father finds out she knows, he'll do anything to stop her from talking. If it hadn't been for John's rescue, she would have been a goner. She's grateful for his help, and strongly attracted to the enigmatic Native American. Even when she finds out that he has his own plans for her father, she sticks with him, knowing she needs all the help she can get to survive. But as the two spend time together, John's need for revenge is blurred by the growing bond between him and Alicia. Would she believe him if he told her the truth about his life? And even if he did, would they be able to have a future together?
The best thing about this book, to me, was the characters. With all the detail and the emotions, they came to life on the page. John wasn't perfect (no
At times the story is a bit sad and morose because of all that. The prologue is enough to bring a tear or two to your eyes. Then there are flashbacks and nightmares, and John's emotions about what he's been through. It made the book a little depressing at times, but the vibrancy of it all also made the story all the more real.
The suspense plot is on the basic side, but I liked what Sala did with the bad guys actions near the end. That shark thing...*shudder*...very creative. So while this book wasn't very complicated or intense in the area of the suspense plot, it wasn't a big deal because this book was about the story as a whole...the characters, the emotions, the relationship, etc. When it all came together, it made a solid, interesting story that I really enjoyed reading.
Even saying all that good stuff, the book did falter a little bit for me in the second half. Mostly in the relationship aspect, and I think it was because the trust between the two characters was very frail. There was love between them, but the trust wasn't entirely there. As crazy as John's story was, I wished Alicia was a little more open to possibility and showed more belief in him. It was kind of a turn off when she'd think to her self that she didn't care that he was crazy as a loon; she loved him anyway. Even at the end of the book, there's no clear sense of whether Alicia accepts his history. She should, given what's happened, but there's no reconciliation moment on that issue. I really wanted her to tell him she was sorry for doubting him. But the book ended leaving that issue a little up in the air. Which all in all left the relationship angle of the book feeling a little off for me.
Still, this was a very enjoyable book to read. Not surprising, though. Sala knows how to tell a great story. I think I've only read one book by her that I didn't really care for. So liking this one wasn't a surprise, and I think other fans of Sala will enjoy it as well.
June 8, 2010
Very gritty, emotional story.
John Nightwalker is 529 years old. 500 years ago, his entire village was slain by Spanish explorers for little more than a few trinkets and "glory". He was unable to save them but managed to send a few to their destiny before they got away completely. In his rage and despair, he called out to the Old Ones for revenge upon the one who had killed his beloved wife, and they answered. John has been alive since that day in search of the soul who took everything dear to him. That soul has been reborn many times but unless John himself kills the body that soul inhabits, this never ending nightmare continues.
John is the epitome of the tortured hero. He cannot be killed, although he can be gravely injured. He goes through life alone, moving from place to place so that no one discovers his long life or asks questions he can't answer. John knows that he is close to finding the man who embodies the soul of his enemy, because his body feels it when he is near, so he is shocked beyond words when he comes upon a desperate woman on the run who sets off his internal alarms.
Alicia is on the run. She's just discovered that her father is pure evil. Not only is he a traitor to his own country but now he's trying to find her and have her silenced because of what she knows. In her reckless attempt to run, she finds herself in the direct path of John Nightwalker. Alicia isn't the soul John seeks - her father is.
If you can get past the woo woo aspects of the story, this book will keep you on the edge of your seat. Alicia is a vibrant young woman who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and heard something that changed her world forever. John feels like he has been alive forever and only seeks to end this self imposed curse he is living with. He still mourns his wife and family. He is a man out of his time yet a man who has adapted to the time he is in. At first he is using Alicia to get to her father, but the longer they are together, the more bound to her he feels. Their relationship isn't easy.
The story unfolds at a quick pace and I found myself wishing I could read faster. Sharon Sala has a way with words that just flows. 426 pages seemed to fly right by. I highly recommend this book, especially if you're a fan of hers.
John Nightwalker is 529 years old. 500 years ago, his entire village was slain by Spanish explorers for little more than a few trinkets and "glory". He was unable to save them but managed to send a few to their destiny before they got away completely. In his rage and despair, he called out to the Old Ones for revenge upon the one who had killed his beloved wife, and they answered. John has been alive since that day in search of the soul who took everything dear to him. That soul has been reborn many times but unless John himself kills the body that soul inhabits, this never ending nightmare continues.
John is the epitome of the tortured hero. He cannot be killed, although he can be gravely injured. He goes through life alone, moving from place to place so that no one discovers his long life or asks questions he can't answer. John knows that he is close to finding the man who embodies the soul of his enemy, because his body feels it when he is near, so he is shocked beyond words when he comes upon a desperate woman on the run who sets off his internal alarms.
Alicia is on the run. She's just discovered that her father is pure evil. Not only is he a traitor to his own country but now he's trying to find her and have her silenced because of what she knows. In her reckless attempt to run, she finds herself in the direct path of John Nightwalker. Alicia isn't the soul John seeks - her father is.
If you can get past the woo woo aspects of the story, this book will keep you on the edge of your seat. Alicia is a vibrant young woman who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and heard something that changed her world forever. John feels like he has been alive forever and only seeks to end this self imposed curse he is living with. He still mourns his wife and family. He is a man out of his time yet a man who has adapted to the time he is in. At first he is using Alicia to get to her father, but the longer they are together, the more bound to her he feels. Their relationship isn't easy.
The story unfolds at a quick pace and I found myself wishing I could read faster. Sharon Sala has a way with words that just flows. 426 pages seemed to fly right by. I highly recommend this book, especially if you're a fan of hers.
November 27, 2021
An excellent read! I read 2 other books by the author which were good to very good. Although Susan Sala was heavy on the romance in "The Warrior", it was a a very good reading book and compelling. It had its sad moments, action, and had me somewhat glued to the book.
Three quarters through the book, I wondered if perhaps there would be a sequel but the book was written in the early 90's and be doubtful.
The book kept me wondering how it would end, and you had to love both main characters throughout. I am not into the para normal books, but the author handled the issues very well.
Three quarters through the book, I wondered if perhaps there would be a sequel but the book was written in the early 90's and be doubtful.
The book kept me wondering how it would end, and you had to love both main characters throughout. I am not into the para normal books, but the author handled the issues very well.
September 22, 2019
The Warrior
This book kept me holding my breath, waiting for some kind of explanation of the things happening. John Nightwalker makes a great hero and they don't make women any stronger than Alicia.
This book kept me holding my breath, waiting for some kind of explanation of the things happening. John Nightwalker makes a great hero and they don't make women any stronger than Alicia.
April 9, 2009
Granted her last several books have not been up to the famous Sala prose but the critism some so-called Sharon Sala fans have leveled at her infuriates me because they are making it a personal attack on her and a political statement in general. The buzz amongst the Sharon Sala bashers is downright cruel. It started with her book Survivor which she struggled to complete (per her acknowledgement in the book) because she was dealing with losing her soul mate Bobby. I think with his lost a part of her disappeared too; true Sharon Sala / Dinah McCall fans will see that in all her books following Survivor, including this one.
To HECK with the me-minded Sala readers -- abandonning her and spewing spiteful rhetoric will come back to bite them because one of these day's our beloved Ms. Sala will write the book to rival her greatest book of all time "Out of the Dark" and those nay-sayers and want-to-be-critics will miss out because they will be to dense to know it. I refuse to turn my back on this writer and will purchase and read anything she writes be it a romance or a 3 page pdf of her favorite recipes. As she did in her previous books she writes an acknowledgement about Bobby. It is a lovely tribute -- as they all have been, honest and heartfelt. That story is coming and as with all her stories, I'll be smiling all the way to the bookstore to get it.
To HECK with the me-minded Sala readers -- abandonning her and spewing spiteful rhetoric will come back to bite them because one of these day's our beloved Ms. Sala will write the book to rival her greatest book of all time "Out of the Dark" and those nay-sayers and want-to-be-critics will miss out because they will be to dense to know it. I refuse to turn my back on this writer and will purchase and read anything she writes be it a romance or a 3 page pdf of her favorite recipes. As she did in her previous books she writes an acknowledgement about Bobby. It is a lovely tribute -- as they all have been, honest and heartfelt. That story is coming and as with all her stories, I'll be smiling all the way to the bookstore to get it.
December 4, 2009
The Warrior was the first Sharon Sala book I've read. I thoroughly enjoyed it. There were little structural problems that drove me crazy...but all in all the story is fantastic. John Nightwalker is a fantastic Alpha Male and eventually I got so I liked Alicia. The story moves quickly...even with the constant POV changes.
September 22, 2014
I thought this book had a lot of potential that it just never lived up to. I liked the idea of the John being immortal until he shed the blood of the man who killed all his tribe but the relationship the hero and heroine really fell flat for me. I didn't ever see a real connection between them to move that relationship along or make it interesting.
June 23, 2022
Usually I won't even pick up books with paranormal elements, but Sharon Sala handled this well. With few exceptions, the supernatural and magical bits stayed an undercurrent of the story without foolishly overwhelming it.
August 19, 2025
The Warrior is a book I picked up back in March from the Goodwill bins. I can’t thank the person who parted ways with it enough because I absolutely loved this story and am so happy I found the book when I did! Otherwise I doubt I’d have ever known about it. For those eight months it’s been one of many others in my unread stacks of books but I’ve had a hankering to get around to it for some time. The description on the back grabbed my attention enough to get it while at the bins and by the time I was through with the prologue I was properly invested and loving it!
The story starts long ago, over five hundred years ago, in the 1500s on the coast of what’s now known as Georgia. John Nightwalker is looking out over his village of the Ah-ni-yv-wi-ya tribe. For some time he’d been having visions of something going terribly wrong, hence his desire to keep a lookout for anything dangerous on the horizon. That unfortunate day comes at the same time that a storm is moving in. Amidst the barrage of rain and thunder and fierce winds a spaniard with his eye always on the prize, Antonio Vargas, finds the land he’s been looking for for months. The land that is rumored to be filled with riches. Nightwalker is hurrying back to the village from his high lookout, eager to protect his wife, Night Fawn. Some elders approach the men coming up to the beach on their small boats and it doesn’t take long for the visitors to start taking what doesn’t belong to them.
Nightwalker arrives too late. Thanks to the cover of the storm he utilizes his bow and arrow to take down a handful of the invaders. Using their own weapons, he slices and dices enough to strike fear into the captain, Antonio, and he signals for a retreat. Nightwalker wants to finish what he’s started. He wants to avenge those he lost, those who made up the entirety of his village, those he’s loved and always known. He reaches out to the Old Ones, the elders of the tribe who have long passed, with sky stones and finds himself struck with the newfound power of immortality. Antonio is in awe of what he’s seeing, especially after a bullet that should’ve entered Nightwalker chest bounces off as if it were a droplet of rain.
Antonio is eager to appear in command and control despite having signaled to retreat while in the village. His crewmen don’t take too kindly to seeing weakness from their captain so they take over and send him to the bottom of the ocean. This leads Nightwalker to walk the land of the living for century after century, looking for the soul of the man who took his wife’s life, in order to finish what he started. This entire bit of the story was the prologue. Just the prologue!! I found myself so engrossed and pulled into the story during this horrific and action filled twenty pages that I knew this was a story I was going to thoroughly enjoy and it came as no surprise at all just how quickly I flew through the rest of it!
We fast forward to the present, roughly 2009, where a five hundred year old John Nightwalker is still living in Georgia in a home built on the same land close to where his village used to be. Right next to the ocean with the beautiful sky and winds that flow through his house. John is at a bank in Savannah when things go wrong. A man attempts a robbery but the teller he passed his note to fainted, alerting others to what he’s trying to do. Shooting ensues, a bullet flies through John’s chest, and there are at least a dozen witnesses to the spectacle. The bank manager and a detective are in awe at how John’s through and through bullet wound managed to heal and close up in no time at all.
In the prologue the Old Ones explained to John that his life would be sustained until his target, his wife’s murderer, is brought to justice. We learn that over the years John has seen many battles, from civil to world wars, and other conflicts that took him around the world, mainly with the intent of following the internal feeling of an ache in his body that the man he is after has been reincarnated, his soul placed in someone else who he must destroy.
At this point in the story we’re introduced to Alicia Ponte, our other main character. She is the daughter of the western hemispheres largest arms manufacturer, a man named Richard Ponte. She overhears a discussion between her father and his business partner, Jacob Carruthers, and is put into a state of shock due to what she’s hearing. It turns out that her father has been supplying arms to both sides of the Iraq war. Knowing she has to expose her father in one way or another, she flees.
A couple days later she finds herself in the small town of Justice, Georgia, to get gas at the same time John Nightwalker is filling up his vehicle. Upon seeing Alicia he gets that feeling in his gut. That feeling that’s been leading him around the world for centuries. He wonders if she might be harboring the soul he is after, but soon realizes that she is simply connected to the man he is after. Attempting to use her to get to him, he helps her fend off the man Richard, her father, sent after her to bring her back home in an attempt to keep her quiet about what she knows.
All this time the story is moving at a fantastic pace. As it progresses it’s not quite as action filled as the prologue managed to be but there are some fantastic moments where bursts of action manage to show off what John is capable of to keep himself and who he cares about safe. After a good burst of action that takes place at John’s Georgia home he realizes that they need to leave for another one of his homes located in the outskirts of Sedona, Arizona. But before making their way west they head north to D.C. to rendezvous with a good friend of John’s, Corbin Woodliff. He’s a reporter who previously won the Pulitzer Prize for his fantastic work in the world of journalism. John knows that if there’s someone out there who can break this story to the world, all while trusting in Alicia’s word of what she heard, it’s him.
Character wise I love that there aren’t too many introduced to where it gets to be tough to keep track. Around the halfway point we have John Nightwalker, Alicia Ponte, Richard Ponte, Jacob Carruthers, Corbin Woodliff, Dieter Bahn, Richard’s right hand man doing his dirty work, and I think that’s about it if I’m remembering correctly. A handful of other standout characters are introduced, such as a sweet lady in Justice, Georgia, who owns the gas station where John and Alicia met, but their presence is short-lived, though pertinent to the story.
After John and Alicia meet with Corbin and manage to dodge a hitman at a hotel they make their way out to Arizona. For a spell we step away from the John and Alicia POVs to focus on Corbin and the detectives he’s working with to break this story wide open. The progression at this point for the story was flawless and fantastic and expertly done by Sharon Sala!! My interest and investment was still just as high as it was at the beginning. I also loved how Sharon frequently managed to jump from one persons POV to another simply with the next paragraph. I can’t recall any other book I’ve read recently in which that sort of thing is done but it worked perfectly in this story!
While in Arizona John struggles with what and what not to tell Alicia about how his immortality came to be and his history. He’s never told anyone about his entire past and life up until this point in time. Whether they were just talking in the kitchen when Alicia was attempting to cook for the first time or growing closer intimately it was still a great way to develop these characters more. Also, I should’ve known given my streak so far of entering this fictional romance realm but I didn’t realize that this book was in that genre! It didn’t at all take away from my enjoyment of the story though! Like I said, it simply helped as far as the character development went.
While in hiding our antagonist, Richard Ponte, with a soul that’s centuries old manages to leave the country and is on the run. His plan to escape and change his identity was pretty freaking smart and as the story progressed I had to laugh thinking about all the traveling the characters manage to do, only to end up close to one another in act three.
I loved how much the past managed to visit John and, in time, Alicia, and even Richard through visions in their dreams. The way these three characters found themselves to be connected by things that happened in the past, and their past lives, in Richards case, was awesome. The way Richard’s soul was betrayed over the course of time while in other bodies, just like how his crew took over in the prologue and betrayed him behind his back, was a great theme to see repeated over the course of his souls past!
When I reached the halfway point I honestly didn’t have a clue what to expect for the back half of the story. I expected what happened around page two hundred to be what would have happened around page four hundred. But with the proper trust in the author and her storytelling it continued to flow brilliantly. Act three was incredibly satisfying and the climax was perfect for the story! I also loved the fact that there was an epilogue. For a story like this and with how the last chapter ended, it was the best way to end the story.
Sharon Sala, you have a new fan!! I had a lot of fun with this story! It was vibrant and came across as close to real as it could get in my imagination. Certain moments, such as descriptions of houses and buildings, weren’t overly detailed like it was in one book I attempted to read a while back. Sometimes less is more when helping the reader paint a picture in their heads. Lay the groundwork and let the characters and actions of what’s happening with the story do the rest. While this story is definitely a standalone, I’d love to see these characters again. Shows how much I loved this story! Thank you for the great read, Sharon!!
The story starts long ago, over five hundred years ago, in the 1500s on the coast of what’s now known as Georgia. John Nightwalker is looking out over his village of the Ah-ni-yv-wi-ya tribe. For some time he’d been having visions of something going terribly wrong, hence his desire to keep a lookout for anything dangerous on the horizon. That unfortunate day comes at the same time that a storm is moving in. Amidst the barrage of rain and thunder and fierce winds a spaniard with his eye always on the prize, Antonio Vargas, finds the land he’s been looking for for months. The land that is rumored to be filled with riches. Nightwalker is hurrying back to the village from his high lookout, eager to protect his wife, Night Fawn. Some elders approach the men coming up to the beach on their small boats and it doesn’t take long for the visitors to start taking what doesn’t belong to them.
Nightwalker arrives too late. Thanks to the cover of the storm he utilizes his bow and arrow to take down a handful of the invaders. Using their own weapons, he slices and dices enough to strike fear into the captain, Antonio, and he signals for a retreat. Nightwalker wants to finish what he’s started. He wants to avenge those he lost, those who made up the entirety of his village, those he’s loved and always known. He reaches out to the Old Ones, the elders of the tribe who have long passed, with sky stones and finds himself struck with the newfound power of immortality. Antonio is in awe of what he’s seeing, especially after a bullet that should’ve entered Nightwalker chest bounces off as if it were a droplet of rain.
Antonio is eager to appear in command and control despite having signaled to retreat while in the village. His crewmen don’t take too kindly to seeing weakness from their captain so they take over and send him to the bottom of the ocean. This leads Nightwalker to walk the land of the living for century after century, looking for the soul of the man who took his wife’s life, in order to finish what he started. This entire bit of the story was the prologue. Just the prologue!! I found myself so engrossed and pulled into the story during this horrific and action filled twenty pages that I knew this was a story I was going to thoroughly enjoy and it came as no surprise at all just how quickly I flew through the rest of it!
We fast forward to the present, roughly 2009, where a five hundred year old John Nightwalker is still living in Georgia in a home built on the same land close to where his village used to be. Right next to the ocean with the beautiful sky and winds that flow through his house. John is at a bank in Savannah when things go wrong. A man attempts a robbery but the teller he passed his note to fainted, alerting others to what he’s trying to do. Shooting ensues, a bullet flies through John’s chest, and there are at least a dozen witnesses to the spectacle. The bank manager and a detective are in awe at how John’s through and through bullet wound managed to heal and close up in no time at all.
In the prologue the Old Ones explained to John that his life would be sustained until his target, his wife’s murderer, is brought to justice. We learn that over the years John has seen many battles, from civil to world wars, and other conflicts that took him around the world, mainly with the intent of following the internal feeling of an ache in his body that the man he is after has been reincarnated, his soul placed in someone else who he must destroy.
At this point in the story we’re introduced to Alicia Ponte, our other main character. She is the daughter of the western hemispheres largest arms manufacturer, a man named Richard Ponte. She overhears a discussion between her father and his business partner, Jacob Carruthers, and is put into a state of shock due to what she’s hearing. It turns out that her father has been supplying arms to both sides of the Iraq war. Knowing she has to expose her father in one way or another, she flees.
A couple days later she finds herself in the small town of Justice, Georgia, to get gas at the same time John Nightwalker is filling up his vehicle. Upon seeing Alicia he gets that feeling in his gut. That feeling that’s been leading him around the world for centuries. He wonders if she might be harboring the soul he is after, but soon realizes that she is simply connected to the man he is after. Attempting to use her to get to him, he helps her fend off the man Richard, her father, sent after her to bring her back home in an attempt to keep her quiet about what she knows.
All this time the story is moving at a fantastic pace. As it progresses it’s not quite as action filled as the prologue managed to be but there are some fantastic moments where bursts of action manage to show off what John is capable of to keep himself and who he cares about safe. After a good burst of action that takes place at John’s Georgia home he realizes that they need to leave for another one of his homes located in the outskirts of Sedona, Arizona. But before making their way west they head north to D.C. to rendezvous with a good friend of John’s, Corbin Woodliff. He’s a reporter who previously won the Pulitzer Prize for his fantastic work in the world of journalism. John knows that if there’s someone out there who can break this story to the world, all while trusting in Alicia’s word of what she heard, it’s him.
Character wise I love that there aren’t too many introduced to where it gets to be tough to keep track. Around the halfway point we have John Nightwalker, Alicia Ponte, Richard Ponte, Jacob Carruthers, Corbin Woodliff, Dieter Bahn, Richard’s right hand man doing his dirty work, and I think that’s about it if I’m remembering correctly. A handful of other standout characters are introduced, such as a sweet lady in Justice, Georgia, who owns the gas station where John and Alicia met, but their presence is short-lived, though pertinent to the story.
After John and Alicia meet with Corbin and manage to dodge a hitman at a hotel they make their way out to Arizona. For a spell we step away from the John and Alicia POVs to focus on Corbin and the detectives he’s working with to break this story wide open. The progression at this point for the story was flawless and fantastic and expertly done by Sharon Sala!! My interest and investment was still just as high as it was at the beginning. I also loved how Sharon frequently managed to jump from one persons POV to another simply with the next paragraph. I can’t recall any other book I’ve read recently in which that sort of thing is done but it worked perfectly in this story!
While in Arizona John struggles with what and what not to tell Alicia about how his immortality came to be and his history. He’s never told anyone about his entire past and life up until this point in time. Whether they were just talking in the kitchen when Alicia was attempting to cook for the first time or growing closer intimately it was still a great way to develop these characters more. Also, I should’ve known given my streak so far of entering this fictional romance realm but I didn’t realize that this book was in that genre! It didn’t at all take away from my enjoyment of the story though! Like I said, it simply helped as far as the character development went.
While in hiding our antagonist, Richard Ponte, with a soul that’s centuries old manages to leave the country and is on the run. His plan to escape and change his identity was pretty freaking smart and as the story progressed I had to laugh thinking about all the traveling the characters manage to do, only to end up close to one another in act three.
I loved how much the past managed to visit John and, in time, Alicia, and even Richard through visions in their dreams. The way these three characters found themselves to be connected by things that happened in the past, and their past lives, in Richards case, was awesome. The way Richard’s soul was betrayed over the course of time while in other bodies, just like how his crew took over in the prologue and betrayed him behind his back, was a great theme to see repeated over the course of his souls past!
When I reached the halfway point I honestly didn’t have a clue what to expect for the back half of the story. I expected what happened around page two hundred to be what would have happened around page four hundred. But with the proper trust in the author and her storytelling it continued to flow brilliantly. Act three was incredibly satisfying and the climax was perfect for the story! I also loved the fact that there was an epilogue. For a story like this and with how the last chapter ended, it was the best way to end the story.
Sharon Sala, you have a new fan!! I had a lot of fun with this story! It was vibrant and came across as close to real as it could get in my imagination. Certain moments, such as descriptions of houses and buildings, weren’t overly detailed like it was in one book I attempted to read a while back. Sometimes less is more when helping the reader paint a picture in their heads. Lay the groundwork and let the characters and actions of what’s happening with the story do the rest. While this story is definitely a standalone, I’d love to see these characters again. Shows how much I loved this story! Thank you for the great read, Sharon!!
August 27, 2023
This story opens with a horrific, unspeakable event when a greedy Spaniard wipes out John Nightwalker's entire tribe. To add salt to the wound, he witnesses the Spaniard slicing his wife, White Fawn's throat. The anger and the need for revenge are so intense that he begs in his native tongue to the Old Ones to be allowed to seek justice and end the Spaniard's life, to make him pay for taking his beloved White Fawn from him. From there, the story moves forward into modern-day times. John Nightwalker is now over 500 years old. He has spent lifetimes traveling the world seeking the Spaniard each time he reincarnates into a new human body, only to arrive too late. But now there's another chance. Only this time, there is a woman who he must protect.
This story unfolds in a gripping, suspenseful way, with the odds stacked against Nightwalker and Alicia, as Alicia's father is now the Spaniard reincarnated. And he's determined to end his daughter's life for what he perceives as the ultimate betrayal.
The story is told in multiple POVs and gives the reader the inside thoughts of each character. At times I found that slightly off-putting, but I couldn't stop reading. I had to know how this would all play out and how revenge would finally be completed and put to rest. This is a very different storyline from anything I've ever read, and I loved all the Native American and paranormal aspects and the high-stakes suspense. Ms. Sala knows how to weave a tale that keeps the reader engaged. If you love a romance with a compelling plot, you will devour this book as I did!
This story unfolds in a gripping, suspenseful way, with the odds stacked against Nightwalker and Alicia, as Alicia's father is now the Spaniard reincarnated. And he's determined to end his daughter's life for what he perceives as the ultimate betrayal.
The story is told in multiple POVs and gives the reader the inside thoughts of each character. At times I found that slightly off-putting, but I couldn't stop reading. I had to know how this would all play out and how revenge would finally be completed and put to rest. This is a very different storyline from anything I've ever read, and I loved all the Native American and paranormal aspects and the high-stakes suspense. Ms. Sala knows how to weave a tale that keeps the reader engaged. If you love a romance with a compelling plot, you will devour this book as I did!
July 20, 2022
There is a bit of the paranormal here as John Nightwalker is Native American who lives to avenge the massacre of his tribe and his wife 500 years ago. Yep, that's right. Enter our heroine, Alicia, whose father is the reincarnation of the leader of that massacre. We do get the father's point of view, but most of the story is from Alicia's and John's viewpoint. The two travel from Washington D.C., Georgia, and Sedona by helicopter (really, can a helicopter fly that far?) to thwart her father and bring him to justice.
Nightwalker is larger than life, while Alicia is not as fully-fleshed, but the story is absorbing.
Nightwalker is larger than life, while Alicia is not as fully-fleshed, but the story is absorbing.
May 7, 2025
I don't know if this author is the one for me. Some of the plot was intriguing, where the father wanted to kill the daughter but that's about where it stops for me. What I didn't believe wholeheartedly was the romance aspect. Maybe because it happened so soon with really no build up. I can't really say how long the book takes place in... a week perhaps? Not enough time in my opinion.
January 31, 2022
Excellent
Love all your books, unable to put down once I start to read. I discovered you about 3 years ago and since then I have read more than 25 plus all 12 of the Blessings, Georgia series.
Love all your books, unable to put down once I start to read. I discovered you about 3 years ago and since then I have read more than 25 plus all 12 of the Blessings, Georgia series.
April 9, 2022
Always enjoyable
Always enjoyable. Good story, This one, tho, the formatting is akward. It will change perspective without warning & I had to back up to figure out why that paragraph did make sense almost every time.
Always enjoyable. Good story, This one, tho, the formatting is akward. It will change perspective without warning & I had to back up to figure out why that paragraph did make sense almost every time.
October 21, 2022
Wonderful Timeless Love Story
The Warrior is a wonderful timeless love story. A love to last throughout the ages into eternity. I would say that this is one of Sharon Sala's best stories.
The Warrior is a wonderful timeless love story. A love to last throughout the ages into eternity. I would say that this is one of Sharon Sala's best stories.
May 2, 2024
I’m in a book slump for some reason. This book had some good exciting parts and some slow parts as well. I did make myself finish it and did like happy ending. I liked the main characters but wasn’t just super invested in the story or characters.
July 6, 2017
John saw his people massacred by the Spaniards,swore revenge. Then he meets her.Alicia
September 2, 2018
Wonderful
I absolutely loved reading this one. A well written time travelling romance. I can't wait to read more by this author
I absolutely loved reading this one. A well written time travelling romance. I can't wait to read more by this author
April 2, 2019
THE WARRIOR
My favorite author, every one of her books I will reread at some time- some I already have. Love the strong characters- both John and Alicia - and the paranormal aspect.
My favorite author, every one of her books I will reread at some time- some I already have. Love the strong characters- both John and Alicia - and the paranormal aspect.
December 16, 2019
Absolutely loved it! It is enthralling to the point I ended up reading it cover to cover.
April 22, 2021
The Warrior
I am in love with the character that played hero, and the woman who was Alicia. They were trying to escape her father, Richard. Kit Ryan
I am in love with the character that played hero, and the woman who was Alicia. They were trying to escape her father, Richard. Kit Ryan
June 29, 2021
A supernatural crime story and romance combined. A summer type of light and exciting novel, unfortunately this time far too exalted for my taste.
October 24, 2021
The warrior
I loved this book. The magic of being lost in a story. The imagination and reality of the characters and the ending are the be.
I loved this book. The magic of being lost in a story. The imagination and reality of the characters and the ending are the be.
November 6, 2021
Pretty good!
I love strong leads, both women and men. They fought a lot, but the attraction was easy to see. And it ended well. I do love Sharon Sala.
I love strong leads, both women and men. They fought a lot, but the attraction was easy to see. And it ended well. I do love Sharon Sala.
February 26, 2022
Fantastic
I read At least 2 books a week. Best book ever in a long time. I want more books like this. !!!
I read At least 2 books a week. Best book ever in a long time. I want more books like this. !!!
March 2, 2022
As a fan of supernatural elements, I enjoy this story. Although there was more plot twist at the end, I was still glad to see a happy ending :)
August 25, 2022
Interesting idea but, meh. Struggled with the whole reincarnated souls waiting to finish each other.
September 17, 2022
Some paranormal, reincarnation, romance and a great story. Sharon Sala always writes a good one.
February 20, 2024
As always, an excellent read I couldn't put down. Sharon Sala never disappoints.
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