February 2023 Reviews – Baskerville Book Reviews

Review: Rise of the Sparrows

A cursed omen who dreams of death. A girl who calls fire with a wish. A group of resistance fighters who need the king to die.

Prophecy has brought them together, but will it destroy them too?

Rachael is no stranger to struggle: her parents abandoned her when she was five, she is homeless, and the villagers avoid her because they fear her prophetic dreams. Rachael is okay with that—if they leave her alone, they won’t harm her, and she can look after herself. But then she meets Cephy, and Cephy isn’t used to being away from her mother’s warmth.

When her father beats Cephy again, she burns the house and her family down with her magic. The scared villagers call on the White Guard to take them away and execute them, but neither girl is ready to die. Together, they escape into a world they know nothing about… towards a Mist Woman with dark plans and a resistance plotting regicide.

Rachael wants only to live in peace, but the resistance needs her, and it promises a better tomorrow for all magically gifted. It’s everything Rachael wants and more…
But is she prepared to commit the ultimate crime and claim the throne to get it?

If you like plot twists, kickass heroines, and dark destructive magic, then you’ll love the first instalment in this page-turning epic fantasy trilogy.

Review: Chronicles of Maradoum Volume 4

Gods and dogs. Apes, bandits, and cat-people. Wyverns and were-beasts. Arcane arts and assassins. Carnage and mayhem.

Travel back to the enigmatic realm of Maradoum with the fourth Chronicles, set in the same world as the Convent series, beginning with A Dead Wizard’s Dream.

From the forbidden forests in the downtrodden land of Paeu to the strange and secretive folk high in the Kutzian mountains, from the cracked black wastes of Zamphia to the lush jungle of Shala’Hyddin, please enjoy this collection of zestful and zany sword and sorcery short stories collected in one volume for your entertainment, including but not limited to battles with supernatural forces, zealots’ raids, succouring spirits, and tales of star-crossed love and togetherness.

Featured in Chronicles of Maradoum Volume 4:

“Nightingales”
“Dogs of War”
“Curse of the Sidhe”
“The Pygmy and the Bandits”
“Prophet’s Blade”
“Morkri and the Mouser”
“The Sorcerer’s Tower and the Were-Beasts”
“Dragon Stance”
“Shadows of the Damned”
“Kappas and Drowned Lizards”
“Undead Monkeys”

Review: Hound of the Baskervilles

Acclaimed author Adam McOmber offers listeners an erotic and subversive reimagining of one of literature’s most thrilling tales, Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Dr. Watson arrives alone on the moors of the Baskerville estate to help solve the mystery of its scion’s grim death and the murder’s connection to the spectral hound that plagues the ancestral home. Watson’s understanding of his own history and queer desires is sorely tested when he discovers Baskerville Hall is rife with stimulation and horror. As this supernatural mystery unfolds and reality begins to bend and break, he must work against the clock to discover the truth and prevent whatever beast roams the grounds from claiming future victims.

Magic Betrayed

They say it took 100 magical beings to defeat the first Arcanist. Great care was taken to ensure the secret to his malevolent power died with him. Now the brutal reign of the Arcanist has become little more than a scary bedtime story. And yet, the descendants of his loyal followers are sworn to find a way to bestow his dark magic upon another. If they succeed, they’ll unleash a new terror upon an unsuspecting world.

Now, magics are vanishing without a trace. It’s up to Jen Maddox, a young witch working for the Magical Enforcement and Secrecy Agency, to find out why. Jen soon learns that those responsible for the disappearances will do whatever it takes to stop her investigation…including using an ancient, forbidden magic. With each clue uncovered the mystery grows, pointing towards one unthinkable scenario – an Arcanist is once again rising.

Magic Betrayed is Book One in the Urban Fantasy series, Rise of the Arcanist, featuring witches, vampires, werewolves, and more. It is a new adult spin-off of USA Today best-selling author Elizabeth Kirke’s award-winning More than Magic series. If you like your magic mixed with a little mystery and sweet romance, dive into your copy today.

Review: Devil’s Night

Bear witness to the ghosts and dark gods of Motor City, revealed by the light of a fiery cityscape. It’s the night before Halloween and Detroit is burning in a celebration of arson and vandalism.

Devil’s Night is a unique collection of interconnected urban horror stories taking you back to October 30th, 1987. Drawing inspiration from Michigan legends such as the Nain Rouge and the Hobo Pig Lady, Lawson weaves a rich and haunting tapestry of terror and tragedy. Inside these chapters, you will find cursed vinyl records, inner-city druids, diabolical priests, and slim slivers of hope. Devil’s Night burns with Curtis M. Lawson’s signature brand of supernatural dread. This is smart psychological horror, ablaze with visceral imagery, with equal measures of heart and heartache.

Review: Heliotrope

Teleo is a retired soldier descended from Mages, who were cast out of power generations ago. After years of war and sorrow, he wants nothing more than to live a quiet life on his farm and work his stonemason’s craft.

His wife and daughter had been murdered during a war raid several years earlier and his young son stolen by the enemy side. He spent years unsuccessfully searching for his son and returned home broken-hearted. At the local castle, he comes upon a war orphan stolen by his side from the enemy and rescues him from abuse, adopting him as his foster son.

Teleo is working as a mason at the castle when he finds himself in the middle of a coup. This launches a journey to protect his new family, uncover the secrets of the ancient ways, and reclaim the magic of the Mages.