"The Shock of Night" Book Review

I first became acquainted with Patrick W. Carr's writing when I read "The Staff and the Stone" trilogy. Actually, I was given the third book in the series to review and it was so good, I ordered book one and two. Then, after reading one and two I did something I hardly ever do; I reread book three. With all honesty, I would call Mr. Carr this generation's C.S.Lewis. His writing is superb and the plots are incredible. What a mind!

With that bit of history, you can imagine why I was super excited to be offered the chance to review his latest book, "The Shock of Night" which is book one of the Darkwater Saga.

"The Shock of Night" was quite reminiscent of "The Staff and the Stone" trilogy. Medieval fantasy meets adventure meets underlying Christian themes. Great stuff. Love this genre. Again, the plot was like nothing I'd ever read before. There were even times when the book became so real that I was afraid I wouldn't be able to sleep.

On the flip side, where this book falls a little short of being perfect is in the author's overly melodious style of writing. It was just a bit too much. And I understand the use of a few old English words to lend a story a medieval flare but, again, it was a bit much. If I have to start to guess at what you're getting at, perhaps its time to tone it down a smidge.

Speaking of too much, even in the last few chapters, it felt like the author assumed I knew things I did not. It was almost as thought this was book two instead of book one in the series. Who is this character and why is everyone speaking of him as though I know the back story? Since reading it, I have learned there is a free digital prequel novella that can be accessed from many websites online. I'm assuming that it's recommended you read that first. I believe it's called "By Divine Right".

While this book isn't quite as excellent as "The Staff and the Stone" trilogy, I still thoroughly enjoyed it. Mr. Carr has been blessed with an incredible imagination that he skillfully transfers onto paper. The moods and timing of the book is impeccable and, like I said before, the plot is fantastic.

I was given a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange  for an honest opinion.