4 Stars
Action/Adventure/Suspense
Adult
This book was given to me by a family friend. I had not heard of this particular author beforehand. Before I get into the review, I will advise any of my readers that this book contains a lot of graphic violence and graphic sex scenes. I would label the sex scenes as erotic (by my own definition) in nature. I would not go so far as to call them porno/smut. I did not know that going in. I would not have read it knowing that.
The main characters are Rebecca Benbrook: young, beautiful, intelligent, and responsible beyond her years; however, when it comes to men, she’s naive and stupid. Penrod Balantyne: young soldier, courageous, dashing, handsome, but he’s a man-whore. Emir Osman Atalan: the main villain, courageous, handsome, intelligent, absolutely ruthless. There are four more characters of slightly lesser importance that I will mention. Ryder Courtney: a merchant, courageous, handsome, intelligent, rich, but a little bit boring. The twins Saffron and Amber Benbrook are younger sisters. They mature through the course of the book. Finally, the Mahdi: a religious leader who unites the warring tribes of Sudan in rebellion. There are many other important characters throughout the book, but everything revolves around the ones I’ve mentioned.
The book begins with the siege of Khartoum in 1884 and flows from there. This book is very well written. The descriptions were excellent, although in a few places near the beginning, I felt they dragged a bit. Maybe I’m just an impatient reader, but I did have to fight the urge to skip ahead through some of it. After one of the sex scenes, I wasn’t far from putting it down and not picking it back up. Everything you would expect in a well-written novel was there, though. The characters were complex and, for the most part, believable. The action scenes were riveting. There was foreshadowing, symbolism, and parallels, and it all made sense. I found the climax a little predictable, but the ending was satisfying. My star deduction in the rating is based on the writing itself, not the graphic depictions that some may disapprove of. Some people enjoy that in a book.
One small thing baffles me. There is a minor character toward the end of the book that is a part of a family where all the men are handsome and the women beautiful, but for some reason, it’s pointed out a couple of times that he is butt-ugly. It stood out so starkly, and I’m not sure why the author did that.
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