Synopsis

They came to earth—Pestilence, War, Famine, Death—four horsemen riding their screaming steeds, racing to the corners of the world. Four horsemen with the power to destroy all of humanity. They came to earth, and they came to end us all. When Pestilence comes for Sara Burn’s town, one thing is certain: everyone she knows and loves is marked for death. Unless, of course, the angelic-looking horseman is stopped, which is exactly what Sara has in mind when she shoots the unholy beast off his steed.Too bad no one told her Pestilence can’t be killed.

Now the horseman, very much alive and very pissed off, has taken her prisoner, and he’s eager to make her suffer. Only, the longer she’s with him, the more uncertain she is about his true feelings towards her … and hers towards him.

And now, well, Sara might still be able to save the world, but in order to do so, she’ll have to sacrifice her heart in the process.

Review

5 surprising stars

First sign this book would be exceptional: my friend Raven from @eradingaddiction gave it a very good review. So far I’ve noticed that I loved all the books she has recommended.

Second sign: I was unable to put it down. Even when unexpected ARCs landed on my Kindle and I had a total of 7 days to read 4 ARCs did I not stop reading before reaching the end.

Third sign: it surprised me! I did not expect this happening in our modern world! I thought it would happen in Antiquity ( mind you the Four Horsemen are a belief from the Bible!).

Then I had no idea Laura Thalassa would make me like Pestilence and see all his character’s development whereas he still killed innocent people and kids. I should have hated him yet I didn’t!

This story is the perfect blend of action and character driven story!

Pestilence and Sara will travel throughout the US to bring death. You’ll have ambushes, killing, escapes …. But the pace was not too fast. Just right to leave room for the character’s growth and let us really get to know them, understand their conflicts, their dilemna and root for “the bad guy” once you see behind the facade.

I think the biggest asset of this book is how Laura gave life to Pestilence. She stayed true to his nature and purpose and yet made him grow and see past his preconceived notions about hateful humans.

Pestilence might kill millions of people he does not enjoy killing them.
And that makes a huge difference between a man and a monster.
I loved how Laura Thalassa made him speak so formal. How he could be naive and innocent in human’s ways yet incredibly smart and lucid at the same time. He was timeless.

I had no idea how she would twist the story without turning Pestilence into a sappy mockery of his true self by the end yet she did it masterfuly!

He was the formidable detached horseman raining down plague on earth.

How a mere mortal could change him was beyond belief. Yet Sara achieved the unconceivable. But it did not happen how I expected.
Pestilence did not bow from one day to the other. He still brought death.

When Pestilence went after her he tortured Sara. No insta love here and for that I am grateful and in awe of Laura Thalassa.

It was a slow growth and so much more realistic.

Their banter was …epic! Sara had sass and spunk. Together they created fireworks.

I loved Sara.
Sara was the perfect match for Pestilence. When she tried to kill him she did it hating it!

She was his negative.

A firefighter through and through she was trained to help. Not destroy.

I liked her strenght, both physical and moral. Her view of the female population.

“A woman should not be oddly pleasing. She should be a ball-busting, skull-crushing, badass motherfucker who is impossible to forget.”

I liked her love for poetry and classic literature. Her compassion. Her courage. Her conflicts.

How can you like or even love a being sent to destroy your world?
How can you get to know and pity him yet hate what he is doing?
How can you protect him hurt for him yet stay true to your race?

For two days I was enthralled by this romantic, horrific yet fascinating story.

Laura Thalassa is a new to me author that I recommend wholeheartedly. This won’t be my last book from her!

Now I would introduce an interesting but sad fact about this book and its cover.

I fell in love with the cover. So much that I chose to buy the paperback rather than the ebook.

Some days ago, Laura Thalassa published a post on her FB page followed by a video explaining how her cover designer at that time had used a copy righted image and added the face of a famous actor. She did not know of this all as she trusted the cover designer.

You can find her post and video here.

Once more it brings to the light that copy rights are essentials. This is the first thing Talia @RedHotInk, my Fairy Godmother who helped me master Photoshop told me. Always check the usage rights of every picture you intend to use either in a teaser or to make a book cover (what she does beutifully).

All the pictures that I use for my teasers and featured images either come from Pixabay, Unsplash, Pexels …free of rights, either come from Google (unusual) with my search aiming for the key words “labelled for reuse” or “free for non commerical reuse”.

So be careful with your pictures because it’s not worth it!

Now I will keep my book and maybe buy the new cover as well (collector maybe?).

Have you read this book? Loved it? Are you careful with the pictures you use on your blog?

Thanks for reading!

Happy Monday!

Sophie