Monday, August 22, 2011

The World Among Us (Prince of Darkness #1)


The World Among Us (Prince of Darkness #1)
By: Beth Ann Masarik
ISBN:  9781936593163
Published August 19, 2011 by Otherworld Publications, L.L.C.
Available Format:  Hardcover, Paperback, ebook

My Rating:  ★★★★☆

Well, whataya know, Hades wants to take over the world.  He’ll even go so far as to manipulate his own son, Damien, to help carry out his dastardly plan.  Damien is left with no choice but to murder Selene, the goddess of the moon—his forbidden soul mate.  Selene, however, is to be reincarnated and Damien makes it his mission to protect her and make sure his father doesn’t harm her ever again.  Both god and demon alike are banded together to safeguard Selene, but war is still brewing.  Can the shadows of evil be defeated, and who will survive to find out?

Overall, I really enjoyed this story.  I love anything to do with mythology, and I always love when an author gives a clever, modern twist to anything ancient!  That’s exactly what we have here.  Not only is there the obvious mythology influence, but even a little Romeo and Juliet is woven into the story.  There’s the good guys and the bad guys, and in the middle is the boy and girl in love.  Of course, it isn’t that simple; it never really is. 

There were times that I felt a little bogged down. There are a ton of characters involved in the story, and occasionally I found myself a bit overwhelmed and confused. I also think there were a couple minor errors regarding timeline and such. Since the author had to jump ahead a couple times in Selene’s life, I was left with a few questions. For instance, when she moves ahead fourteen years, we’ve just left Nike and Anteros discussing Selene’s protection with Ares.  It appeared when she was just a baby they were to go to her and watch over her, but then fourteen years later they suddenly show up.  Who watched out for her all those years in between? 

Those things are really minor issues in the larger story (and it is entirely possible that it is a reader error, since I did a lot of late night reading!).  It truly is a creative and interesting take on the world of gods and demons!  The main characters all have great chemistry together, and even unruly DuVessa is a joy to read. I’m definitely a fan, and I’m looking forward to Beth Ann’s future work.  I absolutely encourage everyone to grab a copy of The World Among Us and enjoy your trip to hell and back!

Beth Ann Masarik will be the guest author on JournalStone’s Blog Talk Radio show, JournalJabber, cohosted by yours truly, this Tuesday, August 23, 2011 at 8PM CST.  Please drop by http://www.blogtalkradio.com/journaljabber and join in the fun!

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