Alan's "Whatever" Blog

Once a long time ago a village, in what is now known as Ireland, came under attack by a neighboring village.  They killed most of the young men, and kidnapping most of young women as slaves.  So the village elders got together and made a deal with the Celtic god of the underworld, Sanheim.  They agreed to sacrifice a young man and woman, they tied the couple to a tree and left them for Sanheim.  The next day the couple came back to the village, while they looked the same, they had definitely been changed from their experience.  The couple then went to the neighboring village, killed everyone, and brought the kidnapped women back home.  As legend has it, if the right two people, a man and woman, can face the trials of Sanheim and pass they will be blessed with powers not of this world.

This is the legend that underlines this book, which is pretty cool too because it is based off of different Celtic folklore.(I linked a webpage at the bottom where I found some info on Sanheim, it was pretty interesting.)  

The book follows two newspaper reporters hunting a serial killer who is making a reemergence after a 12 year hiatus.  It is told in a 3rd person format from many different POV's, but mainly it follows either Quinn and Kate, the hero and heroine.  Quinn works as beat reporter for a failing local newspaper.  He is, also having nightmares in which he is running away from a shadowy horseman, and the nightmares only occur during the month of October.

Kate, in my opinion, is the more interesting character, she has more depth and background.  I can't get into it too much without giving away the story, but she is coming back to her childhood home after having moved away under suspicious circumstances.  She is also a reporter, and has just started working for the same paper as Quinn.  Quinn first sees her in a coffee shop and is instantly drawn to her, while Kate's attraction to Quinn takes a little more time to unfold, even though she feels that there's some sort of connection between them.

On a whole I really enjoyed this book, it follows the same basic rules as any good serial killer mystery, but then throws some paranormal in just to make it fun.  As with most books the serial killer is made out to be invincible and is always one step ahead of the heroes, all the while taunting them with little notes he leaves behind.  The only problem I had with this book was how the killer seemed too invincible.  I felt the killer was able to get into places unseen and unheard that would not be humanly possible if it weren't written in a book.  

Even with that little problem I still really liked the book.  With many thrilling suspenseful scenes, a few touching heartfelt scenes, and even a little comedy relief you really can't go wrong if your a fan of either the paranormal or thriller genres.