I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The survivors of the Great Calamity, must reside under the Electric Tesla Dome or suffer an agonising death from the poisonous gas that permeates the air after earthquakes tore the earth ten years ago.
Charlotte Blackburn lives a life of wealth and privileged, socialising with the elite. Long enamoured with the adventures of her father she longs for one of her one. When her father is taken she is trust into an adventure she is ill prepared for. Her father entrusts a journal to her and urges her to seek out the inventor Collodin. A sickness is spreading that turns people into monsters and Charlie’s father was the only one who knew its source.
Ashton Wells is ordered to question Colonel Blackburn and obtain his research for the Order of the Sword and Scroll. Instead he finds himself aiding Blackburn’s daughter. Charlie is torn, her father sent her to find Collodin he obviously did not trust the Order of the Sword and Scroll. Can she trust Ashton, or will he stay true to his mission?
“I’ve agreed to follow you, but not blindly.”
I was blown away by the quality of the writing, the richness of the setting and the three-dimensional characters. While light on romance this book captivates you as you journey through a dystopian New York. While Charlie initially comes across as a spoiled debutante, she quickly shows her strengths. She is determined and intelligent and shows true strength of character. Ashton has a dominant personality, along with a penchant for bossiness, but he possesses enough positive traits to make him a well-balanced character.
This is an incredibly well-crafted, complex and powerful story that gripped me from first page to last and I am anxious to read the next instalment.
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