The Shock of Night / Patrick W. Carr (Darkwater Saga, 1)
Bethany House Publishers (November 3, 2015) ISBN 978-0764213465
Adult Rating: 4
Publisher’s Summary:
Patrick Carr Launches a New Suspense-filled Fantasy Epic
When one man is brutally murdered and the priest he works for mortally wounded on the streets of Bunard, Willet Dura is called to investigate. Yet the clues to the crime lead to contradictions and questions without answers. As Willet begins to question the dying priest, the man pulls Willet close and screams in a foreign tongue. Then he dies without another word.
Willet returns to the city, no closer to answers than before, but his senses are skewed. People he touches appear to have a subtle shift, a twist seen at the edge of his vision, and it’s as though he can see their deepest thoughts. In a world divided between haves and have-nots, gifted and common, Willet soon learns he’s been passed the rarest gift of all: a gift that’s not supposed to exist.
Now Willet must pursue the murderer still on the loose in Bunard even as he’s pulled into a much more dangerous and epic conflict that threatens not only his city, but his entire world–a conflict that will force him to come to terms with his own tortured past if he wants to survive.
Just finished this book last night! Carr pens an epic adult fantasy, rich in character development and plot twists. It is darker than his previous series and definitely for adults.
<See my review SHOCK OF NIGHT here>
While it is well-written, I admit to mixed feelings about it because it is darker. Still I look forward to reading the second installment, The Shattered Vigil (The Darkwater Saga, #2), published in 2016.
Want to read more Patrick Carr books? Check out my review of his earlier series, The Staff and Sword: CAST OF STONES, A HERO’S LOT, and A DRAW OF KINGS.
A prequel novella — BY DIVINE RIGHT — is available for FREE on AMAZON for your Kindle and Barnes and Noble for your nook (as of yesterday, December 6, 2015).
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Want to know what other reviewers and bloggers are saying about THE SHOCK OF NIGHT ? Check out the CSFF Blog Tour participants shown below (Christian Science Fiction Fantasy):
Thomas Clayton Booher
Keanan Brand
Beckie Burnham
Carol Bruce Collett
Carol Gehringer
Victor Gentile
Rani Grant
Rebekah Gyger
Bruce Hennigan
Janeen Ippolito
Carol Keen
Rebekah Loper
Jennette Mbewe
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Joan Nienhuis
Nissa
Audrey Sauble
Chawna Schroeder
Jessica Thomas
Robert Treskillard
Shane Werlinger
Phyllis Wheeler
Nicole White
Michelle R. Wood
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In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
Worthy 2 Read 
Nice post! I also enjoyed the fact that it was a fantasy for adults. I’m sure I would have liked that when I was a kid, also. Because sometimes it’s fun to stretch yourself and read something for mature people.
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Pingback: The Shock Of Night . . . And Peace | A Christian Worldview of Fiction
Carol: I addressed the idea of darkness in this “Darkwater” story (hey, it’s in the name!) today on my blog, and would to know your thoughts on it.
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Excellent — for the record, in my review, I didn’t say his book was “too dark.” I thought it was more intense and the world was darker than his The Staff and Sword series. It was not a criticism but a comment. You said it better when you pointed out that they were already in the war, not on the brink of it. Anyway, you did a good job with your commentary!
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