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Thursday, June 2, 2011

Love, Death and Cataclysmic Destruction, Oh, my!

Before the Witches: An Original Novella by Karina Cooper


In America, they didn't care about witches. But all that was about to change. Katya Zhuvova fled a country that feared her gifts, but her escape to Seattle left her at the mercy of a ruthless man. With no one left to turn to, Katya hatches a desperate escape plan. Undercover Detective Nigel Ferris is determined to bring down a prostitution ring, whatever the cost. In order to the get answers he needs, he attempts to win the trust of one of the prostitutes involved—but one look at the deceptively sultry Katya and the cool, objective cop disappears. Before either can put their plans into place, Mother Nature shrugs: a cataclysm rocks Seattle, and life is turned upside down. Brought together by chance, Nigel and Katya are in the fight for their lives. Surrounded by death and fear, shattered by immeasurable loss, they have only a bond forged in fire to cling to as they struggle to survive in a world gone straight to hell.


Review:
This novella is the prequel to Karina’s upcoming Dark Mission Series. It shows the readers, through the eyes of our heroes Katya and Nigel, the massive cataclysmic natural disaster that changes the physical world as well as the religious world. We see the world become dominated by an oppressive theocracy determined to wipe out witchcraft forever, a world we will see in her series.

Katya is an illegal immigrant from Russia shunned by her people for being a witch and has the ability to tell if someone is lying. Recently she's been having premonitions of the end of the world. She ends up working in an illegal brothel in Seattle for a truly repugnant man.

Nigel is an undercover cop trying to bust the prostitution ring. When the two meet there is an instant connection. The only fault I find with this story is how quickly their relationship became physical, considering Katya’s current situation. Katya has been planning an escape for all the girls being held prisoner in the brothel when the first earthquakes hit. Nigel rushes to find Kayta when he realizes the building she lives in is in an area hit hardest by the quake. The rest of the story is an action packed, dark account of their escape from earthquakes, volcanoes and floods. Karina does an excellent job of describing the fear, sorrow and loss they experience trying to find safety.

The novella has an epilogue that nicely ties up Katya and Nigel’s story while setting up a new world where religious fervor has brought back the witch hunts from the past. I am looking forward to reading the first book in this series, Blood of the Wicked.

Check out Katie's review of Blood of the Wicked
here.

4 Destructive Sheep!






SS (edited by BAK)

2 comments:

  1. I'm so thrilled you all liked this! It was fun to write, and I'm sure the Jonas sheep from Blood of the Wicked's review will get along nicely with the destructive sheep from here.

    Wait... that could be bad...

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  2. @Karina yeah I don't want the destructive sheep messin with my lil cutie Jonas. ;) Back! I will fight for my man! lol

    Great review Sharon

    ReplyDelete