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Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Book Review: Nightmare Ink (Living Ink #1) by Marcella Burnard

Nightmare Ink (Living Ink #1)
by Marcella Burnard

From “smoking-hot talent”* Marcella Burnard comes a dangerous and captivating new novel that will get under your skin.

With her art and magic, Isa Romanchzyk has the power to create or destroy. In her tattoo shop, Nightmare Ink, Isa helps those in need by binding the power embedded in their Live Ink—the magical tattoos that can enhance the life of the wearer, or end it. But binding tattoos has earned Isa the contempt of her fellow artists—including her former lover Daniel.

When a friend comes to the shop with a tattoo on the verge of killing him, Isa can’t turn him away. For the first time in years, she works Live Ink—something she swore she’d never do again. But a broken vow soon becomes the least of her problems.


The real nightmare begins when she’s abducted and inked with a Living Tattoo against her will. Now, saddled with a powerful, amoral entity willing to do anything to win his freedom, Isa must fight to keep her Living Tattoo from consuming her completely...


Nightmare Ink is a deliciously dark and gritty tale. Isa is a tattoo artist gifted with the ability to tattoo living ink; however, due to past trauma she refuses to exercise this gift. Instead she is tries to live a quiet life with her tattoo shop and associates eking out a living and trying to fly under the radar. She is contracted by local law enforcement to assist in binding the power of living ink gone wrong and / or events of magical ink related crimes. 
The tale opens with a horrible tragedy, an event of living ink tearing free of its host and killing the person in the process, the ink escaping and running amok. The chase is on, as is the search for how and / or why this is happening, as the casualties increase.

This story has all the wonderful elements a dark urban fantasy fan could want, a wickedly evil baddie with a dastardly plan, living ink haunting the streets, kidnaps, torture, and self-realization all rolled into one nifty package. There is exploration of magical properties, some Indian legends and traditions, geed, loss, love, and the true meaning of family. This is not a story for the faint of heart or gentle reader, but rather for those who enjoy the darker tales with plenty of action, likeable characters, as well as real evil that causes you to hold your breath waiting for them to get their due.

The writing is tense with 'sitting on the edge of your chair' intrigue and action and never a lull in the journey, which made it difficult for this reader to put it down once started. The world building is wonderful and there are awesomely colorful characters that would be a joy to call friends. Upon finishing Nightmare Ink I had to know when there would be more, love it when I am that excited about a book, and found an estimated release date for the next installment of this series expected in November 2014 and I cannot wait to see what comes next for Isa and the gang. I received this book via NetGalley.

5 Sheep





DeniseZ

About the Author:
Marcella Burnard graduated from Cornish College of the Arts with a degree in acting. She writes science fiction romance for Berkley Sensation. Her first book, Enemy Within won the Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice award for Best Futuristic of 2010. The second book in the series, Enemy Games, released on May 3, 2011. An erotica novella, Enemy Mine, set in the same world as the novels was released as an e-special edition by Berkley in April 2012. Emissary, a sword and sorcery short story released in the two volume Thunder on the Battlefield Anthology in the second half of 2013. Nightmare Ink, an Urban Fantasy novel from Intermix available April 15, 2014.

1 comment:

  1. I am not sure about this one yet Denise, I think I will wait for reviews of the second book to decide.

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