Heartbeat of Fear

by Susan Lyttek

As Bern and his father harvest their crops, a portal appears. The creature chased into their world is taller than any building in the village. While the villagers are terrified, Bern realizes the creature is also scared. He names the beast Kattya after his dead mother and vows to protect it.

Kattya is not safe after Subja learns of this new creature. Bern, Garth, and Ne-tel realize their mammoth charge must be protected. When Bern and Kattya are separated, the two find safety in the lost country of Telantia; but their reprieve from danger is short-lived when Bern learns Garth and Ne-tel have been captured by the Vil.

Can Bern save his friends when his heart beats with fear?

119 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 18, 2023

About the author

At the tender age of six, calamity struck Susan Lyttek’s childhood home. Actually, the television died and her educator parents who’d just purchased their first home didn’t have the funds to replace it. Thus, she began reading to find escape and solace in story worlds like Narnia, Earthsea, and Prydain, or adventures with Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys.
Later, after told the mystery she wanted to check out from the library with “talking mice, fish, and fairies” didn’t exist, she decided to write the stories she wanted to read. She’s been doing exactly that ever since.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, that means her work crosses genres and formats: from mystery to fantasy, flash fiction to novels, poetry to plays, and magazine articles to devotionals. If it intrigues her, she will write about it!
A diehard supporter of the homeschool community, writing teacher and coach to multiple generations of homeschooled students, she believes that educational paths are by choice, not obligation.
Married to the man who dated her on a bet when they were both teenagers, she chooses to treat life as an adventure and does at least one thing each year that scares her. Why should her characters have all the fun?
Author of the Portal Watchers of Telba YA fantasy series and the Talbott Family mystery series, both with Pelican Book Group, she currently self-publishes her Biblical poetry collections and keeps a weekly blog going on her website.

Reviews

[M. Pike · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rediscovered my enjoyment of young adult and middle grade fiction when I became a middle school reading tutor. Heartbeat of Fear, the second in Susan Lyttek’s Portal Watchers of Telba series is a story that both young readers and adults will enjoy. I immediately found myself drawn into this fantasy world, complete with dinosaurs, heroes, and an evil queen.

As young Bern is farming with his father, a portal opens in the sky and deposits an enormous dinosaur into their field. Immediately drawn to the gentle beast, Bern tries to soothe its fear as the townspeople come clamoring, but the terrified dinosaur runs off into the forest. Also aware of the dinosaur’s appearance, evil queen Subja hatches a plot to capture it for her own. Bern and his friends, along with holy man Nevv, set off on a rescue mission to find and recover the dinosaur – and soon find themselves in unspeakable danger.

The author’s masterful use of short, tight chapters adds to the suspense and readers will root for these admirable young heroes and firmly against these vilest of villains. The story has a clear message of faith, courage, friendship and sacrificial love. I highly recommend this series for middle grade and young adult readers, their parents, and their teachers.

[Karen Malley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This second book in the series is just as exciting as the first. The author has created a magical mystical world with an evil queen and a terrifying army and three boys who are doing their best to fight for good. I loved seeing more of this world and watching young Bern develop a relationship with the dinosaur.

[Clare Revell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Following on from book one this is another thrilling adventure. Again aimed at the YA market but keeping me turning pages. This time Bren takes the lead when a new dinosaur comes to him first.