Brief as Lightning

Avery Nolan #3

by M.L. Hamilton

Avery Nolan promised six-year old Bay one thing - she'd bring his father home to him. That, however, was harder to accomplish than she'd thought. When Bay is abducted by his grandfather and taken to the Greensward, Avery now has two people depending on her, but she's unable to find a way into the illusive land and no one seems able to help. Until a visit to her mother provides her with a cryptic message, "Find the rainbow people." Avery has no idea what this means, but ICE agent Graham Braddock does and he thinks he may have found a portal into the Greensward. Except nothing is ever that easy. Taeseus, the Lord of the Frostfell, is not a man to take lightly. And then there's Avery's father. As Taeseus warns, "I am a tame house-cat compared to your father. You'd do well to understand that when you threaten to unleash a dragon such as he." At this point, Avery doesn't care. She's about to unleash the dragon.

Genres: Fantasy

252 pages, Paperback

First published July 4, 2015

About the author

ML Hamilton taught high school English and journalism in Central California for 32 years.

Teaching students to appreciate literature made her career rewarding; however, she always dreamed of publishing her own novel.

In 2010, the dream came true. Her first novel, Emerald, was published by Wild Wolf Publishing. The sequel to Emerald, The Heirs of Eldon, followed the next year.

In addition to teaching and writing, she has three sons, two daughters-in-law, two dogs, and three amazing grandbabies.

Sign up for her newsletter at www.authormlhamilton.net for free offers and the latest book information.

Reviews

[Lidia]

This is my review of the audio version as posted on Audible:

In the third installment of the series Avery, with agent Braddock's help, finally sets off to find the portal to Frostfell - and again not everything goes according to plan...

I liked this part of Avery's adventure as well as the previous ones when it comes to the plot, the pace of the tale, the twists and turns in the storyline... But at some point Avery started to irritate me - that's why I deducted one star from my rating for the story. What was the reason for my annoyance with her? Well, when you try to get a stranger to help you, you probably shouldn't blurt out "I'm not human" to them out of the blue or start talking about portals to other dimensions - they'd take you for a crazy lunatic for sure and call for some mental help, not go to the woods with you to look for standing stones. Avery's behaviour at that point struck me as a bit out of her character - true, she was emotional and acted faster than she thought in previous books, too, but she also kept her feet on the ground. Now I suddenly felt it was a bit too much and instead of coming out as brave and loyal she felt just downright stupid and immature... But - if you look for some justification for her behaviour - you may assume that she finally snapped as a result of living under pressure fo so long and then accept the whole thing as logical consequences of that breakdown... I didn't, I'm sorry - it just didn't work for me.

But other than that small fault in Avery's character I think the book is a great continuation of the first two parts. There's a lot of action, we meet new fantastic characters - the last of the Rainbow people - and as usual, we get a surprising ending to the adventure, being really the opening/teaser for the next book in the series...

The narration by Ms Hazen is very good; I especially like her voicing of all the kids in Avery's class:) And as usual, the pace is just right and emotions conveyed perfectly. It's a very good interpretation of an emotionally engaging story.

DISCLAIMER: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

[Kelley Hazen]

Avery Nolan is a heroine to be reckoned with... I love narrating this series for ML Hamilton. The third title in the series is quite challenging for Avery as she returns to the Frostfell to search for Duncan. A woman who has decided late-er in life to 'live', she can't believe how much has been taken from her so quickly. But you gotta love her - does she wallow in self-pity? Heck, no! ML riddles her work with such humor and humanity (Meet Duncan's Irish Aunts! ANd let's not forget Avery's class full of a handful of first graders...) you can't help but become addicted. I certainly have! The release of this series is a perfect summer 'Listen Fest'!

[Lynda]

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the narrator and found it very enjoyable. This is the third book in the series. Avery finally has the opportunity to keep the promise she made to Bay. With the help of her mother and ICE agent she finds her way to the Greensward. She doesn't get the ending she wants though. The narration and story is so intense at times, you lose all sense of time while listening. Definitely looking forward to book four.

[Ashley Hedden]

Brief as Lightning (Avery Nolan #3) by M.L. Hamilton was a great read. After Duncan’s disappearance, Avery promised Bay that she would find his father. Little did she know Bay would go missing after his grandfather abducted him. Avery and Graham, the ICE agent, go looking for both Duncan and Bay. I loved reading this book and can’t wait to read the rest of this series.

[Ann]

Holy cats! Alberon is awesomely scary! I so enjoyed this series. Like a few others, I do not read fantasy, but having Peyton's and Zion's series, I knew I wanted to give it a try, and I am SO glad I did. Such entertaining reading!

[Maria Barbosa]

É uma narrativa de fantasia que tem como referência o texto Shakespeariano "Sonhos de uma noite de verão", uma protagonista forte e decidida, embora nem sempre saiba exatamente o que está fazendo, e uma bela história de amor e lealdade. Gostei bastante.

[Tami]

Amazing!! original story line. I listened to the audio version of this series. Mesmerized by the originality and story building. If you've never listened to M.L. Hamilton books narrated by Kelley Hazen, I recommend you try it.

[June]

Avery is getting herself into deep trouble

Avery finds herself counting the cost of love and what she will do for the new family she is building.

[Mary Squier]

Love this series.

[Chris Finn]

I gave this 3 stars. I thought it was better than the last one. But to be honest I’m feeling a bit bored with the whole thing not sure about reading the next one.

[Linda Cole]

Wonderful

Great book I couldn't put it down. The characters are very intriguing in the ways they solve the tasks before them