Betrayal

The Keeper Chronicles #2

by Ben Meeks

The Elven Nation, a kingdom of elves in the Chattahoochee National Forest led by the Queen, and the Tortured Occult, a shifter motorcycle gang, forge an uneasy peace. For the first time in decades they begin to work together but the truce doesn’t last. Tensions run high as a demon army led by an unknown commander wages war on the Elven Nation. Obie, a wereotter and Keeper of Thera, the Earth Mother, is tasked with finding and putting an end to the threat. The Queen becomes increasingly more suspicious, mistrustful, and withdrawn as time passes. As the Queen’s paranoia begins to turn her thoughts to conspiracies, the Tortured Occult find themselves caught in the middle. Now, promises are broken and friendships tested. War has begun. It’s up to Obie to restore the peace.

234 pages, Paperback

Published August 6, 2020

Reviews

[Peter Last]

This outing in "The Keeper Chronicles" is markedly better than the first but it still has a plethora of problems. From a readability standpoint, it is nearly as bad as the first. Words are routinely misspelled, in the wrong tense, or missing entirely while sentences sometimes don’t make any sense. This prohibits a smooth reading of the novel and instead pulls the reader out of the fictional world every few pages. The writing style is still elementary, more suitable for younger audiences, while the content of the book, including some graphic violence and adult themes, preclude this audience. Despite this, "Betrayal" has a coherent and engaging plot unlike that of its predecessor. The action feels a little light in quantity but is entertaining when it happens. Less action allows the book to more deeply explore the characters, motivations, and other dynamics which flesh out the story more thoroughly than the previous book. Conversely, some of the nuance of the world’s factions went out the window for a more straightforward good guys vs. bad guys approach. The dynamic between Obie and Nylat by the ending of the previous book is mostly undone in the first chapter, a massive mistake since it was an interesting character development step for Obie. It also demonstrated that his actions and decisions had consequences, lending more gravity to his dilemmas. On the plus side, there was a twist near the end of the novel which, though it could have been foreshadowed a bit more expertly, still landed a pretty good punch. Altogether, I’d say "Betrayal" is a step up from its predecessor but only worth checking out once you’ve burned through your entire reading list.

[Kim Megahee]

BETRAYAL is my second book by Ben Meeks. It’s better than the first (PETRIFIED), which I liked immensely. It grabbed me right at the beginning and ran hard all the way to the end - a real roller coaster ride.
Meeks managed a large cast of characters very well, giving you a vision of who they are as they are introduced so you remember them. Many authors don’t do this well, but Meeks seems to do it effortlessly.
This series is unique. The idea of ultra-humans living among us here in North Georgia, visiting familiar places, is fascinating and intriguing.
If you are curious about modern urban fantasy, but don’t know where to start, PETRIFIED and BETRAYAL are the books for you. Enjoy!

[Kelsey Carter]

I liked this book a lot. I like the continual world building taking place. I also got the introduction to the demon room. Something tells me we will be seeing the old elf queen again. Isabella is also an interesting character. I hope she takes the urban nation in two good places. Something tells me the war between the elves and the keepers is not over yet though.