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Nocturn
"Help Me...Oh My God, Help Me!"
These are the words of the mysterious figure the city of Hollowvale calls the "Nocturn". What they do know is that he flies over the city every night, saving lives and fighting monsters. What they don't know is that in the day, he is Coleman Conner Smith, a man cursed with hideous wings which burst from his arms every time the sun goes down. Finding no other alternative, Coleman uses his condition to protect the innocent and wage war on evil.
However, his already messed-up life is turned upside down when two new faces enter town; the first being Gorgryph, a hideous, ancient beast hell-bent on committing the ultimate blasphemy, and Krystal, a beautiful young woman who is anxious to help Coleman escape his dark place. Burdened by his intense self-hatred and threatened by evil forces at every turn, Coleman must save not only hundreds of victims Gorgryph plans to destroy, but must also save his own soul. From the gates of his personal hell to the roof of a majestic cathedral, Coleman's journey will reveal to him his true purpose as an instrument of righteousness...and bring him back to the God he has forsaken.
These are the words of the mysterious figure the city of Hollowvale calls the "Nocturn". What they do know is that he flies over the city every night, saving lives and fighting monsters. What they don't know is that in the day, he is Coleman Conner Smith, a man cursed with hideous wings which burst from his arms every time the sun goes down. Finding no other alternative, Coleman uses his condition to protect the innocent and wage war on evil.
However, his already messed-up life is turned upside down when two new faces enter town; the first being Gorgryph, a hideous, ancient beast hell-bent on committing the ultimate blasphemy, and Krystal, a beautiful young woman who is anxious to help Coleman escape his dark place. Burdened by his intense self-hatred and threatened by evil forces at every turn, Coleman must save not only hundreds of victims Gorgryph plans to destroy, but must also save his own soul. From the gates of his personal hell to the roof of a majestic cathedral, Coleman's journey will reveal to him his true purpose as an instrument of righteousness...and bring him back to the God he has forsaken.
456 pages, Hardcover
Published March 1, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 31, 2021
I am at a total loss how to rate this book. I'll give it a four star simply because I think there's some really interesting (as in, weird and mystifying) aspects to this story and I did follow it to the end. I think it is a unusual mixture of the religious, fantasy and satire that I seldom read. I liked the illustrations and pictures scattered throughout the book and I thought they sort of humanize the strangeness. The action was plentiful and intense and some of the humor really had me chuckling. This is a strange story that makes you wonder about the mind that created it.
I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway for this honest review.
I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway for this honest review.
May 18, 2024
A goodread win for me.
This book had montage of everything. A young man dealing with a whole lot, hanging by a fingernail of being a vampire, being a vigilante by night, a church custodian during the day. Good vs. evil, saving his hometown, falling in love with a girl. Dealing with the monster who made him this way. Having faith to endure anything. Sometimes I did find it hard to keep up with the story and who was who and what they were. I would say it would be good for readers 13 and up.
This book had montage of everything. A young man dealing with a whole lot, hanging by a fingernail of being a vampire, being a vigilante by night, a church custodian during the day. Good vs. evil, saving his hometown, falling in love with a girl. Dealing with the monster who made him this way. Having faith to endure anything. Sometimes I did find it hard to keep up with the story and who was who and what they were. I would say it would be good for readers 13 and up.
July 11, 2021
I thought the cover looked cool when I found it in a "Little Free Library" on the street corner, and since I had an uneventful evening I thought, "Eh, why not?"
I'm not sure how to describe this book. Okay, for the sake fo brevity, I'll try to do so in one word.
It is WEIRD.
This tells the story of a human/monster hybrid trying to discover who he is, and what he feels called to do. He is threatened by an admittedly cool-looking monster and forced to choose between his spiritual powers and neglect for religion. (Yes, this book is extremely Pro-Religion, which is fine, nothing wrong with that).
Straight off we start on a bang, with a short narration given by a cellar-dwelling rat moments before he is eaten alive by the main villain. WOW! Was not expecting that. (Told you this book is weird). Next we go to a vampire attack and then our protagonist tearing off half a thug's hand. That was three action scenes in a row. I think I've gone cross-eyed.
Again, for the sake of brevity, I'll summarize what elevates and detracts from this book for me.
Pros- Fantastic characters with depth and development, bizarre features including three talking birds who play the comic relief, and an AWESOME series of scenes talking place in the main monster's mansion with the protagonist and his friends running through its underground tunnel networks. I was REALLY hoping the climax would take place in the ever-evolving underground world but no it didn't, However, the climactic fight was also a big Pro for me as it was brutal, bloody and just plain savage with the protagonist just whaling on the monster with the typical sword-arsenal meets flesh results.
Cons- Bizarre and albeit some cringeworthy dialog, some obvious spelling errors which take away some of the emotional investment in the scene (The monster says "That's what I will dop!" I think he meant "do"). A heavy-handed emphasis on emotion, and a few rather long scenes of the protagonist doing mundane things in his apartment which slowed the story for me. The pacing- as I mentioned- is all over the place which many moments of intrigue and action, and then scenes of less-important things happening.
Wow, I spent a lot more time talking about this book than I thought I would.
At the end of the day, its a pretty good book which I don't love but really like. It is full of imagination and bizarre moments wrapped up in a good spoof and homage to superhero stories mixed with great bits of horror and humor.
I'm not sure how to describe this book. Okay, for the sake fo brevity, I'll try to do so in one word.
It is WEIRD.
This tells the story of a human/monster hybrid trying to discover who he is, and what he feels called to do. He is threatened by an admittedly cool-looking monster and forced to choose between his spiritual powers and neglect for religion. (Yes, this book is extremely Pro-Religion, which is fine, nothing wrong with that).
Straight off we start on a bang, with a short narration given by a cellar-dwelling rat moments before he is eaten alive by the main villain. WOW! Was not expecting that. (Told you this book is weird). Next we go to a vampire attack and then our protagonist tearing off half a thug's hand. That was three action scenes in a row. I think I've gone cross-eyed.
Again, for the sake of brevity, I'll summarize what elevates and detracts from this book for me.
Pros- Fantastic characters with depth and development, bizarre features including three talking birds who play the comic relief, and an AWESOME series of scenes talking place in the main monster's mansion with the protagonist and his friends running through its underground tunnel networks. I was REALLY hoping the climax would take place in the ever-evolving underground world but no it didn't, However, the climactic fight was also a big Pro for me as it was brutal, bloody and just plain savage with the protagonist just whaling on the monster with the typical sword-arsenal meets flesh results.
Cons- Bizarre and albeit some cringeworthy dialog, some obvious spelling errors which take away some of the emotional investment in the scene (The monster says "That's what I will dop!" I think he meant "do"). A heavy-handed emphasis on emotion, and a few rather long scenes of the protagonist doing mundane things in his apartment which slowed the story for me. The pacing- as I mentioned- is all over the place which many moments of intrigue and action, and then scenes of less-important things happening.
Wow, I spent a lot more time talking about this book than I thought I would.
At the end of the day, its a pretty good book which I don't love but really like. It is full of imagination and bizarre moments wrapped up in a good spoof and homage to superhero stories mixed with great bits of horror and humor.
December 24, 2021
I only read to page 100 and had to stop. I don't like vampires.
July 7, 2021
Since I really liked the first book by this author, I thought I'd have a go with this one. It was fine, not great but certainly fine. It had a lot of things to say about religion and tended to be a bit too on the nose with certain aspects, However, its fun and unique characters paired with its self-depreciating humor and chuckle-inducing social commentary led me to up the rating in those concerns. I really enjoyed this book and its last chapter in which the protagonist explains the determination of natural good in everyone, whether they are a believer or not, definitely heightened the experience for me. On second thought, yeah, this is a better book than just "fine". Its actually pretty good. Not great but pretty good.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews