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Monument

Ian Graham

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Jan 03, 2015 Greg (adds 2 TBR list daily) Hersom rated it it was amazing

this is the review I posted on www.fantasyliterature.com and Amazon years ago.

When Ballas is nearly beaten to death, kind strangers give him life-saving medical attention. He repays their charity by robbing them. But there's more to the stolen artifact then just priceless gemstones. It holds ancient secrets the ruling religious leaders will stop at nothing to keep hidden. Ballas quickly becomes the most hated and feared man in the empire. He is hunted with a brutal relentlessness that equals on this is the review I posted on www.fantasyliterature.com and Amazon years ago.

When Ballas is nearly beaten to death, kind strangers give him life-saving medical attention. He repays their charity by robbing them. But there's more to the stolen artifact then just priceless gemstones. It holds ancient secrets the ruling religious leaders will stop at nothing to keep hidden. Ballas quickly becomes the most hated and feared man in the empire. He is hunted with a brutal relentlessness that equals only that of Ballas himself. His only chance for survival is escape to a mythical land on the far side of an impassable mountain range -- the only place beyond the power of the Church of the Four Pilgrims.

Ballas is a vagrant with no greater interest than his next means of getting drunk or hiring a prostitute. He's big, bad, and a kind of ugly that only looks more natural beat-up. Besides the ability to consume mass amounts of alcohol, his only talent is for violence and a spiteful survivability. He's not a psychopath or unjustly cruel, but he has no qualms about killing whenever he deems it necessary. You have to dig so deep to find any redeeming qualities in Ballas, that what you do find is questionable.

Call me twisted, but I love this guy.

The action is savage. Sometimes I even dreaded what might be Ballas's next course of action -- expecting the worst but still hoping he'd show some compassion. I read with anticipation -- looking for any revelation about what turned him into such a dreg of humanity. While I did have some predictions about the conclusion, I wasn't sure if Mr. Graham would have the gahones to end this the only way he should. I won't tell you if he does.

Whether we admit it or not, there something to be appreciated in stories like this. It appeals to that little devil on our shoulder that begs to fly the bird at authority or punch out that jerk who cut you off in traffic.

It took a gutsy author to write this story and it's just not right that Monument hasn't gotten more notice. However, I must admit, I guess it takes a certain kind of dark understanding to enjoy. Word is, Mr. Graham is currently working on a prequel, and I'm anxious to read it and anything else he'll write in the future. ...more

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