I finished the book with mixed feelings. First, let me be exceedingly clear on one point: This book strays so far from the Biblical Four Horseman they are unrecognizable as the entities of Revelation. The four Horsemen in this book and the Four Horsemen in the Bible share a name. That's it. This book is for entertainment only.
Setting that aside, what really troubled me about this book was that Sara seemed to suffer from Stockholm Syndrome. Of course I'm not exactly sure, short of being taken prisoner, how you could write someone willingly into the presence of Pestilence. And for there to be romance, one does need to spend time in the presence of one's love interest. So I pushed the Stockholm Syndrome complaint out of my mind and kept reading.
I can say that I did like the characters. I work with firefighters and some of them are like Sara. Some really are in this profession because they care about people and want to help. So the compassionate side of Sara's personality did ring true for me. As did her toughness. You can't be a woman in what is still considered a man's profession and not be tough as nails. Given what the author put Sara through, it certainly was a good choice on her part to give Sara that backstory. It also made her compassion towards Pestilence a little easier to understand. Additionally I liked that Sara wasn't a whiner. She got hurt physically and mentally, but she didn't whine about it. She acknowledged it, dealt with it and moved on. Frankly, once I discarded the Stockholm Syndrome argument, her growth as a character was very well written.
Pestilence was also well written. His changes were of an existential nature and they made sense. Who wouldn't question their duty to exterminate a "bad" race when several times compassion is offered without expectation of repayment? And who wouldn't be torn when that same race showed abject hatred and cruelty? Watching Pestilence wrestle with his changing certainty about his cause actually made me think more than once about my own reactions to some of the things humanity does. It's easy to have a knee jerk reaction and fall back on habitual thoughts. But are those thoughts right?
The writing itself was fine. Points for using a few words not normally used in books targeted for mass market. However... the language! In some cases, yes, there was a need because that is exactly how those types speak. But in general, there was a lot of the use of the F-word and taking the Lord's name in vain that I could have done without. But it wasn't so bad that I gave up. I just started skipping those words. Other than that, I can't really complain about the writing. Obviously it wasn't horrible; I read the book in two sittings!
The story itself was intriguing. I found the story to be of a more cerebral nature than of an action nature. To be sure, there was some action, some of it gruesome, but that action was needed to push the story along. The heart of the story, the truly important part of this story, is how Sara and Pestilence changed. Thankfully that part of the story wasn't lost in a quagmire of unnecessary action.
All things considered, I recommend this book for adult readers that can overlook profanity, sex, and some gruesome scenes. I will say this about the sex: It is not super graphic nor is it disgustingly or cheaply described. Sure, I've seen better descriptions but I've also seen a whole lot more offensive descriptions. As these things go, it's not terrible. The violence in the book is only what is necessary, however, it isn't pretty. It is not super graphic, but neither is it easy to read. I will say if you are easily upset or offended, don't read this book. Otherwise, enjoy just be forewarned.
Note: I read this book a year or two ago and wasn't going to post a review until all the books had come out and I had reviewed them all. I've decided not to wait.
