Thursday, December 27, 2012

Blog Tour Review: The Hallowed Ones


Title - The Hallowed Ones
Author - Laura Bickle
Series - The Hallowed Ones #1
Genre - Paranormal Dystopia
Publication - Sptember 25th 2012
Format - Kindle Ebook

Synopsis
Katie is on the verge of her Rumspringa, the time in Amish life when teenagers can get a taste of the real world. But the real world comes to her in this dystopian tale with a philosophical bent. Rumors of massive unrest on the “Outside” abound. Something murderous is out there. Amish elders make a rule: No one goes outside, and no outsiders come in. But when Katie finds a gravely injured young man, she can’t leave him to die. She smuggles him into her family’s barn—at what cost to her community? The suspense of this vividly told, truly horrific thriller will keep the pages turning.

Teaser
After the end of the Outside world, the Plain folk survived.
At the time, I don’t know that the end of Outside had happened  None of us really did. We knew that something was wrong, of course.That knowledge trickled in slowly, like a leak in a roof. The signs accumulated, and then there was no denying the dark stain spreading over the pale ceilings of our world.

Review
I received The Hallowed Ones in return for an honest review as part of the blog tour hosted by Bewitching Book Tours. Kate is living in an Amish community where she is eagerly anticipating her upcoming Rumspringa. She has big plans to journey to the outside with her best friend Elijah when the end of the Outside changes their lives. Kate has been saving money in a box that Elijah made her for the day when they get to experience the Outside world. Kate isn't ready to give up her comic books, soda, or the chance to visit a movie.

Kate raises golden retriever puppies that she sells with the help of an outsider Ginger Parsall,saving the money for when they get to experience the Outside world before they are baptized in the church. It’s while Mrs. Parsall is visiting that a medical helicopter crashes into one of their fields. Kate attempts to rescue the pilot but he’s pulled back into the cockpit by a creature with red eyes seconds before the helicopter blows up. Mrs. Parsall attempts to call for help from the outside but they never show up, leaving the Amish to take care of the fire.It’s when Mrs. Parsall is leaving that they learn that a curfew has been issued not to be out after dark. Since her husband is out to sea and children grown she accepts that offer to stay the night.

 When a trip to the Outside offers little information of what happened to Elijah’s brothers the bishop decides to close the gate prohibiting anyone from leaving. Kate learns from Mrs. Parsall’s cell phone that only 1/3 of the earth’s population is left. Something is lurking in the darkness, and when she travels to the city to find batteries and antibiotics for the young man she saved. It’s while she’s looking for her favorite soda that she happens to find a swarm of the red eyed creatures that have killed so many.Even though the danger is lurking outside the gate, someone invites it in,putting them all at risk.

I found The Hallowed Ones to be very creepy but in an awesome way. It’s one of those books that will have you thinking what if this really happened. I've not read a lot about the Amish community so Kate’s life was very interesting to read about. This was my first book by Laura Bickle so I was super excited because I've heard so much about it. I really enjoyed the writing style the story flows along smoothly it’s easy to get lost in the story.  Kate is one of those characters you can’t help liking she’s strong, smart, and has a good heart which I find important when I want to connect with a character. It’s funny when I was reading The Hallowed Ones I was driving home for the holidays plus it was dark out so that made the story even creepier. I kept telling my husband what was going on in the story and he would startle me causing me to jump in the car. I love books that scare me but I tend to avoid reading them on a desolate highway in the dark during the middle of the night. I like that the story is clean so younger teens will enjoy it as well as adults. I enjoyed the concept it’s a unique take on vampires which I found refreshing that they aren't romanticized like other books. I loved the ending of The Hallowed Ones if anything it left me dying to read the next one because I’m not good at waiting to know what-happens-next.


Author Bio


Laura Bickle has worked in the unholy trinity of politics, criminology, and technology for several years. She and her chief muse live in the Midwest, owned by four mostly-reformed feral cats.


Her work has been published in Midnight Times, Down in the Cellar, MicroHorror, Theaker's Quarterly Fiction,Ballista , Byzarium, New Myths,a Blog-O-Novella office soap opera for True Office Confessions, and Aoife's Kiss. Her most recent project is the Embers series of urban fantasy novels for Juno-Pocket Books.

She can be e-mailed at: laura@salamanderstales.com. She's blogging on writing at: www.salamanderstales.blogspot.com.

She also writes under the name of Alayna Williams.


1 comment:

  1. Thanks so much for taking the time to read and review my book! I really appreciate it! :-)

    ReplyDelete