3 out of 5 stars
I think this was a great first novel for Chris Reardon. He is a talented author with a bright future ahead of him.
A young doctor has a nine-year-old patient who is dying and he’s frustrated that there is nothing he can do to save him. Then another patient steps into the picture and offers the doctor an ancient tome. Inside is a possible solution to saving the dying young boy. All he has to do is follow the directions and call a powerful god down for a favor, a god who has the ability to alter destiny. The catch, young doctor Alcott has to give up his life so the boy can live. But there’s a sub clause involved. He must pass three seemingly impossible obstacles in order to proceed. But Alcott isn’t the only one who must pass these obstacles. There are four others, each of whom wants to save the life of another person. They will work together and help one another in their quest to save another person’s life.
This is an action-packed story, the pace super-fast and the characters easy to become emotionally involved with. Though I wanted to score higher, I couldn’t justify more than three stars because I did struggle at times, especially in the very beginning, to believe Alcott was a real doctor. His word choices and actions didn’t always come across as realistic. As I read I kept seeing a mid-teen type in my mind. But I could feel the young doctor’s pain over the thought of losing his patient and understood why he took a chance and followed the directions found in the tome for calling down a god. Word choices were awkward at times, not fitting with what was being said, though on a positive note, was never bad enough to stop me from reading and enjoying the story. I think this author has a bright future ahead of him. I know I’ll definitely be watching for the next one to come along by Chris Reardon.
Denna Holm 