Review of "The Garnet Dagger" by Andrea R. Cooper

This weekend I read The Garnet Dagger by Andrea R. Cooper http://www.andrearcooper.com/ published by Crimson Romance.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Brock, a curious member of the Elvin race, dons a disguise and ventures beyond the magical protections of his people to observe the humans living in a nearby town. On his way home, he is tricked and set upon by a vampire that believes Brock to be human due to his appearance. The vampire dies instead but Brock is infected, becoming a hybrid of sorts. He is sustained by the life force of others but their essence is transferred through simple touch and poor Brock has no control over it. Unwittingly, he has caused an evil to poison the land and will bring death to the Elvin race. Banished from his home, he sets out on a quest to save himself and his people armed with an ancient prophecy and The Garnet Dagger of the title.

MY THOUGHTS

That’s the basic set-up and I don’t want to say anymore because I don’t want to unwittingly set any ancient prophecies in motion because I let any juicy cats out of the bag.

The entire story is told in the first person, from Brock’s perspective. Normally I don't enjoy that POV. But in Dagger, Brock’s “affliction” gave him the ability to see the backstory and motivations of other characters. That filled in many of the blanks I would have been left with in a traditional first person narrative. And there were twists and turns that would have been revealed too soon otherwise. Miss Cooper provided the character development I enjoy and I found that I didn’t mind the first person narrative.  Bravo.

A difficult and often fascinating element of fantasy fiction is not only the development of the characters but also the world they inhabit. Dagger has a complex and well defined universe. But it was done so that you aren’t spending agonizing minutes wading through the minutiae of fictional governments and caste systems (you know what I’m talking about).

I really enjoyed the book. And I got the sense that this was the start of a series. So I’ll be on the lookout for more from Miss Cooper.

More on The Garnet Dagger found at http://www.crimsonromance.com/upcoming-releases-romance-ebook/the-garnet-dagger/ and it’s available for purchase at www.CrimsonRomance.com, www.amazon.com, www.B&N.com, and www.iTunes.com.