Monday, May 19, 2014

Inquisitor by R.J. Blain

I first heard of Inquisitor the day before its release party last Friday. The name "R.J. Blain" rang a bell, and I realised that I've seen her around on Google+. Of course, I signed up to support a fellow Plusser, and in the process, received a review copy from her.

While I did put this book at the top of my TBR list, I can honestly say that the reason why I finished it so fast was because it was a gripping read. I was hooked from the first page.

Inquisitor follows Allison (I shalln't say her name, since in her world, true names has powers), who falls into trouble after a Halloween party. The truth is, Allison is a werewolf, and not just any werewolf. She is, as she puts it "wolf, woman, and occasional witch", making her very rare and (in my opinion) very powerful. She's also very old, which amounts for her immense wealth. When her witch Samantha is killed, she retreats to one of her identities (CEO of Marrodin, a huge company) to hunt down her killer. However, this leads her into more and more danger.

This book takes the idea of inner conflict and makes it literal. Allison has to balance the three parts of herself and it isn't easy. This can be clearly seen when you compare the narrative bits from her wolf and her normal point of view. Apart from this fascinating internal conflict, there's the external conflict and mystery.

While this book started as a mystery, the mystery ended up taking a seat as the book dove into twists and turns that result from Allison's contact with the Inquisition. The Inquisition is, as far as I can tell, a former "employer" of Allison's and they're ruthless. We're introduced to some key characters of the Inquisition, but I desperately want more information about them. I also want more about Allison's background. For example, why do some characters call her 'Lady Hanover'?

I honestly loved this book. It was a tightly written and well-paced book. Though there was a varied cast of characters, they all felt real to me, and I think enough focus was kept on Allison as the main character. There are some very interesting relationship developments which I'll be eagerly anticipating in the next book. At least, I hope there's a next book. This is a wonderfully crafted world and I love it!

I've really got to get me an Amazon card so I can go buy more of R.J's books.

Disclaimer: I got this book for free from the author in exchange for a free and honest review. Believe me, the gushing is real and heartfelt.

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