Welcome to a new weekly post, Throwback Thursday. This weekly book review post is a way to share some old favourites, books that were published over a year ago and most importantly those books that have been languishing on the to be read pile for far too long!
Today’s Throwback Thursday book review is courtesy of Mrs R, who dusts off her shelves to bring us a supernatural title. Charming by Elliott James was published in 2013 and marks the first book in the Pax Arcana series.
Synopsis:
John Charming isn’t your average Prince…
He comes from a line of Charmings — an illustrious family of dragon slayers, witch-finders and killers dating back to before the fall of Rome. Trained by a modern day version of the Knights Templar, monster hunters who have updated their methods from chainmail and crossbows to kevlar and shotguns, he was one of the best. That is — until he became the abomination the Knights were sworn to hunt.
That was a lifetime ago. Now, he tends bar under an assumed name in rural Virginia and leads a peaceful, quiet life. One that shouldn’t change just because a vampire and a blonde walked into his bar… Right?
Mrs R’s review:Charming is the first book in the supernatural Pax Arcana series. I haven’t read this genre in quite a while so I thought it was time to take it off the shelf and give it a go. While it’s not the best supernatural series out, it was a quick, enjoyable read with plenty of action and humour.
Told in the first person, John Charming is a rough, likeable character. With a wicked sense of humour and smart arsed comments, John goes solo as moves around. His job is to kill those who break the Pax Arcana. This time it is a rogue vampire who is threatening the Pax Arcana, a spell stopping humans from seeing the supernatural world that surrounds them. The Pax Arcana is part of the world building that Elliott James explains in great detail. While world building is so important at the beginning of a series, I did find that it stopped the flow of the story. There were times I wanted to skim read but knew I would be miss something important for later on. At other times, I felt that this whole new world that James was creating was overwhelming and it became too much to take in.
Like all lone wolves, John finds himself becoming part of a motley crew when things go awry. There’s Sig, the stereotypical beautiful blonde. Well able to defend herself, Sig’s true talent is that she can talk to the dead. With a tragic past, this opens a door John never thought he would have access to. Like all boys, John develops a little crush on Sig. Standing in his way though is another member of the gang, Dvornik. Sig’s partner in more ways than one, John doesn’t trust him from the start. With the ability to astral travel, Dvornik proves his worth time and again. Helping them out is Dvornik’s nephews who provide nothing but the muscle in the storyline. Rounding off the group is the local cop Ted, the priestess Molly and Choo, a deadly killer.
With such mismatch of personalities, who will die and who will survive?
Charming by Elliott James was published in 2013 by Hachette Australia. Details on how to purchase the book can be found here.
To learn more about the author of Charming, Elliott James, visit here.
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