Title: Ghost 2nd Edition
Series: Wolf’s-Own 01
Author: Carole Cummings
Genre: High Fantasy
Length: Novel Plus (374 pages)
ISBN: 978-1-63216-324-0
Publisher: DSP Publications (4th November 2014)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 Hearts
Reviewer: Pixie
Blurb: Untouchable. Ghost. Assassin. Mad. Fen Jacin-rei is all these and none.
His mind is host to the spirits of long-dead magicians, and Fen’s fate should be one of madness and ignoble death. So how is it Fen lives, carrying out shadowy vengeance for his subjugated people and protecting the family he loves?
Kamen Malick means to find out. When Malick and his own small band of assassins ambush Fen in an alley, Malick offers Fen a choice: Join us or die.
Determined to decode the intrigue that surrounds Fen, Malick sets to unravelling the mysteries of Fen’s past. As Fen’s secrets slowly unfold, Malick finds irony a bitter thing when he discovers the one he wants is already hopelessly entangled with the one he hunts.
Purchase Link: http://www.dsppublications.com/books/ghost-by-carole-cummings-14-b
Review: This is the second edition and there are no changes from the original edition. Oh my freaking God… put down whatever you are doing get this book and read your little hearts out. This type of book is the reason why I love fantasy so much, the pure joy of the imagination, the complete world building and the mysterious characters that all have their own stories.
Fen Jacin-rei is an Untouchable, a Ghost, a loner driven to distraction by the voices that plague him; it is only his training that saves him from complete madness. Kamen Malick is the leader of a small band of assassins who has been ordered to get Fen working with them at any cost. But as secrets come out about Fen, Malick has his own secrets that he is trying desperately to keep hidden.
Wow, just freaking wow, the world building in this book is world class, the characters are all incredible and the story line and plot are fantastic. The story begins with Malick looking for Fen and finding him, from then on the story and characters will intrigue and baffle you. Malick is just so full of awe about himself but he is completely loveable, Fen is a cold hardhearted bastard but as you get to know his story and background, you understand his need to be as cold as possible.
The story is from many POV not just Malick and Fen’s but also from Malick’s group of friends and Fen’s mentor, which means that we get a full-bodied story will lots of detail but we never lose focus of the story line. Malick spends most of the book trying to seduce Fen because he has a very cavalier attitude towards sex and it isn’t until he knows Fen a little better that he realises that he genuinely likes Fen. Fen spends a lot of time rebuffing Malick because of how he was treated in the past. We also have flashbacks to Fen’s life before; starting on the night, he was born.
I really can’t tell you more about the story line because really it would ruin it for you; this is a journey that you have to take yourself because you have to be immersed to absorb all the details that make it so good. The ending isn’t a happy ever after or a happy for now it’s a ‘we have to see what happens’, it is left in a place that will be picked up again in the next book (4 books altogether) and it will be a continuation of this story. Malick and Fen do get together in this and yes they have explosive, erotic and sensual sex but Malick has a long way to go to gain Fen’s complete trust and hopefully his love, while Fen will probably find it hard to believe Malick because of Malick’s own manipulation early on.
So in all honesty this is a fantasy whose characters just happen to be gay, if you are expecting sex and love on every page then don’t bother, this is a genuine Fantasy like Mercedes Lackey’s The Last Herald Mage. There’s a glossary at the end of the story if you find yourself lost with the various use of words and I’d recommend checking them out first.
So I recommend this to those who love fantasy, mystery, bloody fights, intrigue, scorching hot sex, great characters, awesome world building and the promise of another three books to come.