Title: The Legend of the Firewalker
Author: Steve Bevil
Genre: Paranormal, Fantasy, Young Adult
Rating: 4 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.
A black hooded figure suddenly appeared behind her. She gasped and her brown eyes grew wide. Nathan watched helplessly as a small trickle of blood fell from her mouth.Other hooded figures appeared; their silver swords clutched upright against their chests. Nathan held tight to her lifeless body while trying to fight back the tears that swelled in his eyes. “No,” he cried. “No!”
Nineteen-year-old Nathan Urye is supposed to be having a relaxing summer as a camp counselor but ever since he started having nightmares about a beautiful girl being hunted by flesh-clawing monsters, his life has been anything but normal.
Soon, Nathan discovers that the sleepy college town of Cahokia Falls is far from ordinary when two unexplained deaths rock the town and campus. Who or what is behind the murders? Does it have anything to do with the newly-discovered cave symbol? And what about the spine-chilling campfire stories about ancient tribal beliefs and mystical legends?
For Nathan Urye, things just keep getting creepier and creepier, and now it appears that everyone at camp is in danger…
The Legend of the Firewalker started out strong, showing us Leah, a girl tormented by horrible nightmares that eventually turned real. After a night from hell, she’s taken to a hospital where she’ll hopefully get the help she needs. Leah is a kind, friendly girl, and she’s easy to relate to. But then the point of view switches to Nathan, a sarcastic, blunt, somewhat dull teenager who was rather disappointing after reading about Leah. I couldn’t relate to Nathan at all.
After a while, I got used to Nathan, but I never really liked him. I liked his friend, Lafonda, way better, and his new-found friend, Stephen Malick, as well. They were much more enjoyable characters, even though Malick acted like a total jerk when they first met. If someone tries to drive me off the road, I wouldn’t make friends with them, no matter what.
However, despite the protagonist not being my taste at all, I did enjoy the book. The plot was great, and it was original enough to keep me intrigued. I wanted to find out what was going on with all the characters. I wish Leah would’ve made another appearance sooner though, as I really liked her personality.
The writing was okay. It dragged a little between Leah’s horrible night, and then Nathan and Lafonda arriving at camp. Once they were at camp though, the pacing picked up. Some of the dialogue between the teenagers was hilarious, other things didn’t sound like something a teenager would say.
Either way, I’m sure fans of fantasy and the paranormal will definitely enjoy this book. I thought it was intriguing and a decent read. The book has like 22 5-star reviews on Goodreads right now, so it must be doing something right. For me, it’s only a four-star, but that’s mostly due to Nathan.
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