Review: Under The Burning Sky Make Love Not War. . . Down Under
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 2, 2014
I am jumping out of the gate right into the middle of this review I was so impressed with the way author Olivia Bersell created the mood of the time. Hand to god I could almost hear "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" playing and the sound of whirling helicopters partnered with the body count of the day. It was that intense.I believe she was able to create that feeling because of the way she developed the lead male protagonist Ethan. He is a just discharged Marine and Viet Nam Vet in need of redemption of his soul. Or so said the subtext I got from the story, now you may not get that but for me it was as clear as the nose on his gorgeous face. From the moment he went right after a mugger in Chi town he had me.I enjoyed his counterpart the lovely Amarin she was spunky and vulnerable and funny in a quiet understated way. Having been one I love a tomboy myself I am drawn to non girly girl characters like Amarin. She like most of us who were tomboys can pull girly girl off when needed. So I liked her but . . . my favorite character had to be Ethan.Redemption is a huge part of this story along with love . . .  yes there is a love story. This is a dual plot line there is romance between the characters and then there is the suspense. I couldn't really tell you what was handled better the romance or suspense. Because, both plot lines were engaging and shared characters that read as real people. Not a glitz and glamour group of people who think "really?" These characters have real pathos, angst and history. That is the awesome part, in this first book of the series.She gave enough history of the characters that you understood who they were. Why they do what they do and how it effect's the others in the storyline. It helps in my opinion to make the characters more real, so you are not going like "What? Why are they acting like or doing that."I didn't have to ask that question to myself once which was refreshing. History authors give history we love it as readers. This is the first book of a series and if you enjoy the story like all of us who get hooked on a series. You will have to buy the next one however you won't get it before me because as I hit post, I will then hit buy. I'm giving the book five stars because it is rare you get a great first book in a series, this is one of those times.