Review: Awesome in "Black"
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 10, 2012
The old priest arose to do his duty to the Great Mother. He would not neglect her. The villagers demanded a sacrifice. No matter how much he tried to teach them of The Great Mother's love, they would not give up their barbaric practices. When he reached the temple, he thought vandals had desecrated it, only to find it was worse than that - a sacrifice, it was his granddaughter. The Mother anointed him with his granddaughters ashes and told him it was time and proceeded to destroy the temple.When he awoke, it was to find the villagers gone, only blood left behind. It was a new day, a prophet was born he thought as he walked away from the village.Tommy's girlfriend had dumped him and hooked up with Eric, a ghoul with ragged hair, greasy skin and clothes that looked like they were from Goodwill. Tommy and Eric had a couple of run-ins, but Tommy told him he really didn't want Alyson back so he didn't need to be jealous. Eric wouldn't let it go.Tommy and his friends went to the movies and when they came out, Eric and some skin head friends of his were waiting for them. As Bruce and Tommy managed to overpower the skinheads, Eric just stood and watched. When he heard the police sirens coming, he took off.Tommy had taken the brunt of the fight. He had grabbed the knife being held on Coda with his bare hand. As the doctor was stitching it up, Coda had come in asked why he would do something like that for someone he didn't even know. His response had been, there wasn't anything else he could do. Tommy told Coda about his grandfather, a Taoist monk, who taught him martial arts and how he taught Bruce and some others and she was more than welcome to join them.Alyson came to Tommy after Eric had given her a box to keep for him. She had opened it and what she had seen inside frightened her. She told them about Eric's dark side and how he was into magic. She thought the book was a grimoire and it gave her the creeps. Tommy thought they should go see an old friend of theirs, Mike Ferguson, who might be able to help them figure out what the book was all about. They warned him not to let Eric find out he had it.When Tommy and Alyson went back to Mike to see what he found out, Mike had a crazy look on his face. Mike was asking Alyson if Eric had any odd cuts or wounds, when they heard pounding at the doors. They exploded inward. The group was around the table which was surrounded by a blue line, a ward of protection. Eric appeared looking like a monster, with shapes carved all over his face,  even his teeth. He broke through the barrier and grabbed Mike demanding the book. When Eric grabbed Tommy, it was all he could do to remain conscious until something hit Eric and dropped him to the floor. Bruce stood there with a piece of railing in his hand. Alyson threw the book to Eric. As Eric said to tell them he was coming, he slit his own throat.Mike, along with his goth girls were at Eric's grave. When Tommy saw Mike, he told him to  enjoy what time he had left. What did he mean by that? The book Eric had was the worst, it dealt with calling the Nephilim. The prophecies had said Eric would return as the Prince of Nephilim. One of the rituals involved eating a fetus cut from the womb.As Mike began telling them about his delve into magic, he had to show them examples and do a lot of explaining. Will Eric return as the Prince of Nephilim? What will he do it he does return? Would he destroy them or the whole world?As the Peris, Mike's goth girls, told the history of the First of the Host and the Great Creation, it made me think of the Charmed Ones, a TV program currently in re-runs. They mention the grimoire, the hollow, demons, vampires, ghouls...........The characters:Bruce and Tommy were good fighters, but they only used violence when necessary. Bruce was more of a goof off and Tommy was more serious, mystical even. Tommy was such a good guy. He knew he could take violence to a new level, but he tried really hard to control it. Bruce could go from a foul-mouthed, trash talking screw up to a sweet big-hearted teddy bear with Kung-fu. He did a great job of hiding his most intimate feelings.Coda was a beautiful, loving, "good girl". It was hard for her to go after what was right for her because she was always trying to do the right thing by others.Eric was a rotten person even before he turned himself evil. He thought all humanity was shit.Alyson didn't care about anyone but herself. She had given Tommy his first kiss, she was Tommy's first sexual experience, his first love and she betrayed him.Dan was a spineless, rich boy who didn't have many deep feelings. He had that rich way of assuming certain things would happen.Dude - I am speechless - WOW - awesome. Amazing doesn't even cover it. Knocked my f___ing socks off. I'm pissed at having to wait for the next one. I gotta have it and I want it now. I wrote those words as soon as I passed the last period of the book. I was very surprised that I liked it so much. I like reading this type of book, but I'm not usually so engrossed and excited by the story. After I was about halfway through I began to eat it up, as if I had been starving and the food was the words. Ate the words like M & M's, my favorite candy. Even when the book was at it's darkest, it could raise a chuckle out of me. The writing was great and it was hard for me to put it down. It surpassed a five-star review. I thought the cover was very interesting and the color combination caught my eye. The cover and title are things that influence me and I like when they pertain to the story. The story was definitely black and dark. The blood and gore I like usually comes in the form of a murder mystery, but the carnage in this book had me unable to put it down until I found a spot in the story where the action slowed down a little bit and I could take a breath. This is a must read on your list.Black -- Canto I of The Nephilim Codex