Review: The Chosen: Bloodline Of Darkness

Bloodline of Darkness
by
C. A. Milson
Available through Amazon and
Smashwords as an e-book

In a nutshell, if you have a taste for the demonic and trippy goings on, then this book is for you.

C. A. Milson introduced readers to Alex in The Chosen: Rise of the Darkness.  At the end of that book, (previously reviewed on TWU), A lot of people were dead and Alex was left standing as a survivor to demons running wild.  Alex had come into his powers and all was right with the world.  Or was it?

The Chosen: Bloodline of Darkness starts with Alex living his life...or so he thinks.  He's minding his own business one moment and the next he is thrown into terrible visions and nightmares, each more horrific than the next.  We're talking blood, fire, dismemberment, you get the idea.
Alex is constantly being tortured by these episodes, to the point that he can't tell what is real and what isn't.  Are these phantasmagoria his imagination, or is he really experiencing these things?

As we are jerked along Alex's wild ride, we too, become confused.  Is Alex imagining all this?  Has he really forgotten what happened to him and that he is the Chosen?  When I say we get jerked along, I don't mean that in a derogatory sense.  We become as unsettled as Alex and that is what makes this a suspenseful read.  There were times when Alex had "woken up" from his latest nightmare, that I was holding my breath, wondering if this time he was in his here and now, or about to find out he was still in a land of what the hell?

Alex meets a few souls on his adventure this time out - Nanomi, an enigmatic figure who acts as his guide; there is the return of Tanzac, the demon from The Chosen: Rise of the Darkness (you didn't really think he was going to go away now, did you?); Tara, Alex's neighbor, and...Alex's alter ego.  To say more about who surfaces in this book edges into spoiler territory.

C. A. Milson has again crafted a good story.  It moves quickly and keeps your interest.  It ends with a revelation setting the stage for a third book in this series.  I'm hoping Mr. Milson has that third volume in the works.

For more information on C. A. Milson please visit:
Official website of C. A. Milson

Review: The Chosen - Rise of the Darkness

The Chosen - Rise of the Darkness
by
CA Milson
Available through Amazon in hardcover for $21.03 or in paperback for $15.96

In a nutshell: if you like stories where battles are waged between man and forces of the darker regions, then this book is for you.

CA Milson has crafted a well-paced story of man versus demonic forces, both intent on winning the day.

Our main characters are all paranormalists of some stripe, some really into the game and others with motives less than pure.

It all starts when Alex attends a seminar where fellow paranormal investigators are going to speak. We are introduced to Usher, a Cherokee Indian who has a gift for sensing the supernatural and Drake Winters, the All-American Boy who has taken to paranormal research.
Another personality in the paranormal world is discussed in the seminar, one Jamiesonn, who back in the 1700s established a cult and literally indulged in human sacrifice and all manner of atrocities until local townspeople where he lived put him to death in a variety of ways - yes, you read that right, ways...he pulled a Rasputin and just wouldn't die and ended up literally disappearing before the crowds eyes...dead or not? You decide.
During the discussion at the seminar, it is posited that Jamiesonn survived and is merely biding his time to come back and take up his evil ways.
Drake declares he will be the one to send Jamiesonn to another plane of existence, but Alex doesn't believe he can.

Drake and Alex form an uneasy alliance, neither one really trusting the other, and set out to find Jamiesonn and stop him. Before they can, an apparition appears and warns them off - and then the fun starts.

Demonic forces begin to run rampant...visions are seen and heard, death prevails, people are taken over by demons...blood runs.
Yet there is another force at work here in the form of a scroll that was found in some Mayan ruins which tells of the destruction of the greatest civilizations in history. The scroll contains the name of The One who will end the strife and preserve mankind.

It is from this point that Milson takes us on a frenetic ride of demons running amuck, forces of good opposing forces of evil, and Alex's journey into the midst of this maelstrom.

Ultimately this is a story of good versus evil, playing out their epic battles in the midst of mankind who is usually woefully inept at handling a crisis like this.
Milson pens a story revealing how we as humans are sometimes asked to do some things we don't think we can do to go towards the greater good.

My only complaint is there were a few set pieces in the book where I would have liked to see more detail. Don't get me wrong, you get enough to know what's happening, but I could see some places where Milson could have stood to add a little meat to his stew.

Milson says Stephen King is an inspiration and I have to admit there were times when I did notice the writing did bring to mind the style of a younger SK.

Take note - the story will continue in Bloodline of Darkness.
For more information on the sequel visit: http://bloodlineofdarkness.info/About_The_Book.html
For more information on CA Milson, visit: http://www.authorcamilson.com/