Messenger of Fear

Synopsis:

I remembered my name... Mara. But standing in that ghostly place, faced with the solemn young man in the black coat with silver skulls for buttons, I could recall nothing else about myself.

And then the games began.

The Messenger sees the darkness in young hearts, and the damage it inflicts upon on the world. If they go unpunished, he offers the wicked a game.

Win, and they can go free. Lose, and they will live out their greatest fear.

But what does any of this have to do with Mara?

She is about to find out...

 

My thoughts:

 

The synopsis and the concept of the Messenger of Fear had me hooked from the beginning. A chilling premise of a skull adorned stranger carrying out so-called 'justice' in the eyes of the forces of the Universe had an eerie and non-cliché ring to it. 

That being said, it massacred my expectations, somewhat brutally.

You'd think with having created this ethereal world, and this protagonist/antagonist creature/man/boy thing, you'd run with it. And with a title such as Messenger of Fear, how can you not?

In the beginning few chapters I was already deeply underwhelmed.

This strange world seemed dull and bland, I only continued reading as I encountered the Messenger. Dark and brooding and seemingly mute, I quickly lost interest.

There was very little substance there for me to cling to.

Then we are introduced to our first mystery.

The book acts as a cat and mouse game between Messenger and Mara as he urges her to decipher the case at hand, side-lining for minor incidents when needed, and doing little else but showing off. Subtly and by no means nicely.

For what seems like half of the book he remains mute and mysterious.

Offering confusing quips and un-relatable anecdotes as Mara slowly urges herself to understand the scenes she is shown, as well as her own predicament.

Her predicament becomes more and more obvious as Messenger unveils his acts of 'justice'.

Examples being, an exceptionally gory puzzle and a very toasty front seat to a human bonfire. Congrats, you're the guest of honour.

But other than these, we are not really shown horrific things, which I find a shame. You have someone who's more than capable, with an amazing control over people and their actions, yet, he seems a little comatose.

Perhaps this is due to his human side clinging to the reality of being reunited with his beloved but nothing clicks. Especially when he's covered from head to toe in tattooed renditions of his justified acts. He's been busy. Clearly. So why didn't we see more?

Unfortunately, I saw the ending coming after the first game. More than likely due to the fact I've read a hell of a lot of similar plot twists/tricks which sadly left the ending 'reveal' a bit flat.

However, the inclusion of main characters as writers and participants of NaNoWriMo was a huge plus for me.

Go Michael Grant!

*gives big thumbs up*

 

Overall, it is an interesting and certainly intriguing story but despite the world it lives in, it lacked lustre. I'm hoping for a significant improvement in the sequel, or else I shan't be investing in it any further.