Book Review: River's Recruit by Charlotte Abel

Title: River's Recruit (Sanctuary #1)
Author: Charlotte Abel
Publisher: Charlotte Abel
Release Date: 12th November 2012
Read In: December 2012

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*I received this book for review as part of the book tour*

Jonathan McKnight lost everything in Afghanistan. His left hand, his identical twin and his self-respect. He searches for redemption during a solo backpacking trip into the remote Sawatch Mountains of Colorado and discovers a secret tribe of shifters.
River, the beautiful young shifter that rescues Jonathan from certain death, wants to recruit him. He is equally determined to rescue her from her cult-like society — even if he has to kidnap her.

Oh this is just the sort of book I needed; a good society, good characters and a good mystery that I can get my teeth into.

“Something growled.

The sound came from deep inside the mine. Okay, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all Jonathan slid out of the sleeping bad and fumbled around in the dark for his flashlight.

He directed the beam into the tune. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Is that a wolf? The animal was freaking huge; black with a diamond shaped patch of white fur between its glowing, blue eyes. Blue? Didn’t wolves have yellow eyes?”

The main feature of the book, that I love, is the slow unveiling of the story, the discovery. What I enjoy the most when reading any book is following the characters through their story and slowly seeing bits and pieces about their world come together. I had read too many books recently where the character are sat down and told everything all at once. That’s boring. Straight away we got thrown into River’s world. Straight away, I knew I was going to love this one. 

I had read many paranormal societies in my many years of reading paranormal. This was the first time in a while were a close knit shape-shifter society felt real. A few in the past felt a little fluffy, more innocent for a younger audience. This had a darker edge. It was a totalitarian society that didn’t feel too extreme that it became unreal. Yes it was a harsh society but it didn’t feel unbelievable. I wanted to find out more. 

This is an alternating point of view book, changing between River and Jonathan. We also got the occasional Eli. I loved all of the characters. They had their own personality. And none of them were overly stereotypical. I loved all of them but especially Jonathan. I connected with him very quickly. He loses his brother very early on but straight away I felt his pain. I loved his connection to River. Even though fantasy shape-shifting bonding is part of the story, it was not insta-love. It felt real. River and Jonathan’s relationship was set at just at the right pace. I loved seeing it develop.

As for the story, I wasn’t sure where it was going to go once they met. It was exciting and unpredictable. There is more depth to the connections of the characters that I originally thought. It was great. I wanted more. Unfortunately, the story ended too soon. Where I expected the story to reach a climax, a destination where all the events were heading, it didn’t really happen. Tension, tension, tension … where is the rest of it? It wasn’t really a cliff-hanger; it felt like I was just missing the last part at the book. The book didn’t really feel complete. 

Overall, I thought this this was a great start to the series and I am really looking forward to seeing where book 2 takes us. Go check River’s Recruit out. 

Author Info

Charlotte Abel was born and raised in Oklahoma where she met her soulmate, Pete. She chased him to Boulder, Colorado and finally convinced him they were meant to be together forever. They've raised three kids, two ferrets, three dogs and countless hamsters -- and are still happily married.
She's in love with "real" life and paranormal romance. When she's not reading or writing, Charlotte enjoys hiking, bicycling and primitive archery (although she's never shot at anything other than a target!)
The final book of The Channie Series, "Finding Valor," should be available by Christmas.

Website: http://charlotteabel.blogspot.co.uk/
Twitter: charlotte_abel

This review is part of the blog tour for River's Recruit hosted by Supagurl tours.
Click here to see the other blogs participating.

Becky