Dawn of the Shadow Review

I rarely come across a book I can't finish. Whether it's good or bad, I try to read from cover-to-cover. Unfortunately, Dawn of the Shadow by Peter Kelly was not one of them. I didn't make it past page 21.

Pete Farrell comes across a relic from another time. This find would change his life forever. However, in a state of curiosity, he inadvertently awakens a great evil. One that believes Pete is the key to their rise to power. In a struggle to find himself, he follows their lead. Whether it be by fate or accident, Pete Farrell aided in the an ultimate change descended upon the world.

A synopsis alone makes this a promising read. However, I can't begin to say how much it isn't. Truth is, I couldn't get passed various rookie mistakes to get to the core of this novel. The protagonist, Pete Farrell, is suppose to be a 20-year-old college student. But within the first few pages of the novel, it felt more like he was a kid getting in to mischief with his buddies during summer break. I know not all guys in their 20s are the most mature but there are just some things that set them apart from boys half their age. Then there's the villain. He doesn't appear much of a villain. You don't get any sense of deception at all. The first introduction is more like Elliott meeting E.T. for the first time. The scene appeared more innocent than it should have been (in my opinion, that is).

While character and plot development needs improvement, so do the fundamentals. The dialogue contained more commas in it than it should. I mean there is such things as periods and question marks. Not to mention the whole novel is in present tense. A bit hard to master without the book sounding like one long boring narrative. This one was not among the greats, sorry to say. And all of this is after a few rounds of editing. I would hate to know what the rough drafts looked like. Dawn of the Shadow is the first in a series. All I can say is I hope future novels from author Peter Kelly are better than the first.

Comments

Jessica Penot said…
A book has to be really bad to put down after page 21. I'll avoid this one.
9:21 PM
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