AN UNTOLD PROPHECY, A BROKEN COVENANT AND A FALLEN ANGEL AS AN ALLY.
WILL CHARLIE SURVIVE?
Talisman Of El
Charlie Blake has always known he was different. He hears what others donât. He sees what others canât. In his quest for the truth, he discovers he is the physical embodiment of a powerful ruler and finds himself locked in an ancient battle between good and evil that threatens the life of every being on Earth.
Blackout
Saving mankind becomes near impossible when Charlieâs visions start to invade his reality. He can no longer identify whatâs real. When he starts exhibiting symptoms of a deadly disease, he faces a race against time to find a cure, but shocking revelations makes him question where his true allegiance lies.
Ground Zero
26,000 years ago, a supernatural apocalypse almost wiped out civilisation. Now that time has come again and no one is destined to survive. Charlie Blake is determined to stop the apocalypse, but fate might not have the same agenda. Is Charlie destined to save the world or destroy it?
AN UNTOLD PROPHECY, A BROKEN COVENANT AND A FALLEN ANGEL AS AN ALLY.
WILL CHARLIE SURVIVE?
Talisman Of El
Charlie Blake has always known he was different. He hears what others donât. He sees what others canât. In his quest for the truth, he discovers he is the physical embodiment of a powerful ruler and finds himself locked in an ancient battle between good and evil that threatens the life of every being on Earth.
Blackout
Saving mankind becomes near impossible when Charlieâs visions start to invade his reality. He can no longer identify whatâs real. When he starts exhibiting symptoms of a deadly disease, he faces a race against time to find a cure, but shocking revelations makes him question where his true allegiance lies.
Ground Zero
26,000 years ago, a supernatural apocalypse almost wiped out civilisation. Now that time has come again and no one is destined to survive. Charlie Blake is determined to stop the apocalypse, but fate might not have the same agenda. Is Charlie destined to save the world or destroy it?
Manhattan, New York
January 25, 2013, 11:15 P.M.
DERKEIN ODESSA SAUNTERED INTO a study lined with bookshelves and a high ceiling of gold leaf and bas-relief sculptures. He stopped when he saw his father standing behind the large mahogany desk at the back of the room, rifling through the wall safe. A muscle in his jaw ticked. âYouâre alive then,â he said.
âNot now, Derkein.â His father closed the safe, concealing it with a portrait of his wife.
Folding his arms across his chest, Derkein advanced on him, his footsteps echoing off the hardwood floor. âNot now.â He chuckled without humour. âWell, why donât you give me your card and Iâll book an appointment?â
âIâm sorry I didnât call, but I canât talk right now. I have a flight to catch.â
When his father turned around, Derkein stopped, his eyes widening. A blood-soaked plaster covered the right side of his fatherâs neck, red stains on the collar of his white shirt. Derkein hurried over to him. âWhat happened?â he asked.
âIâm fine. Itâs just a scratch.â
âYou donât look fine. Where have you been ...?â Derkein paused, the strong smell of tobacco assailing his nose. He scrutinised his father â the purple bags under his eyes, scratch marks on his chin. âYouâre still searching for it, arenât you?â He sighed, raking a hand through his shoulder-length black hair as he lifted his head back. âYou gave me your word.â
âI know you disagree with my decision, but you have to understand ââ
âUnderstand what? Dad, this is not normal.â Derkein grabbed the bag at his fatherâs feet, lifted it onto the desk, and tipped it onto its side, scattering the contents over the surface. Surveying a collection of guns and daggers, he picked up a black leather sheath and pulled out a knife, its broad, stainless blade honed until the cutting edge was almost invisible. He dropped the knife and sheath among the other weapons. âYou have to stop this.â
âLutherâs dead.â
Derkeinâs heart skipped a beat. âWhat ... What happened?â
âNatural causes. Apparently, his heart gave out.â
âWhat do you mean âapparentlyâ?â
With a hesitant glance at Derkein, his father opened the front pocket of his bag and pulled out a burnished copper talisman with an engraved steel band and a circular crevice. âLuther and I dug this up in the Roncador Mountains in Mato Grosso, Brazil. The earthquake that hit South America two months ago ... We caused it when we removed this from the earth.â He looked down at the talisman and then back at Derkein, distress clouding his features. âThe moment the earthquake struck, we passed out. Two hours later, we woke up on Manhattan Bridge.â
âI donât understand what youâre saying.â
âWe didnât fly to New York.â
âThen how did you get here?â
His father started packing the weapons back inside the bag. âI donât know. Three weeks ago, Luther called me and told me that someone was following him. I think whoever was after him wanted the talisman, and when they didnât find it, they killed him. Now theyâre after me.â
âSo give it to them. Dad, this isnât worth your life.â
âI canât. This is my only connection to Arcadia.â
âWhere are you going?â
âEngland,â his father replied. âThomas might be able to help me. If what he told me about these beings is true, I canât be around you. They got to Luther. I wonât lose you too.â He turned around and stared at the portrait covering the safe.
âI miss Mum too, but itâs been five years. Give up before you end up killing yourself. Arcadia doesnât exist.â
His father looked at him. âItâs out there. Iâm going to find it. I will bring her back.â
âMumâs dead,â Derkein snapped. âWhen are you going to get that?â
âI have to go,â his father said in a calm voice. âIâll call you when I get there.â
âDad ââ
âIâll be fine. I always am.â
âDad, please ââ
An ear-piercing scream ripped through the building. Derkein froze, his eyes the only things that moved. His gaze fixed on his father, who was rummaging through his bag. He took out a black pistol and turned to Derkein, a tortured expression on his face as he placed the weapon in his sonâs trembling hand.
âShoot anything that moves,â his father instructed. He placed the talisman around Derkeinâs neck, tucking it inside his shirt. âDonât let it out of your sight.â Cupping Derkeinâs face in his hands, he made him meet his gaze. âIâm so sorry I got you involved in this.â He grabbed another gun from the bag.
âWhat exactly have you got yourself into, Dad?â
His father looked at him with a solemn expression. âIf anything happens to me, you find Thomas. Tell him ... Tell him he was right.â He headed towards the door.
âDad, wait.â Derkein went after him. âDad ââ
The double doors burst open with a bang.
His father opened fire. âDerkein, shoot!â he yelled.
Derkein glanced around the room in panic and confusion. He saw no one but his father. Then he felt a sharp pain in his arm, heard his shirt tear, and cried out. Something warm dribbled down his arm, and when he placed his hand on it, he saw blood. His father screamed, and he looked up and saw him flying across the room, crashing into a bookshelf that collapsed under him.
âDad!â Derkein sprinted towards him but felt a powerful blow across his chest that sent him flying backwards, and he landed hard on the floor, his gun falling out of his hand. Staggering to his feet, he glanced around for whatever had attacked him but saw nothing. His gaze landed on his father, who was groaning ... and then he was gone. There were no bright lights or loud noise. He had just vanished.
As Derkein stared wide-eyed at the spot where his father had been lying only moments before, something like a blast of electricity stunned him, and he felt an intense burning inside his chest. He let out a cry as his body lifted off the ground and hung in midair. Seconds later, he came crashing down ...
Charlie Blake is a 14 year old orphan. He's about to be adopted by a seemingly kind Funeral Director named Jacob Willoughby - a widower living out in a small countryside town. But Charlie is nervous; he suffers horrible nightmares where he sees someone about to be killed. The last one he had was just before his tenth birthday, and the day before his father was murdered. And now they've started again - just as his life is supposed to return to something resembling normality. He's to go to a new high school, and make new friends. But will the nightmarish visions stop his happy, rural life?
Talisman of El was first published in 2012, by Stone, to mixed reviews. Most people loved it - and for a very good reason. It's a great book, with a strong leading character in Charlie. He's relatable - a troubled teen who hates bullies and will stand up for what he believes in. He's got a temper, but doesn't every teenager? Hormones and puberty make teenage years challenging, and that's something Stone hasn't shied away from. In the first few chapters, we find Charlie trying to quell the urge to hit a bully, hear voices in his head and become confused when a girl offers him the hand of friendship. That's definitely relatable, and in my view, makes him incredibly likeable.
As the story progresses, more and more strange things start happening either around Charlie, or to him. Stone writes his confusion and compulsion to investigate the happenings in a sympathetic way - again making him completely believable.
While we have Charlie's sheer confusion and slight angst, Alex, the girl who befriended him on his first day at school, is a form of comic relief. She provides a wry humour, poking fun at her parents many phobias - from heights to tech - and bemoaning the villages local Killjoy.
I honestly enjoyed this mammoth tome - it's three books in one, and each one filled with enough action to keep anyone entertained. I was reminded slightly, of Anthony Horowitz's The Power of Five series.
S. A.