Publisher Description
The undead are here and only the Deacons stand in their way.
The Order of the Deacons, stand as protectors of the Empire, guardians against ghost possession, sentinels warding off the malevolent haunting of the geists.
Sorcha Faris, the most powerful deacon of the Order, finds herself thrust into an unwanted partnership with a total novice, Merrick Chambers. That’s bad enough, but when they are dispatched to an isolated village to counter a surge of violent geist activity, they find their fate bound with Raed Rossin. Shapeshifter and Pretender to the Imperial throne he bears a terrible curse which endangers them all.
As they investigate, the strange settlement is reveled to be haunted by a undead creature more predatory and horrifying than any encountered before. Together they quest to uncover the mystery of twisted rituals passed down through the dark reaches of history intent on striking at the heart of the Empire.
Can three powerful and troubled people discover a way to work together to save the citizens and themselves?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Wonder Woman, make way for flame-haired Deacon Sorcha Faris, skilled and ruthless enough to defeat an enormous geist (German for "ghost") about to envelop humankind at the outset of Balantine's (Digital Magic) latest cluttered fantasy. Sorcha's expertise finds her soon ordered to Ulrich, a small community in a remote part of the kingdom "overrun with the unliving." Accompanying her is a new deacon partner whose Sensitive skills will balance her Active gifts. En route they must combat the destruction wrought by the unliving; about to lose a desperate battle with them, they're rescued by Raed Rossin, captain of an Ulrich-bound ship. Raed is Pretender to the throne and plagued with a "Curse" that draws the unliving to him like moths to a flame. When they reach Ulrich, they discover that evil emanates from the Priory itself, permeating the town and determined to destroy everyone in it. Balantine clogs her epic tale with battle after battle, introduces villains with bewildering frequency, and sustains such an unrelenting tension that the exhausted reader finally succumbs to indifference by her story's end.