A Mighty Rolling Thunder by Kerry Alan Denney

The end of the world is just the beginning of the terror…

Spring, 2024: Two spirit hordes break through from another dimension, and make half the world’s population vanish. The spirits possess the survivors, dividing them into two groups: those who fight to retain their humanity, and marauders who destroy everything in their paths.

Artist Livi DeSilva is fleeing from possessed killers when she meets Conor McLain, a man suffering from amnesia. Outnumbered and outgunned, Livi and Conor team up and fight off homicidal lunatics and ruthless gangs, only to end up cornered by their deadliest foe: billionaire Victor van Danz, a psychopath who commands the new world’s dark forces. Victor craves immortality, and kidnaps Livi. He believes that when he kills Livi in front of her collection of canvases and absorbs her life energy, he will transform into a god.

With only Conor, two amazing dogs, and a band of plucky children to aid her, Livi must harness the power of the spirits inside her and use it to defeat Victor — or die in the clutches of a madman.

Purchase Link: Amazon.com

Goodreads: A Mighty Rolling Thunder by Kerry Alan Denney

Review

Rating: 4 stars

*I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review*

When a mysterious event causes half of the world’s population to vanish and others to become violent due to delusions, artist Livi DeSilva goes on the run with her dog Beauty. Suddenly gifted with the ability to communicate with each other, Livi and Beauty meet Connor and his dog T-Rex as well as a group of orphaned children. Then Livi finds herself the target of power-crazed billionaire Victor van Danz who believes that Livi is the key him achieving immortality.

I really enjoyed reading A Mighty Rolling Thunder. It’s a very well-written novel with immensely likeable main characters and supporting cast. I loved how Livi and Connor could communicate with their dogs. I would love to be able to have that ability with my cat! And that they could deepened the already close bond between them. The villain Victor van Danz was chilling to read. The conclusions that he had come to that were feeding his own power trip and ego were clearly the thoughts of a mad man, but he found them completely logical and acted on them without a thought or care for the consequences.

The mystery behind the disappearances of the population was never fully explained but that added to the read as you were left to make up your own minds. I really like reads like that, which allow you to draw your own conclusions.
I definitely recommend this novel as once you pick up A Mighty Rolling Thunder you won’t want to put it down.

Edo’s Awakening (Stories of The Conscious Dreamer Series #1) by Sharolyn G Brown

Edo is a Dream Traveler on the verge of completing his mission from his gods, and ascending to the next caste. However, when things go wrong with his mission on Earth, Edo is held responsible for this potential failure. As punishment, he’s stripped of his caste privileges. Edo, who only knows life as a Traveler, quickly finds himself at the mercy of his Helper, Danyu, for assistance navigating this new world.

As he spends time in Danyu’s world, Edo sees a side of life in the compound that’s foreign to him. Though Danyu tries to keep him in the dark about what’s happening, the little he does see makes him question his own life. Once he starts to question everything he’s believed was true, can Edo go back to being who he was before his punishment?

This novella takes place before the events in The Heaviness of Knowing and can be read as a standalone novel.

Where to Buy: Amazon.com

Goodreads: Edo’s Awakening

Review

Rating: 5 stars

*I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review*

Edo’s Awakening is a companion novella to The Conscious Dreamer Series and events within this novella take place before The Heaviness of Knowing, which is the first book in the series.

In Edo’s Awakening, dream traveller Edo is tasked with assisting his Earth connection Liam in the building of test rockets. His work is overseen by The Keepers whom he believes are Gods and must be obeyed without question. Edo is one of the best travellers and he is confident that he will complete his mission. However when he finds himself unable to make contact with Liam, Edo is called in front of The Keepers’ Representatives where he learns that the test rocket killed an Earthling thus putting his entire mission in jeopardy. If Liam fails on Earth then Edo will die. Until he can re-establish a connection with Liam, Edo finds himself stripped of his caste and forced into manual labour as punishment for the failure. Forced to rely completely on his helper, Danyu, Edo begins to discover the truth about The Keepers and the secret resistance that is building against them.

I really enjoyed learning how Edo discovered the truth about The Keepers. He is one of my favourite characters in the series so it was great to read his backstory and discover more about his past. The novella also gave some more information of the early days of the resistance as well as setting things up nicely for the first novel in the series. I had great sympathy for Edo throughout the novella. His dedication and fear of The Keepers was very well conveyed and you really got a sense of how completely in control they were despite them being more of a passive threat rather than ever present.

Edo’s Awakening is a great read. It’s fast-paced and gripping right from the first page, and serves as an excellent introduction to The Conscious Dreamer series.