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coffeedogsbooks's review
4.0
Taking place twenty years after the civil war, this second book in the Eidola Project series has William James and his team in Petersburg Virginia investigating deaths targeting the African American community and suspected to be supernatural in nature, rumors are that it could be a werewolf. As the team investigates and has to fight off racism (the KKK), supernatural forces, and fighting and mistrust among themselves. Since each book covers a different investigation, they technically can be read as standalone stories, but I will go back and read the first since I feel like I am missing some back history with the characters. If you are new to the series, I suggest starting at book one and reading both of the installments to date. I enjoyed the book even though werewolf stories aren’t normally my thing. This will appeal to those who enjoy historical horror. I give this 3.75 of 5 stars and thank Blackthorn Book Tours and Robert Herold for the review copy of this book. As always my thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.
ravensandlace's review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.0
I could probably count on one hand the number of werewolf books I’ve read. Honestly, I think they were all from the Twilight series. It’s not that I actively go and avoid werewolf stories, it’s just they aren’t out there. Well, I’m sure they are, but I honestly don’t see them promoted like ghost stories and hauntings.
Well after reading this book, I am ready for more werewolf books, especially by this author! I am amazed by this author’s skill. It’s written like an old style book, very Gone with the Wind-esque but better. I’m just so impressed. I devoured this book in a couple settings and I stayed up way past my best time, trying to finish this book.
There were a lot of characters but I found that I didn’t get confused at all. Each had distinct personalities that made them unique and I didn’t get confused with who was who at all. My only criticism is that I think this book was the second book in a series and while it read nicely as a standalone, it felt like I should have known who the characters were and their pasts, which I didn’t. But that didn’t hinder my enjoyment of this book by any means.
I know I mention this in the trigger warnings but I felt like I needed to make a paragraph about this. There is rampant racism in this book. It’s not glorified or anything but this book takes place a few years after the Civil War. Racial tensions were still incredibly high during that time. So there is a lot of racism, especially from a member in the group along with most of the town. There is a KKK group and everything is still segregated. Overall, just be mindful of all the racism because there is a lot.
Overall, this was an amazing book. I loved every minute of it. The plot was interesting, the time and place was cool and well done, the book itself was well written. Everything was just great about this book. I certainly will keep an eye on this author and any future work he releases.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, and Murder