Soulless Monk by Lincoln Farish & Giveaway Winner

Junior Inquisitor Giveaway

The winners of the Junior Inquisitor Giveaway are:

 Emily Kaplan

  Adrian Shotbolt

Kristine Twigg

Congratulations everyone, and a special thanks to Lincoln Farish for providing the books for this giveaway.  Now, read Nell’s review of the Inquisitor Series Book 2, Soulless Monk.

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He keeps growing stronger…

Title:  Soulless Monk
Author: Lincoln Farish
Series:  Inquisitor Series 02
Publish Date: October 1, 2015
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Source: Purchased

Publisher’s Description: Brother Sebastian is in trouble. Again. Banished from New England and sent to train with the hyper-violent Hammers, Sebastian wants to atone, but an army of necromancers, battle-mages, and at least one sorceress is seriously messing up his plans. James, former Inquisitor and disciple of Thaddeus, is lurking about, and even with the help of a bunch of heavily-armed Hammers, will Sebastian be to able stop gut-rippers, constructs, lichs…and a newly returned Thaddeus?

Nervous Nellie’s nervousness necessitates knowledge of the novel (in other words, SPOILERS!)

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In true Lincoln Farish form, this story is not for the faint hearted.  Gross, grisly death, reanimation, constructs, battle scenes, mean, cruel & heartless witches and lots of self flagellation are prominent.  This story bounces back and forth between James, Thaddeus and Sebastian.  I will admit to skipping some particularly gruesome descriptions of Thaddeus’ malevolence.  Compared to Thaddeus, James is a candy striper with a helpful heart of gold. Thaddeus is one twisted SOB.  He’s vicious.  I have never watched “Chucky” in those scary movies, but I bet “Chucky” hides his eyes when Thaddeus comes around.  Yikes.

As with all evil and demented loony tune bad guys, Thaddeus is not down for the count.  James is….or I should say…was in the wind until he felt Thaddeus’ rebirth.  James decides in a fit of self preservation, that he needs to, first and foremost, kill Thaddeus….again.  If that doesn’t work, beg for forgiveness.  Yeah…right. Dream on, evil dude.

For the past 15 months, Sebastian has been through hell.  First, he had to heal from the torture.  Then, there was a formal Inquiry.  Pardon me for using a foul word in Sebastian’s world, but it was a witch hunt. Plain and simple. The powers that be wanted a scapegoat. Believe me when I say that even the monks are subjected to politics and mind games.  Sebastian had to pass all sorts of tests before he was even allowed what lamely could be called “house arrest” at the Priory.  All the torture he went through and he is still not off the hook. This guy cannot catch a break. I, however, enjoy Sebastian’s humanity and humility. The Inquiry or “trial” scene was incredible and was very well written.  I’m sure I have missed some nuances that will come to light in further books, but luckily I will always be able to go back and read it again.  The Inquiry scene is probably my favorite scene in the book.

A chapter or so later, time goes by and when I met up with Sebastian in the present day, he had gone through his training as a “Hammer of God”.  They are the enforcers of the Benedictine Order of Poor Brothers.  Before Sebastian and his classmates can officially graduate to Inquisitors, all hell breaks loose.  Witches, Warlocks, Evil nasty minions (we are not talking the little yellow guys from my favorite movie either) are all descending on Arizona.  There is position to gain and schmoozing to do in order to gain favor from the reigning king of megalomaniacal and psychotic evil, Thaddeus.  If there is one thing you can trust it’s that you can never trust the bad guys.

The battle scenes that are transcribed are a work of art.  Since I am not experienced in combat nor weaponry, I really shouldn’t have much input, but I think Mr. Farish’s years in the military guarantee accuracy.

I can’t give up the ending, but suffice it to say that it’s not a cliffhanger.  I do have to leave you with my other favorite scene where Thaddeus says……

How could he be that strong?

Makes me think long and hard about the possibilities of that question.  Who is Thaddeus talking about?  Bertrand?  Nah….at least I don’t think so.  I am ever so curious as to where the next book leads.

Speaking of the next book……..I have some very important information about the next book.  I have it on VERY GOOD authority that book #3 in the Inquisitor Series will be called The Witch’s Lair and it will be released sometime around February 2016.  Here’s a little tease that the author was strong armed into sharing.  (Yeah, not really.  He’s much bigger than me and can squash me like a bug.)

 By noon there had been three attempts to murder me. We only got in a few miles, far enough that no one could hear our screams, when a twig fury stepped out from behind a tree, and tackled me. A twig fury is exactly what it sounds like, five feet of angry sticks held together by a bitter, malevolent spirit, bent on mayhem and death. It plowed into me knocking me down and landing on top.

That excerpt is from chapter one, but I don’t know where in chapter one.  I also know that once again we find Brother Sebastian fighting for his life and trying to keep his mind and soul intact, this time in the Pacific Northwest.

Thank you, Mr. Farish, for Sebastian’s world and may you have the glory and fame you so deserve minus any skulking ninjas.

Other reviews…

• Goodreads
• Amazon

If you like this book, you should try…..

• Sandman Slim series by Richard Kadrey
• Eric Carter series by Stephen Blackmoore
• Soren Chase series by Rob Blackwell