Thunder

GIVEAWAY

CALHOUN, BONNIE S.
THUNDER

In post-apocalyptic America, Selah Chavez is crouched in long grass on a shore littered with the rusted metal remnants of a once-great city. It is the day before her eighteenth Born Remembrance, and she is hunting, though many people refuse to eat animal flesh, tainted by radiation during the Time of Sorrows. What Selah's really after are Landers, mysterious people from a land across the big water who survive the delirium-inducing passage in small boats that occasionally crash against the shoreline. She knows she should leave the capture to the men, but Landers bring a good price from the Company and are especially prized if they keep the markings they arrive with.

Everything falls to pieces when the Lander Selah catches is stolen by her brothers--and Selah wakes up the next morning to find the Lander's distinctive mark has suddenly appeared on her own flesh. Once the hunter, Selah is now one of the hunted, and she knows only one person who can help her--Bohdi Locke, the Lander her brothers hope to sell.

With evocative descriptions of a strange new world that combines elements of scientific advances, political intrigue, and wilderness survival, Bonnie S. Calhoun weaves a captivating tale of a world more like our own than we may want to admit.

My Review:

The promising first book in a new Dystopian series. Calhoun takes us 150 years into a bleak future steeped in mystery. Selah is a captivating heroine, hovering on the cusp of adulthood. Loved the complexities in her character -- part recalcitrant teen, part warrior, part nurturer. And she's one of the biggest mysteries in the book. Her destiny is still unclear at the end  -- a cliff hanger that will undoubtedly be dealt with in the rest of the series.

Thunder contains all the necessary ingredients for a successful YA novel. A complex plot riddled with twists and turns. Conflict -- lots of conflict! That leads to intense action scenes so vivid they made me wince. And, of course, first love at it's gnarliest. Lots of fodder for imagination in this read along with lots of unanswered questions at the end sure to leave eager readers chomping at the bit to get their hands on the sequel.

My only complaint is the absence of a solid inspirational thread. There are hints that I'm sure will come to fruition as the series progresses, but Thunder reads as a secular YA novel. And there's nothing wrong with that except for the fact that it is published by a major Christian publisher and because of that I expected that inspirational thread. It's why I read Christian fiction exclusively after all.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

If you would like an opportunity to win a copy of Thunder please leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you post a comment and add your email address, please use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in the address to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email please remember to put the title in the subject line so that it's easy for me to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Sunday January 4 2015. Offer open to international readers. Good luck!