Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Book Review - The Hero's Companion


The Hero’s Companion: Tallent & Lowery, Book Three

By: Amy Lignor
Publisher: Suspense Publishing
Publication Date: October 2013
ISBN: 978-0615907161
Reviewed by: Ellen Feld
Review Date: October 18, 2013

Tallent and Lowery are at it again! In the third book in this fantastic series, Leah Tallent and Gareth Lowery must follow the clues to solve a new mystery in only seven days. If they fail, then Leah’s father David will surely die.

At the end of the second book in the Tallent & Lowery series, The Sapphire Storm, readers were given a glimpse into book three with a little tease of what David had discovered. The Hero’s Companion picks up the action immediately on the first page of the prologue when we learn that whatever David found has put him in serious danger, along with his friend Aaron (a character we met in book II). Enter Leah Tallent, the walking, talking, mystery-solving librarian with a card catalog brain and her fiancé Gareth Lowery, the calm, wonderfully rich, and lusciously hunky part of the duo. When we first meet up with them, they are rushing off to Leah’s parents’ home in Connecticut to talk to Leah’s mother Mary. Hopefully, Mary will be able to give some insight into what happened to her husband David.

Unfortunately, all Mary has for Leah are harsh words. She blames her daughter for reigniting David’s desire to search out artifacts, and offers no aid to her daughter other than to tell Leah that three men came and took her husband. Dumbfounded, Leah and Gareth don’t know where to start the search when they get an unexpected visitor. Anippe, another character we met in The Sapphire Storm, is a very unwelcome acquaintance who suffers from a severe case of snobbish attitude. When Anippe tells Leah that her beloved uncle Aaron was also kidnapped by three men, the women do their best to put their differences aside and work together to find David and Aaron.

With the help of a map that Leah finds taped to the underside of her father’s desk, the trio soon knows where to begin their journey – in Athens. Once the search is on, the reader is taken on an amazing trip that includes an opinionated little owl, some creepy, dank, caves and archeological digs, a variety of people offering aid (who can they trust?), as well as mythological and very real personalities from the past. Leah, Gareth, and Anippe do their best to work together to find David and Aaron, but with obstacles thrown in their way at every turn, emotions run high and bonds are tested.

The author’s knowledge of history, as well as her background in mythology is quite impressive. Combine that with her aptitude at creating some very cool fictional tales and her ability to intertwine all three, and you’ll find yourself wondering just what is real and what is fiction in The Hero’s Companion.

I’ve mentioned in my reviews of the other books in this series that one of the things I love is the dialogue, particularly between Leah and Gareth. It is so realistic and flows effortlessly, and really captures the essence of these two lovers. Quick witted, it is at times funny, at other times dead-pan serious, and always works perfectly. Add in the zinger that Leah discovers about herself at the end of The Hero’s Companion, and you’ll be begging the author to please hurry up and write book four!

Quill says: This series just keeps getting better and better. The Hero’s Companion is a definite nail-bitter that will have you on the edge of your seat until the very end. When is the next book coming out? I can’t wait!







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