REVIEW: Guardian Dawn ~ Anthony Stevens ~ Lyrical Press, Inc. ~ Thriller/Urban Fantasy

Title: Guardian Dawn-Common Ground Series-Book One
Author: Anthony Stevens
Website of Author: http://anthonystevens.wordpress.com/
Publisher: Lyrical Press, Inc.
Website of Publisher: http://www.lyricalpress.com
Genre: Thriller/Urban Fantasy
Publication Date: Monday 14 July, 2008
ISBN: NA
Length: abt. 158 pages
Format: eBook
Reviewer: Lucille P Robinson http://www.lucilleperkinsrobinson.com
Alternative-Read.com

The story opens with the spirit guides who have taken the animal forms of Raven and Coyote meeting just outside the park at night. A problem of national security has developed and although the guides know very little about it, they share what they know with Harry, a homeless man, and Mrs. Walters, the bag lady, along with several other young people.

Meanwhile, the story shifts to the terrorists led by Captain Khalid, whom we meet later in the story. Pete, Sam, Abdul, and Mustafa meet to finalize plans for causing widespread fear and panic around the Capitol, believing that these emotions can do more destruction than a few bombs placed to kill a few people. Trucks loaded with old tires and a bomb each will act as blockades to two of the main highways while another group of terrorists work elsewhere. The spirit guides can see these things, warn the humans and Julius, the man supervising this special group of humans, calls a meeting. At the meeting, Julius introduces all the players, including a panther, small cats, a teenager, Betty, with special powers for communication with cats, and others who are able to communicate with other animals. Some of these people do not realize their talents.

As the story unfolds, we watch as Julius and his group expertly brings under control the first attempt by the terrorists to bring about widespread panic and destruction. As soon as the police officers have everything under control, Julius and his gang meet with a special secret agency for a debriefing.

Then on to the next threat. An old nuclear bomb is about to be smuggled into the area around Maryland and Delaware and the Navy Seals are sent to rescue a group of women taken hostage on the boat that's bringing in the bomb. With action as good as any Schwarzenegger movie, the threat is defused, but not without more lives lost than in the first one. Now the reader waits for the next installments: Guardian Noon is expected on sale November 17th and Guardian Sunset is in edits now. Guardian Knight will be released first quarter of 2009. You won't want to miss them.

Guardian Dawn is not just a simple action story with a couple of big terrorists' attacks. It tells the story of people and animals with special talents, one of which is the ability to communicate with each other through the mind. As one can imagine, many events are triggered by these talents. This is a very interesting concept laid out in a convincing way through a believable plot acted out by believable characters. Although it is basically fantasy, the problems facing the characters are highly modern and are dealt with today. Mr. Stevens' writing style is easy on the mind and the eye and holds the readers attention from beginning to end. And even at the last word on the last page, the reader is asking, What's going to happen next? I like the way the author uses sub titles instead of the usual Chapter 1, 2, 3… titles. The switch between animal and person goes on as smoothly as the switch from person to person and scene to scene. Mr. Stevens doesn't hide the fact that not everyone can survive, not everyone can be successful and not everyone can come through the same experiences without mental traumas that stick with them till death. But there is always hope.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

I'm an olde pharte technogeek, writer, photographer, leathercrafter, Dom, car nut, SCAdian history freak, costumer, scale modeler and graphics enthusiast. I've gone by the handle Master Anthony Stevens from time to time, or just MAS. In Spanish, that is… MAS que los de mas, MAS de todo o' MAS que nada.

I'm a cat lover and live in northern Virginia. My own favorite reading matter is SciFi, Fantasy and of course, Erotica. Musical tastes run from Beethoven to Buffett and Willie Nelson to Jean Luc Ponty. One of my hobbies is attending SciFi, Fantasy and Fetish conventions and taking pictures of all the lovely ladies in costume. Over the years, I've lived in Florida, Mexico, Virginia, New Jersey, Indiana, Texas and California.