by Sam C. Leonhard

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for giving me the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review!
Published: 26th May 2015

Title: Forbidden Monastery
Author: Sam C. Leonhard
Publisher: DSP Publications
Book: #1 of Rage
Genre: Sci fi/Fantasy/LGBTQIA
Found: Netgalley
Rating: 4 Voodoos

Rage is a seasoned assassin, and he lives by his own rules. One of them forbids him to kill children, and at sixteen, his new target is definitely too young to die. Instead of breaking her neck, he kidnaps Lucinda of Babylon—and soon finds out the girl has the knack to annoy the hell out of him. As if taking care of a stubborn girl isn’t enough of a burden, Lucinda’s best friend Keiran joins their escape. And falls in love with Rage. And totally ignores the fact that the man in black, who cannot and will not use magic even to save his own life, does not love him back. Staying one step ahead of a madman who is desperate to end their lives, Rage and his unwilling companions travel to the Forbidden Monastery, a place where horrible magical experiments once took place. There are ghosts screaming for their blood and dangerous, wild magic is always ready to strike. At the end of the day, two people are dead, and Rage realizes with bitter clarity that his heart can break just as easily as it did when he was young.

-Netgalley

I like assassin stories, especially when the assassin isn’t full of hate…and they accidentally pick up things like stray kittens and annoying young women and mute young men and they all ruin his serious, dark killer image. I just find it so amusing!

Now, before I read this story I read a review, which is something I never, ever do. It was a complete accident and it’s also the only time I’ve ever found it to be a good thing. See, it warned me that the ending was sad and that the blurb for the next book made everything ok. I needed that bit of good news. I’m not sure I’d have found it on my own. I may have been too upset to explore further. Of course, with that warning in mind, this book didn’t make it onto the made me cry list, but it was a close one.

This world is interesting; everyone has magic except a select few ‘crippled’ people. It’s not fully explained but as this is book one in a series, I’m not bothered. Enough is covered that I’m not confused while reading, but I definitely have more questions that need answering and I look forward to being shown more of this world.

 I’m certainly curious enough to keep reading this series, Rage is a pretty interesting character, and this whole situation is just all over the place enough to be interesting. As to the relationships, within this story, the dynamics are confusing. No doubt it will take a few books to clarify this too. It’s predominantly a gay relationship, but there are elements of a threesome in there. How all this develops is key.

And, who names somewhere they don’t want people going FORBIDDEN. That’s basically a welcome mat. Mad Magician Monastery would have been better, or People Died Here Monastery or something. Sheesh.