Home Beyond Hell

De: Karen Yakey

Narrado por: Alyssa Rogge, Dallin Bradford

Mistakes can kill you. Captain Ethan Evans has been running from his for two years. Europe is a big place. He and his outlaw army of ex-soldiers are good at surviving, but commandeering a crumbling Dutch fort in the Netherlands might be just another mistake. Hidden by a mask and robe, his scorched, scarred body is a constant reminder of what he did…and of what he deserves. Maybe 2066 will be the year his enemies catch up and put his head on a pike. Because vengeance is a ruthless hunter.

Home is full of painful memories for Vanessa Brouwer. She yearns for a change, and a chance to find a soul mate. But who knew some freaky Phantom of the Opera wannabe and his band of marauders would take over the fort she’s trying to escape? His attitude is icier than a North Holland winter, but something fierce burns beneath that mysterious exterior. And the more he melts, the more she wants to see what’s behind his dark disguise and even darker mood swings.

Now, despite the deadly threat drawing closer, the one thing they can’t seem to escape is each other. Home Beyond Hell is the first in an epic dystopian romance series that blends humor, action, and dark drama in a near-future fiction, reminiscent of a Beauty and the Beast/Mad Max mashup.

©2022 Karen Yakey (P)2022 Karen Yakey

Dystopian romance

This book is outside my normal genres. That being said, it’s better than I expected. I’ve known the author a long time and always knew she is a good writer, and this debut novel did not disappoint. There are two protagonists, the enigmatic Captain and the naive Vanessa, and the book does a good job of dancing between each of their perspectives. He is running to escape the mistakes of his past, which have left him literally scarred, and she is running to escape what she perceives as her stagnant future in a dystopian, but not post-apocalyptic, Holland. There are some elements which I’d like to see resolved in future books in this series, which I intend to keep reading, not the least of which is some more world-building. I definitely wonder why the world is the way it is and what brought these ragtag soldiers together under their Captain’s command.
The performances are solid. Both narrators bring a number of characters to life, and tell the story in a captivating way. Even if this isn’t your normal genre of book, I suggest giving it a try and seeing what the author has wrought here. It’s well written, well researched, and well executed. Enjoy.