Smoke and Summons

Publisher's Summary

A captivating world of monsters and magic from the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Paper Magician Series.

As a human vessel for an ancient spirit, Sandis lives no ordinary life. At the command of her master, she can be transformed against her will into his weapon - a raging monster summoned to do his bidding. Unlike other vessels, Sandis can host extremely powerful spirits, but hosting such creatures can be fatal. To stay alive, she must run. And in a city fueled by smoke and corruption, she finds a surprising ally.

A cunning thief for hire, Rone owns a rare device that grants him immortality for one minute every day - a unique advantage that will come in handy in Sandis’s fight for freedom. But Sandis’s master knows how powerful she is. He’s determined to get her back, and he has the manpower to find her, wherever she runs.

Now, to outwit her pursuers, Sandis must put all her trust in Rone and his immortal device. For her master has summoned more than mere men to hunt her down....

©2019 Charlie N Holmberg LLC. (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Well written

I always enjoy Holmberg's writing. Although this one is not my favorite, it was well written and entertaining. The plot moves at a good pace, and there are not any slow places in the story.

good book, just not my type of story

good book, good writing, just not my type of story. Just trying something new with this one. Interesting use of to narrators to give his and her protagonist points of view.

Best Charlie Holmberg book so far!

This was the most engaging CH book to date! I can't believe it's over already and I'm aching for the next. The characters reactions to struggles were authentic and raw.

Charlie N Holmberg Does It Again

This woman is publishing gold. She hooked me with the paper magician series. Then the two quick fairytalesque adventures with ice magic and food magic really drew me in. My only complaint so far has been that the stories aren't long enough. She certainly solved that problem here. Can't WAIT to read the rest of the series!

Better than Paper Magician!

Wow! What a great story and the MCs are amazing! Reminds me of The Talisman in regards to the dangers, friendships and twists of 2 hunted and haunted people on a perilous quest. Well read and hopefully she will write many more in this series!

A Touch of Everything

The book has strong characters that engulf you. The right amount of thinking and passion mixed with the struggle of survival and a dose of magic give this book the ability to capture your attention from start to finish.

By the end of the book, I was just annoyed.

I honestly think that a great editor could have helped the author with some of the flaws in the book. There were times in the story where I thought I might start to like the main characters, but they just kept making stupid choices and then they were surprised at the consequences of their actions. Or worse ... they were surprised that someone evil did something evil. Why was the main character obsessed over her nonexistent relationship with a demon who possessed her to destroy everything around her? This just didn't work for me.
I know it is a YA book that I got for free but the ending irritated me, because it isn't just a cliffhanger, it almost negates (or makes worthless) the journey you have taken with the characters this far. Nothing is resolved in the first book, so I don't care enough to continue their adventure. Instead, I chose to never know what happens ... which bothers me because there was a lot of potential.

More of a Great Journey than a wild ride.

If you like this Author, you'll like this book. I give it a strong C rating. First it is not the Magician series, it's a darker world. Second the Author opens in the middle of the action, introducing charaters, monsters, and the likes on the run; then give explanation of what and who they are. Third (spoiler) it's a cliffhanger until the next book. All that said, I enjoyed listening to the book and really want to see how things turn out for Rone and Sandis. She wants to fine family and home. He wants to help her.

Violence

This book had interesting characters. and was read with feeling but the level of violence, was just too much. I wouldnt recommend this anybody. Too much glorifying and sexulizing of abuse of women. A teenager reading this would get all the wrong signals about what is good.

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