Vengeance is Mine

Author: Katherine Elizabeth Curtis
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Vengeance is Mine is book one of The Vengeance Cycle, a chilling Christian dystopian series that is more timely than ever.

In a world ruled by women, Nathan Bordage has been trained since infancy to protect the Queen. But when he discovers a chilling secret and an ancient, mysterious book, his life will never be the same. Guided first by his best friend, Hunter, and the by a young woman who may be hiding more than he knows, Nathan will come to terms with his world, his faith, and will be tested to the breaking point...and this is only the beginning.

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Reviewer: Shannon McClure

While the beginning of this book started out a bit slow for me, once it picked up the pace it was hard to put down.  A great Dystopian novel.  It started with some choppiness in wording and occasionally it was hard to follow the word structure as paragraphs started and ended in places I didn’t expect and it was occasionally hard to follow easily from one character’s thoughts to another.  That all said, I loved the characters and once I got used to the flow of the book it was hard to put down. The ending was quite the cliffhanger that leaves the reader wanting to get to the next book right away!  This is a really good first book for this series.

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Reviewer: Beverly Laude

I love reading the dystopian genre, but seldom find any books that have a Christian background.  So, when I started reading "Vengeance is Mine", I was looking forward to something new.

I found it hard to get into the book at first.  There were typographical and grammatical errors that had me worried, but after the first few chapters, these became less frequent.

The story starts with a boy named Nathan who is in a facility with other boys.  All are being trained to protect the Queen.  Nathan makes a horrific discovery (which I won't explain in order to not spoil the story) and vows to rectify the wrongs he has seen.

He is befriended by a trainer named Hunter Bordage and the two become fast friends.  Hunter trains Nathan in special combat skills called Defensive Arts and Nathan even takes Hunter's last name.

Soon, a Challenger Queen comes along and the boys from Nathan's facility are called to war.  Once again, Nathan discovers things that horrify him.  

It's hard to say more without some major spoilers, so I will just focus on my feelings about the book.

The storyline was hard for me to follow. Things happened without very much explanation and the story tended to jump around a lot.  Characters did things that threatened their freedom or their lives, but the reader isn't told what motivated them to take these actions.  

The Christian element didn't come into play until the last quarter of the book, and then it was only briefly mentioned.  Nathan finds a "Holy Bible", doesn't know what it is, but follows a girl named Lily when she tells him that it can lead to treasure.

I think that this could have a really amazing book, but I was left feeling a little disappointed.  There was a major cliffhanger and the reader should be aware of this when they start reading the book.  This is obviously the first book in a series.  I think my major problem with the book was the things that the characters did, which were totally unbelievable. I will probably read the next book in the series just to see if the story improves.

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