Reviewed by: E
BP Note: Don’t forget to take a look at yesterday’s guest post by Laurence MacNaughton and to find a link for a giveaway he is hosting.
Can her magic save the world — before his curse destroys it?
Magic is real. Only a handful of natural-born sorcerers can wield its arcane power against demons, foul creatures, and the forces of darkness. These protectors of the powerless are descendants of an elite order. The best magic-users in the world.
Unfortunately, Dru isn’t one of them.
Sure, she’s got a smidge of magical potential. She can use crystals to see enchantments or brew up an occasional potion. And she can research practically anything in the library of dusty leather-bound tomes she keeps stacked in the back of her little store. There, sandwiched between a pawn shop and a 24-hour liquor mart, she sells enough crystals, incense, and magic charms to scrape by. But everything changes the day a handsome mechanic pulls up in a possessed black muscle car, his eyes glowing red.
Just being near Greyson raises Dru’s magical powers to dizzying heights. But he’s been cursed to transform into a demonic creature that could bring about the end of the world.
Then she discovers that the Harbingers, seven fallen sorcerers, want to wipe the planet clean of humans and install themselves as new lords of an unfettered magical realm. And when they unearth the Apocalypse Scroll, the possibility of a fiery cosmic do-over suddenly becomes very real.
There’s only one chance to break Greyson’s curse and save the world from a fiery Doomsday – and it’s about to fall into Dru’s magically inexperienced hands…
This blurb came from Goodreads
I picked this up for review because a few things in the blurb sounded like they would be my equivalent of catnip. Dru was most certainly not one of the powerful magical elite but she could effect changes through detailed research along with a knowledge of and affinity for crystals. Some of my fondest memories as a child include going to gem and mineral shows and I still find the shows very mentally refreshing. To be perfectly honest I skimmed the rest of the blurb out of my excitement over the heroine except for the piece about Dru needing to rescue the world from Doomsday.
I found Dru a pleasantly quirky heroine, not quite as savvy as I expected in a few areas like managing her business but also one who spent time and effort on the things she valued above others. She had a wide assortment of friends and a soft-spot for anyone in distress so while I was initially concerned I liked seeing the results of her care and patience. It was this same care for others which brought her into trying to help Greyson and then when she discovered the extent of the problem to try to save the world.
Greyson was a much harder character for me to develop a feel for. His personality changes as the strength and impact of the curse ebbed and flowed were very distinct and made it a challenge to learn who Greyson was before targeted. I liked what I saw initially and how he fought to retain his sense of self while protecting others but unlike Dru, it often seemed like I was observing Greyson from a distance so I never really knew what motivated him. So, I have a few questions about Greyson and with the developments of this story even more curiosity about why he was targeted.
MacNaughton provided a very interesting twist on some myths about the world ending and the signs of the apocalypse. I really thought how he modernized some of them quite clever and loved the additional personality aspects, which went along with his modern twist. I also found the supporting characters intriguing in their own ways and I am rather curious about their particular back-stories. I enjoyed watching everyone interact together although I wanted Dru to have a bit more confidence in herself as a person even if her magical skills weren’t as strong as her ability to research and create solutions.
Overall, I enjoyed reading It Happened One Doomsday. It took a little while for the action to really get started but once it did things happened rather quickly and I found myself eagerly flipping to the next page. MacNaughton’s website doesn’t say if he is planning on a sequel BUT given how the story ended and the questions I still have unanswered I shall be rather displeased if he doesn’t. I really want to find out what happens to Dru, Greyson, her friends, and the Harbingers evil plans.
I give It Happened One Doomsday a B