A Slice of Quietude

Rating:

About the Author:
(Taken from Amazon)

In a previous life, Sharon Cho was one of the good guys, a comic-book agent who fought for her clients' rates and royalties. Then she hit her 30's and realized she needed insurance and instead, became a minion of evil empires aka insurance companies. But she never forsook the arts, instead writing by night. Sure, her wife and three dogs cried out for love and attention but the creative gods had to be appeased. And this is the result of that appeasement.

Blurb:

The Quietude, a psychic realm accessible by only a select few, is Kat’s secret for improving her deadly focus. It’s how she became a high level Midnight Slicer, an elite assassin. But when she meets Tristien Waef inside the Quietude, Kat knows she’s outmatched. Tristien, scarred from head to toe both physically and emotionally, displays unheard-of abilities inside the Quietude! In a rare move, Kat throws caution to the wind, and joins Tristien and her two friends: the battle-hardened Cela and the almost-famous bard Kinjara, in their travels. But will the Midnight Slicers allow Kat to shift allegiances? And can a budding relationship with Kat get Tristien to move beyond her traumatic past?

Review:

At it's heart, this is a very fascinating book.  The main characters, Tristien and Kat, are falling head-over-heels in love, but their past demons get in the way of their ability to commit and fully open up to one another.  For Tristien, the past demons are physical; for Kat, they are mental.  I would love to go into depth about their issues, but it may spoil the read.

 

For me, the story is foremost a love story and the battles/fights are secondary.  I have always enjoyed stories where humans were the most important thing, and this novel delivers on that.

 

Alongside Tristien and Kat are two friends, Cela and Kinjara.  Their pasts are not delved into greatly, but seeing as how they are secondary characters, this is not necessary.  What they do have are unique characteristics that really help them leap off of the page and take on a life of their own.

 

While I did enjoy this book, there were some stylistic decisions that affected my read.  For one, each character was referred to in a multitude of ways.  For instance, Kat was referred to by nickname, full name, the olive woman, dark haired woman, the Slicer, the Midnight Slicer etc. (these names may not be exact).  I was pulled from the story every time one of these was used, and this happened for every character.

 

Another issue that I had was the frequent use phrases at the beginning of a sentence.  This would happen to a majority of the sentences in a paragraph, and it would create a rhythm in reading that would pull me from the story.

 

There were a few more issues that brought this to three stars.

 

Aside from all of those things, though, this was an engaging novel with some beautifully written sentences.  I will definitely be reading the next book!

 

 

Purchase A Slice of Quietude at Amazon.