P. A. Matthews

* Top Rated Fictionwise eBooks - May 2009*

Manic Readers' Review

In this fourth installment of Myth to Life preceded by The Rise Of Riley McCabe: Hunted leaves us wanting even more. Once again author P.A. Matthews has surpassed the realm of paranormal writers and given the reader another taste of Braedon, Quinlan, Andrew and Desmond’s relationships in the House Of Carlisle.

Leaving off with Riley’s departure from the House of Carlisle in order to save Braedon and protect all those within his house, the book opens with Braedon walking in a frenzy to his theater. He is distraught about Riley’s unexplained disappearance and envisions her in front of him using his mental and paranormal powers. He can feel and see her in his mind and through the energies within the ring that he wears. Desmond, his trusted friend and a member of his bloodline, has dared to speak ill of Riley to Braedon. He tells him his lover and close friend Sloan’s death was Riley’s doing and that he is better off without her. Braedon listens to his rants and his badmouthing of Riley, punishes him by placing him in his coffin for a week and not allowing him to feed on anyone’s blood. Desmond, his bodyguard for hundreds of years, does not stop when asked and continues to slander the name of Riley and finally loses the battle and is silenced. Next, he mentally communicates with Riley and feels and sees her presence in front of him and does not believe that she will not return. Not understanding why she left or where she might have gone, his behaviors become erratic, unpredictable and downright irrational. Add to that he summons, Mordecai the coffin maker and demands that he make two coffins out of the floor from the stage in his theater. He also commissions Warren to create a lining similar to a vest that he has that Riley loved and admired.

Throughout this fourth installment the author teases the reader with the hope of finding out what the Host, who has taken Riley and Conway, has done with her. At the end of Hunted, you know that she has a well thought out plan and would not have allowed herself to be placed in their control without one. Quinlan, who does feed on his blood too, makes the mistake of confiding in Andrew and the consequences to Andrew are both surprising and unsettling to say the least. Not only is Andrew permanently removed from the House of Carlisle, but also Desmond is able to send a special gift to Braedon for a night of pleasure. The girl, Pansy, claims she just wants to be a vampire and knows she will die as a result of allowing herself to become one of his followers. However, Braedon might succumb to her advances, but the end result will surprise you. The unexpected happens a lot in this book and there is much more to come. Braedon does not know that Quinlan helped Riley leave and the reasons why she made sure that no one in the House of Carlisle knew where she was going and why. In order to save Braedon and the members of his house she had to allow herself to be taken over by the Host and the Unseelies. She is a member of the High Seelie Court and is a Sidhe. She is also a shape shifter and can transform herself into another shape or form when necessary. But, what will happen to her. Will she be able to find an escape from her captors? You see, if she does not escape within a certain time period she will be a faerie forever in their power. However, the author does not reveal anything about where Riley is and what is happening to her except in Braedon’s vision. Before leaving she removed every bit of her essence from his home but by touching his ring their energies are still one. The events that follow leave the reader uncertain of what will happen next. Desmond is reawakened and allowed to feed on Braedon’s blood and come back to life. Pledging his allegiance to Braedon and promising to be his servant once again and never to go against anything or be defiant. But, the last line tells it all. What is Desmond’s real role with the Host and with what is really happening to Riley? What is behind Braedon’s killings and mad and irrational behavior? What role will Andrew play since being banished from his life? What will Riley do to escape and come back to Braedon? These questions can only be answered when the author writes the next chapter of this amazingly well written saga. I would highly recommend Myth to Life: The Rise of Riley McCabe:Blood Betrayal to all readers. I think that everyone needs to read all four installments. I know that when the next one comes out I will definitely want to read it and find out what happens next.

Unfortunately, this series is no longer available at any eBook outlet. Thank you for taking interest in this story and the series.

I am currently writing The first full-lenth Riley McCabe novel ,"The Blood-filled Kiss", and hope another publisher will choose to publish. Please check back for updates on the novel.  http://pamatthews.webs.com/wipbloodfilledkiss.htm

I can't do any of this without you, the reading public.