Just wanted to let any reviewers/book bloggers know that The Wolf’s Eye is now up on Netgalley for advance readers. Access requires an account with the site. Also, I should have ARCs available in the near future for any reviewers wishing to have a physical copy. Let me know via my contact form and I’ll get one sent out. And, as always, thanks in advance for reading!
New Trade Review: The Witch's Lens
I’m delighted to share this latest review for The Witch’s Lens. Founded in 1997, The Historical Novel Society is a literary society dedicated to promoting the genre of historical fiction in all its forms, and I thank them for this review!
Full Review:
Set during WWI in the Carpathian Mountains, The Witch’s Lens adds a fantastical layer to the horror of the Great War. Alongside soldiers with rifles and artillery, witches wage battles with curses and spells, and something worse, the resurrected dead turned into bloodthirsty monsters.
In a nearby city, Petra struggles after her husband goes to fight. He has left her a camera as a gift, and she wanders at night snapping pictures on instinct. Unseen ghosts appear in the developed pictures. She’s a witch, but for years she’s buried her abilities and never knew of this one. The novel reveals her complex past slowly, as a mysterious man recruits her into a band of witches to fight on the front. As counterweight to the novel’s grimness, Petra develops bonds of friendship that allow her and the others to perform extraordinary acts of courage to save ordinary soldiers like her husband.
Smith develops the WWI historical world effectively and thus grounds the fantasy in a dark, gripping reality. However, her magical details are even more impressive, blending Eastern European folk motifs and legends with gruesome imagination. An early appearance of an undead soldier shows her talent for evocative description: “The stench of the creature’s breath and the clammy fishlike color of his skin nauseated her even from two meters away…a fully fleshed-out creature with teeth bared and bloodlust churning in its veins.”
Smith puts the historical horrors of the “war to end all wars” through a prism that both amplifies and elucidates the degree of evil that war unleashes on the world, all while telling a spellbinding, captivating story. As antidote to this dark theme, Smith portrays the redeeming idea of loyalty and sacrifice that transcends evil.
~ Available from 47North on Amazon. Don’t forget to preorder the follow up novel, THE WOLF’S EYE. ~
Cover Reveal for The Wolf's Eye!
I’m so excited to share the cover to The Wolf’s Eye, the second book in The Order of the Seven Stars series. In this installment, the members of the Order’s eastern front team are on their way back to Prague. But before they can arrive home, they’re given a new task: rid the battlefield of all evidence of the wolf curse. Knowing a certain member of the team falls under the directive, Petra and the others use the time they have between full moons to find the cure they were promised, and end up discovering so much more as the past gets churned up and reveals its secrets.
*Thanks to Kimberly Glyder for the beautiful cover design!
*As always, you can pre-order The Wolf’s Eye on Amazon.
Out May 14, 2024
Goodreads Giveaway!
If interested, there is a giveaway on Goodreads for 100 ebook copies of THE WITCH’S LENS, the first book in The Order of the Seven Stars series. The last day to enter is October 28, 2023.
Good luck!
The Witch's Lens on Audible
Audiobook fans of my previous novels may notice there is a new narrator for The Witch’s Lens on Audible. Please meet Gail Shalan, an actor, award winning audiobook narrator, and puppeteer!
Check out The Witch’s Lens on Audible!
And, as always, when you buy the ebook version of the novel on Amazon you can add audible narration for $1.99 in the US.
Happy witchy season! ✨🍂📚🧙♀️
