Reviewed by Dee

TITLE: Conquest: Kai’s Story

SERIES: The Four Horsemen #1

AUTHOR: Kaden Shay

PUBLISHER: Supposed Crimes          

LENGTH: 84,360 Words

RELEASE DATE: December 01, 2016

BLURB:         

In the late 24th century, life seemed to be going well for the human population of Earth. War, famine, debt, and disease had been eradicated and a new era of peace and discovery was ushered in. However, as history has taught us over and over again, there is rarely a rise without a corresponding fall.
When a new technology which brought free, clean energy to all of mankind failed, the planet and its human population suffered great loss. With most of the people once inhabiting the planet dead or dying, a new time of human rose to the place of survival: the Regen. Able to use the deadly radiation leaked into Earth’s flora, fauna, and atmosphere as a healing agent, the Regens constantly regenerate their cell structure. The result is a lack of radiation-caused disease and lengthened lifespans.
However, each and every human being must have its opposite and for the Regens this meant the Purists. Average humans who were somehow immune to radiation poisoning and other effects. Taking up their side against the Regens and labeling them evil, a new era of struggle, powerplays, and fighting dawned.
Follow four Regen Resistance Generals in their quest to be named as equals to the Purists. Each General, giving a nickname by the Purist leaders, represents one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Meet Kai, known by her enemies as Conquest, in this first installment of a set of four novels.

REVIEW:      

This is the third book I’ve read by Kaden Shay and I’m officially a fan. It would be fair to say I’m not normally a fan of first-person narration, however, Kaden does it so well I barely noticed. Okay, you can’t not notice, but hell, Kai is one of the most engaging heroines. I was happy to spend the entire story in her head. She is a General who cares about her people with a passion. While she makes no bones about it, she also has a gentle nature.

This story is set 220 years ‘after the event.’ Humans and animals alike have mutated, don’t worry nothing icky. There are Purist and Regen, humans who have regenerated, people belong to one of four levels. That to me sounds daunting, but believe me it’s not. The story unfolds at such a good pace; not once did I find myself lost.

The relationship between the two heroines, I’m loathe to say who Kai’s love interest is, as their relationship took me by surprise, was adorable. The other generals are suspicious of said lover, and understandably so.

Humans aside, the wolves and horses with their almost human ability to understand their owners, were absolutely beautifully woven into this story. I found myself snickering a time or two reading about their antics, and also crushed when they pined for lost ones much the same as a human would.

While the ending is not a cliff-hanger as such, there’s definitely a lot of things still to be resolved in this new world. The very last line left me smiling like a loon and I can’t wait to get my hands on book two.

Summary, this story is extremely well written, the plot flows effortlessly, it made me feel, the characters come to life, I hated having to put it aside to get on with real life. In short, Conquest ticked all the boxes that make a book a top-notch read for me. This story is about to take center stage on my favorites shelf.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS: 

Supposed Crimes

Amazon