Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: Unholy
SERIES: Witchbane #4
AUTHOR: Morgan Brice
PUBLISHER: Darkwind Press
LENGTH: 224 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 5, 2020
BLURB:
A cycle of ritual murders. A coven of dark warlocks, drawing their immortality from the magic of their dead master. Two men sworn to stop the deaths, destroy the warlocks, and avenge the victims. Except this time, the killer flips the script.
Seth Tanner swore vengeance on the dark witches who killed his brother, Jesse. He rescued Evan Malone from one of the witches, and they’ve fallen in love despite the danger and chaos, going on the road to complete the quest and bring an end to the ritual murders. Their relationship is still new, tested at every turn by danger and magic.
Seth and Evan head to Charleston to stop the next warlock and save his intended victim. But this time, they’re too late. The warlock has already powered up, and he’s determined to destroy the two hunters one way or another. A deadly curse on Seth and Evan means time is running out. Can they find a way to turn the tables, or is Charleston their final destination?
Unholy is an urban fantasy MM paranormal romance with plenty of supernatural suspense, hurt/comfort, hot sex, found family, dark magic, and paranormal thrills. It is part of a series but can be read as a standalone and features an evolving, established romantic relationship with all the feels.
REVIEW:
In the fourth book of the Witchbane series, Seth and Evan travel to Charleston to deal with a psycho witch-disciple hellbent on getting his dose of immortality. On the borders of the city, the couple is involved in an RTA and end up in the hospital. While there, a curse is forced upon them which makes Seth’s touch, and only Seth’s touch, painful to Evan. It is soon discovered that the evil dies with the act of death itself – the end of the warlock, Seth or Evan.
The warlock needs a human sacrifice to secure his fix of immortality. Matters are further stressed when Seth and Evan discover that the witch made an early offering, and the man they came to save is already dead. The ritual ensured that the warlock is juiced up to the gills and more powerful than any of those they’d already faced.
Luckily the boys are not alone. Seth and Evan acquire their own Scooby gang – an alliance of supernatural beings (who have their own series of books) come to help. Cassidy, Teag, Simon and a cast that includes, among others, a psychic, a medium and a vampire do their bit. The coalition rally the troops while Seth and Evan grow weaker by the day – another side effect of the curse.
The story continues with an intricate series of discoveries that include ghosts, gang warfare against powerful Charleston families, magical black-market dealings, and a whole lot more.
This story took another step-up in the fight against supernatural bad guys and breaks the pattern of the other stories in the series. There’s more on the line and a bigger cast to deal with it. It has a beautiful blend of backstory, drama, angst, love, embedded storylines, new theories and ass-kicking
As with the others in the series, Unholy is told in the third person with named chapters from Seth and Evan’s viewpoint. Got to admit that I was so engrossed in the story that I didn’t notice much on the technical side. However, phrases relating to how Seth and Evan’s days could be numbered stand out, and are repeated almost every chapter, which had the effect of losing their potency. Seth and Evan are understandably worried about their mortality. The two yo-yo between despair and putting up a strong front. Thankfully, Toby and Milo (the father figures) give Seth a pep talk.
The warlock has been building his business for many years and has his act together. He knows who Seth and Evan are, and why they’re in Charleston. He uses everything at his disposal to ensure the boys fail. He plays games with his own band of ambitious warriors.
Unholy is the wildest ride thus far in the Witchbane series. There is a lot to like, some parts I loved – I cried at one point. And, there were a couple of places where I wanted to slap someone. But, on the whole, I found this to be the best-balanced book and a turning point in the overall fight against the Gremory disciples’ drama.
SERIES REVIEW:
The Witchbane series currently comprises of 4 novels and 1 novella.
The story takes off when Seth loses his brother, Jesse, in a paranormal sacrifice that was mistaken identity. The tragic event sets Seth on a mission to rid the earth of the warlocks associated with dark witch/warlock Rhyfel Gremory. En route, Seth encounters Evan – a man destined to become a sacrifice. Instead of death, love brings the two together, and they become hunters of the paranormal.
The first books are exceptionally sexually charged. In some instances, equal parts of story to sex. Which given the young nature of their relationship, is to be expected. What was lovely to see with each novel, was Evan’s progression with training, confidence, and the practical use of magic to thwart supernatural being. After initial worries, self-doubts, and hang-ups, the relationship between Evan and Seth becomes stronger too, as they work more as a team – one able to anticipate the actions and thoughts of the other. Of course there’s always a bad guy wanting to upset their love nest.
Each book can be read as a standalone. As they all feature Seth and Evan, when reading one after the other, there is a lot repetition of back story – a necessary evil of making them all independent of one another. However, when looking at the release dates of the novels, one needs the backstory as a reminder for what happened previously.
All the novels are told in the third person, present tense, with named chapters from the viewpoints of Evan and Seth. They aren’t technically brilliant – hence a range of 4 and 4.5’s instead of 5 stars. That aside, the scene-setting is superb. There was many an occasion when shivers went down my spine, and I could imagine myself there. Absolute highlights were the paranormal encounters. I loved how the drama’s played out and there were a couple of occasions when I cried.
Most of the stories follow the pattern of searching for information while participating in minor paranormal dramas which all lead up to a big battle at the end.
Out of the five, Unholy was superb, action packed and best-balanced book. But, Dark Rivers was my favorite. It is the first time that Evan and Seth have help in their quest and the cast are badass, originating from the priesthood and military. The story arc showed that not all supernatural beings are evil, and I loved how they were used to help fight evil.
The series got me hooked on reading paranormal stories. While reading the extras at the end, I discovered that the Witchbane stories are interconnected with other series. The characters that make appearances also have books dedicated to them individually.
Simon Kincaide and Vic D’Amato – Badlands adventures. These guys have phone-in cameos throughout the Witchbane novels.
Erik Mitchell and Ben Nolan – Treasure Trail series.
Ex-priest Travis Dominick and ex-soldier/FBI/cop Brent Lawson hunt demons in Pittsburgh in the Sons of Darkness series. These guys feature in Dark Rivers #3 which I loved. These guys are seriously badass.
Cassidy Kincaide and her team specialize in cursed objects and supernatural threats in the Deadly Curiosities series. This motley crew have a smidgeon of a mention in Flame & Ash #3 but come into their own in Unholy #4
The Night Vigil and Deadly Curiosities series are written under Morgan Brice’s other pen name Gail Z. Martin.
To create such a vast world is a fantastic feat. It will be interesting to see where Seth and Evan’s story goes next. Unholy was one hell of a jump in action, story, intel and a joining of the bigger paranormal family. Part of me can’t help thinking that I came into this world a little late and that I should have read stories from the extended world first. There are quite a lot of characters to remember and at times it was a little overwhelming. Other than the vampire, Milo and Toby, I frequently got the others a little mixed up. Got to admit though, I’ll probably go back and read the Son’s of Darkness series.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
[…] Read More » […]