Gigi's Company discussion

Please post comments and discussion here for the August '09 Book of the Month:

Burning Alive(The Sentinel Wars, Book 1) by Shannon K. Butcher:

Spoilers . . . . . . Spoilers . . . . . . Spoilers . . . . . . Spoilers

I can't describe just how much I enjoyed the mythos that Shannon K. Butcher has created for this series. In so many paranormal novels, the master immortal cocoons and cares for his mate, shielding her from the uglier side of their world. Sometimes I felt sorry for these ladies, who would never understand what was happening as well as I did, and whose overly protective mates stifled any effort of theirs to participate in eliminating evil doers. Not so in "The Sentinal Wars."

The male sentinel draws and stores energy from the elements constantly. Each male sentinel has a living tattoo of a tree. When the sentinel's body gets to the point that it cannot store any more energy, the leaves start to fall. The sentinel dies a short while after the last leaf falls, in pain, and having lost their ability to distinguish right from wrong. If the sentinel has a mate, she can draw this energy from him and extend his life. She is also the master strategist in the battle, directing his action, and channeling his energy into magic to defeat their opponents. The couples enter combat side-by-side in perfect synchroneity.

That alone sold me on the book. Butcher could have not had a plot and I would have still called it a winner. Happily, she had a great plot, subplots, pacing, and characterization. Helen and Drake are a wonderful couple for whom you root from the very beginning. Helen, who believes that she is human, has the blood of ancients that will allow her to bond with Drake if she so chooses. The bad guys are nasty demons who would like to put the human race in cattle pens in order to feed from us so that they can break into the next dimension. The next dimension has an ancient powerful race whose domination would give the demons unlimited power. The sentinels are the guardians protecting humanity and the older race that created them. Many issues are resolve, many questions are raised, subplots are spun in a direction that would make great future books. One of the best first books of any series that I've read lately. Five bright and shining stars for Burning Alive.

I saw all the 'spoiler's you posted, Kathleen, so I skipped your post, LOL! I don't want to read it until I'm done.

I'm on page 70 and finding I'm having a hard time putting it down. So far, there isn't a big explanation on what they are, but I'm sure I'll be getting it soon - unless it really is that simple?

Oh, Ditto, Kathleen! I couldn't have said it better! I love the spin Butcher put in her story, how the males take in the power but with no release valve for it, they slowly die. I liked that twist. Different from what I've read before.

And the way she writes - you can feel Helen's fear right down to your own toes. And yet, she fights her fear head on. I was cheering her on!

I've got to come up with a better review to post it, but you nailed it with yours, Kathleen. Folks, this is definitely a book worth picking up.

I agree with both of you. I really liked this story alot. The tattoo was of great interest to me. I kept going over it in my head, Kathleen I liked your discription, you put into words what I could not.

If there is a sceond book in this series I would defiently read it. There are quite a few unanswered questions that I would like to see play out.

What is the Gray Lady hiding and where is Sibyl going, are just a few.

Thanks for the comments, ladies. The second book in The Sentinel Wars series by Shannon K. Butcher is called Finding the Lost and is to be released November 9, 2009.

Release date for Finding the Lost has been pushed up to November 3, 2009.

Thanks for the heads-up, Kathleen! I'll be calling Coles tomorrow, LOL!

Running Scared, Book 3 in the Sentinel Wars series, is to be released May 4, 2010.

Finally completed Finding the Lost (FTL) (The Sentinel Wars, Book 2). FTL tells the story of Andra Madison and the Sentinel warrior Paul. Eight years before Andra's youngest sister Tori was abducted by the Synestryn, demons who would like to feed from the human race, while middle sister Nika, has lived in a mental institution since the encounter. In an action packed thrill adventure, Andra and Paul have to evade Synestryn, save Nika, and protect those they love. More is revealed about the Sentinels, the Sanguinar--the vampire healers, and the Athanasians, who created the Sentinels to protect their dimension.

Excellent addition to this great paranormal romance series. I am giving this book five stars.

Running Scared, Book 3, will be Zach and Lexi story's. Lexi is still convinced that Sentinels are the bad guys and that she has to rescue her friend Helen, the heroine from Burning Alive, from Drake and his warrior brothers.

Oh, that third book is going to be interesting! Woohoo!

Running Scared, Book 3, is another great volume in The Sentinel Wars series by Shannon K. Butcher. Lexi Johns is determined to free her brainwashed friend Helen from captivity at the hands of the Sentinels. Ah, regrettably, Lexi has a few crazy ideas about the Sentinels being the enemies of the human race, and believes that the sgath are pets of the Sentinels, not the enemy that Sentinels seek to destroy at every opportunity. Lexi has been used by the Defenders of Humanity as bait for Sentinel Zach. Zach has been seeking Lexi as his mate and Lexi lets him catch her in order to sneak a car filled with C-4 into Dabyr, the Sentinels home in Missouri. To her surprise she finds Helen happy and contented to be Drake's mate, and begins to suspect that things are not as she has been led to believe. No spoilers about whether or not Lexi follows through with the Defenders plan. Action filled, great background on some of the problems facing the Sentinels, interesting subplots, and a heart-warming conclusion.

The story between Madoc and Nika, Living Nightmare, Book 4, was excellent with edge of your seat action. Loved the subplot with Gilda, Angus, Maura, and Sibyl. Regrettably, I am giving this latest installment in the Living Nightmare series four stars. I considered some of the set-up for future books confusing. Occasionally there would be a scene between two new characters that was obviously a part of a future novel, but was distracting and confusing in this book. Sometimes I think these scenes were referring to an event in a previous book. A few more background reminders on these minor subplots would have been useful.

Completed "The Collector" (Sentinel Wars, #3.5) in the anthology On the Hunt by Gena Showalter, Shannon K. Butcher, Jessica Andersen, and Deidre Knight. This novella told the story of Neal Etan and Viviana Rowan. This story is set before the events in Living Nightmare and Neal, send by the Grey Lady, Gilda, is on the hunt for the device that will later used to attempt to save Torr in Book 4. Wonderful touching story of a relic hunter and a warrior who desperately needs a specific relic to save his best friend. By the end of the story they are a mated pair, the object has been found, and Neal has hope that Torr will survive. The only thing that I did not understand was why there wasn't any reference to Neal and Viviana in Living Nightmare. Perhaps that will be explained in the next book. I am giving this story 4.5 stars.