First Watch by Peter Hansen

[reviews_and_ramblings]

A strange mix of fantasy and gothic and historical, First Watch was probably not really a romance but more the story of a very special friendship. Edouard made a big mistake when he accepted to “sell” his soul to a monster; he is now paying with his life, and his body, his debt and he is searching in every way to find a way to escape. Farid is his last chance.

The strange thing is that, first of all I feel a little of selfishness in Edouard, true, he is in a very bad situation and alone he has no chance to escape, but he practically dragged Farid in his own nightmare, with very little chance to success. And if I understood correctly, Farid was not even Edouard first choice, but more or less the only one who answered Edouard’s plea for help. Edouard and Farid were lovers when they were together as Legionnaire, but that is not the reason why Edouard contacted Farid, I didn’t have the feeling they were lost lovers hoping to meet again, I think it’s more that Edouard considers Farid crazy enough to embark in a desperate mission.

The fact that Edouard and Farid were not your usual perfect romance heroes made this novella even more interesting, it had a strange dryness and a feeling of crazy men without future and right for that reason willing to risk their life for little more than the thrill of adventure. The dryness was given by their attitude, to give you an example, Edouard is repeatedly raped by the monster (even if you don’t directly read about that, it’s only referred), but he is not a chaos of emotions, he has more a cold hate and a desire of find a way out. Strange is that I had no the feeling Edouard or Fard were cold or without heart, but more that they were able to control their emotions.

http://riptidepublishing.com/titles/first-watch

Buy Here

Amazon Kindle: First Watch
Publisher: Riptide Publishing (October 27, 2011)

Reading List: http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle


Cover Art by Roberto Quintero