Should I say “Holy Hades!” or “Oh my god!” because we’re talking about War here and while he’s a heavenly sent creation, he is after all, war.

This book starts a bit slower than Pestilence, but once it hits its stride it’s a horror filled, drama rich, emotional read. I was expecting this to be a copycat of book one, but it is far from that. With an engaging, if often times troubling, plot and characters that are uniquely developed, I was drawn into this story to the point I didn’t want to stop when real life interfered.

Miriam, the heroine, was fierce and capable in a world where survival is the strategy for each day. When War and his army descend upon her town she engages with the enemy in what will surely be a futile attempt to defeat them. But when her failed attempt to kill the warlord brings his attention to her personally, the last thing she expects is him to claim her as wife.

What follows is not only the horrors of war, but some that were never even on my radar. War’s actions did nothing to help me fall in love with him, but his evolution from a creature designed for killing into a man who would do anything to save his wife left me no choice but to do so. Just trying to find words to describe this hero is impossible. He’s so much more than words on a page. This author created this hero to such a degree that he would never fit into a neatly defined checkbox.

While this is War’s story, this is actually Miriam’s tale. She is the type of kick butt heroine many of us love, but she’s very real in the way she reacts to what’s happening around her. Even as she plans her strategies, they are often not completely formed and while I’d never even consider some of the things she does, I totally related to her “not thinking things through”. Despite that glitch in her character, which I found charming, she is not a too stupid to live heroine. Just the opposite. She is real, she is relatable, she is exactly what I would want to be if, god forbid, I should ever find myself in the heart of the apocalypse as she does.

Together, this couple kept me glued to the pages of my Kindle. The romantic angle of this story isn’t in your face. It’s a subtle change in the characters' reactions, thoughts, emotions and beliefs. While we don’t get War’s point of view, it’s apparent his war-hardened heart softens towards Miriam and we are never in doubt as to where his emotions lay, even if those emotions are murky at times.

This is a story rife with brutality, scenes that will make you cringe, decisions that will have you shaking your head, and surprises that will make you gasp out loud. And at the heart of it all is War and Miriam, a battle between two people who are polar opposites, and the demand for surrender.

This is book 2 in the series, but other than a tiny spoiler that really gives nothing away at the end, I believe this can be read as a standalone. However, I highly recommend you read Pestilence because it’s just so good and then once you recover, dig into this one and hold on for a wicked ride.