Yzabel / May 30, 2018

Savage Prophet by James A. Hunter

My rating: [rating=2]

Blurb:

Legions of murderous undead, Haitian voodoo, and a five-thousand-year old serpent god.

Yeah, ’cause that’s exactly what Yancy Lazarus needs in his life: more complications. As if being the Hand of Fate and the newly appointed guardian over one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse wasn’t headache enough.

All Yancy wants is an easy life on the open road—chock-full of ribs, beer, cigarettes, and smoky bars blaring with gritty blues music—but that just isn’t in the cards. Nope, not anymore. He’s been charged to save the world and now that he’s got a no-shit demon riding shotgun in his head, he’s sorta committed to the cause.

If Yancy can’t sort through this colossal heap of bullshit, he’s coffin bound. But, he’s not dead yet. In fact, he even has a lead.

Turns out one of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse—the pale Rider, Death—is slumming around in one of Yancy’s old haunts. In order to corner this new threat, though, Yancy’s gonna have to face some deadly supernatural nightmares from his distant past. And, to make matters worse, he’s not the only one trailing the Pale Rider. A powerful new mage with some serious magical chops, is also aiming to find the Fourth Seal and he’ll do whatever it takes to win. Even if it means hurting those closest to Yancy … Like F.B.I. Agent Nicole Ferraro.

Review:

[I received a copy of this book through NetGalley.]

Entertaining, like the previous instalments in the series. The author’s upped the ante when it comes to grit and violence, reflecting the increasing stakes: Yancy now has to face his own inner demon (literally) on top of the looming menace of the Savage Prophet, old enemies surfacing again, and his own people who don’t see him in a very good light. Good thing, then, that he can still count on Ferraro, as well as on the new addition, Darlene, who may not be a great fighter, but has aces of her own up her sleeve.

However, this book felt more like a filler: a lot of action, but comparatively little character development. In spite of all that happened, especially at the end of volume three, Yancy is still pretty much the same as in all the other books, when I would’ve expect an evolution of some kind. (I don’t want such a character to start moping and be completely broken, for sure, but I didn’t feel much difference between Yancy from book one and Yancy from book four, all things considered.) I admit I ended up skimming over some scenes.

Conclusion: 2 / 2.5 stars.