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Very Hard to Kill
Posted by Literary Titan
Petrified finds the state of Georgia under siege when demons threaten to bring the Keepers to their knees. What was the inspiration for the setup to this exciting story?
It started when a friend sent me an article about a werewolf mythology from Scotland called Wulver. I based the Keepers of them. What I loved about them was that they were so much different than other mythologies. As someone with a deep love for shifters, it was exciting to find a story that I could expand on the traditional tropes.
Obie is an intriguing and well developed character. What were some driving ideals behind the characters development?
As a rule, a Keeper has to be hard. Keepers don’t age and can heal very quickly. This means they are very hard to kill. It also means they put up with a lot of pain in their lifetimes. This kind of life could make someone bitter and jaded. I wanted Obie to have the resilience about him. one of his defining characteristics is his ability to keep doing the hard thing, the right thing, even when it would be easier for him to be more selfish. That’s not to say he always does the “right” thing but he is a character that is easy to root for.
What were some themes that were important for you to focus on in this book?
Besides what I spoke about above, the book deals with loss, specifically the loss of a loved one. The inability to let go, anger, doing anything to keep them, and finally acceptance.
I also explore cruelty to a certain degree. There are some characters who are more apathetic than we would think is acceptable. Unfortunately the consequences for this are paid by the people around them.
This is book one in The Keeper Chronicles series. What can readers expect in book two?
There’s a line in the beginning of the book, “Everyone up here crosses the line at some point or other.” If the reader pays attention they can find a place in the story where every character “crosses the line”. In the second book many of the consequences of these misdeeds come due. Alliances and friendships are pushed to their limits.
Posted in Interviews
Tags: action, adventure, author, author interview, Ben Meeks, book recommendations, book review, book reviews, book shelf, bookblogger, books to read, ebook, fantasy, fiction, goodreads, kindle, kobo, literature, nook, novel, paranormal, Petrified, read, reader, reading, science fiction, story, supernatural, suspense, teen fiction, thriller, writer, writing, yalit, young adult
Petrified
Posted by Literary Titan
Petrified by Ben Meeks is a consistently entertaining paranormal fiction novel. While it’s set on earth, it revolves around the existence of not supernaturals but ultranaturals as they prefer to be called. Obie, the alluring protagonist of the book is an ultranatural that is a were-being, like were werewolves but not exactly that. The book starts with Obie on a mission to get information regarding non-earthly beings that quickly turns into more than he bargained for, both in his personal and professional life. Obie then embarks on a quest to fight the force that is behind the recent turn of events in his life, and a secret world. This is the moment where the plot truly blossoms and the novel takes off at a quick pace.
At the start of the story there is a certain mystery to Obie. He was obviously not human, but I could not tell what or who he was. I was intrigued and desperate to know more about his intentions. Author Ben Meeks has mastered the skill of character development. Seeing the character’s in the story evolve slowly over time I was able to empathize with them and understand the complexity of their emotions and motivations. I enjoyed the subtle humor thrown into the dialogue, and laughed unexpectedly. Meek’s innovative descriptions of scenes in the story keep you engaged even when learning about minor details of the scenery and location. The supernatural world being built was bold and just unique enough to make this paranormal adventure stand out in a genre filled with fodder. I used to read a science fiction series when I was younger called Animorphs by Katherine Applegate, Petrified reminds me of that series, but as a more adult evolution of that idea.
Petrified is a stimulating fantasy novel that brings otherworldly creatures into this world and does so with an almost effortless drive towards entertaining the reader at all times.
Pages: 232 | ASIN: B08CKDQ58K
Posted in Book Reviews, Five Stars
Tags: adventure, author, Ben Meeks, book, book review, bookblogger, college fantasy, ebook, fantasy, fiction, goodreads, kindle, kobo, literature, mystery, new adult, nook, novel, paranormal, Petrified, read, reader, reading, story, supernatural, suspense, thriller, writer, writing