Book Review: Larissa Ione's Eternal Rider

Book 1 in Larissa Ione’s Lords of Deliverance series is Eternal Rider and WOW what a ride!  Since I was previously a fan of the Demonica series, I was eager to dive into Ione’s spin off, which is essentially about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.  Note: If you haven’t read Ione’s Demonica novels, you’re not only missing out, but you may get somewhat lost in this new series.  Do yourself a favor and read the previous five Demonica books, that way you’ll have a total appreciation for her new series.  Check out this post on where to start. 

Now, Eternal Rider picks up here Sin Undone left off when Sin broke Reseph’s seal (one of the Horsemen) which in return forced him to turn into the evil horseman, Pestilence.  After Pestilence’s seal broke, he wreaked havoc with the human and demon worlds, attempting to bring on the Apocalypse.  Of course in order to do that, Pestilence needed his brother’s, Ares a.k.a. War, seal to break.  Ares was doomed when he lost his brother, Pestilence, to the dark side.  Lucky for him, he met his match and possible salvation with a human named Cara.

Even though she was human, Cara was still gifted with a rare, magical touch of healing.  One strange night, she used her gift and saved the life of a hell hound, Hal.  The demonic pooch was so appreciative; he ended up giving her hell's kiss and bonded her to him.  On top of this bizarre occurrence, she ran into a fallen angel who transferred to her agimortus; a trigger that could break one of the Horseman’s seals.  In this instance, the agimortus was branded onto Cara’s skin.  And if she died, her death would instantly break Ares's seal, causing a change reaction that would destroy Ares as well as all of mankind.

First of all, Ares is a bad ass!  I love that Horseman.  And when Ione describes him in full armor, thundering on his horse, Battle, and slicing through his enemies…well, let’s just say AWESOME and call it a day.  With all that power, Ares was not only apocalyptic cool but arrogant - like most of these male characters.  Living as an immortal Horsemen left him so jaded and narrow-minded when it came to humans - let alone women - he initially dismisses Cara as being a formidable person.  

If there’s one thing I can say about Larissa Ione is she is an incredible writer, and that’s an understatement.  To be fair, the only challenge I had with this book was there were so many intricate characters woven into the plot and subplots, at times it was challenging to follow.  At about midway through, I grasped all the players as well as the subplots. I won’t tell you what happens, but will say that after this book, you’ll be hooked on the series. I’ve already read an excerpt of Book 2, Immortal Rider, and it should just as good if not better.

On my scale, I have to give Eternal Rider a 4.

Until next time…get ready for a wild ride with Larissa Ione’s Eternal Rider.

Mina B.