I am delighted to be sharing my review for Death Unleashed by the fabulous Steve McHugh. I think I may have just read my favourite book by this author… yet.

My huge thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for my spot on the Blog Tour and also a huge thank you to Steve for sending me a sighned copy of his latest book.

Let me show you what it is all about…

A deadly venom. A looming rebellion. A vicious siege. And the clock is ticking.

For sorcerer Nate Garrett, the stakes have risen. If Asgard falls, he may lose much more than his home—he may lose the thing dearest to him. To stand a fighting chance against Avalon, he must be ready to go to war. But when his best friend and father are poisoned, Nate must race against the clock in a desperate quest to find a cure.

Layla Cassidy is tasked with gaining the aid of the Valkyrie in Valhalla, but once there, she finds herself involved in another rebellion and must pick a side.

Meanwhile, Mordred finds himself on a hunt for Excalibur, a weapon of incredible power that would aid the rebellion in their fight against Arthur and his allies. But to retrieve it, Mordred must face uncomfortable truths about himself.

War looms over the rebellion, and the battle for Asgard is at hand. Time is running out as Avalon’s forces threaten total destruction. But Nate can’t be in two places at once. Can he find the cure, and can he, Layla, and Mordred save the realms before it’s too late?

WOW! What an amazing read, I have been a fan of this authors books and I first came across his writing with the first book in The Avalon Chronicles when I read A Glimmer of Hope. Death Unleashed is the latest book in The Rebellion Chronicles and continues on from Sorcery Reborn. If you are a fan of fantasy books and have not yet come across this author then shame on you!

The synopsis mentions Avalon, Mordred, Excaliber and Asgard, this is only the tip of the iceberg for all the other names from legend that are mentioned.

Death Unleashed continues a few months after the events of Sourcery Reborn. The ongoing battle against Arthur are more intense and friends and family of the main characters are threatened. Things are getting very close to home as the battles become more and more personal. Allies are being sought out to help bolster the armies fighting Arthur. Enter the Valkyries… they bring a great addition to the story line!

The story lines for this book are focused on three of the main characters, Nate, Layla and Mordred. They each have their own thread but they are linked to the overall bigger picture. It was great to meet Mordred and get to know him, and what a tale the author has woven for this character.

As Arthur increases the brutality of his attacks he also increases the levels of deviousness. He is such a good baddie and I love to hate him and his methods, but at the same time I marvel at his ingenuity. I realise that I am actually referring to these characters as real people and this is all down the amazing writing ability of this author.

The author has taken various characters from legend, mythology and folklore from different cultures and woven them together brilliantly. While at first glance you would not necessarily link werecats, knights of the round table and gods of ancient times together on the same page, the author does, has and he makes it work, and he seems to do it effortlessly. He mixes characters from the past and places them in a modern day setting. I have to say that having a character of legend wandering around with a sword while humming the theme tune to a video game made me smirk.

The story took me right into the battles, the rescues and the heartbreak that comes when conflict on such a large scale occurs. There is so much intrigue as I was catapulted into the story. It is a fantasy story and series that is epic, it is huge and it is bloody brilliant.

The Epilogue had my brain jumping up and down with excitement as I discovered where the author is going next! OMG I cannot wait for the next one!

If you are a fan of fantasy that combines, folklore, legend, mythology and slams them into a modern setting then you need to get this book, hell get the series. A brilliantly woven, action read that is just awesome and one I would highly recommend.

Steve’s been writing from an early age, his first completed story was done in an English lesson. Unfortunately, after the teacher read it, he had to have a chat with the head of the year about the violent content and bad language. The follow up ‘One boy and his frog’ was less concerning to his teachers and got him an A. It wasn’t for another decade that he would start work on a full length novel, the result of which is Crimes Against Magic. He was born in a small village called Mexborough, South Yorkshire, but now lives with his wife and three young daughters in Southampton.

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Many thanks for reading my post, a like or share would be amazing 🙂 xx