In a remote and mountainous part of Europe, a priest keeps a dark secret beneath his chapel—a prisoner. Even the holy man does not know how long he has been there—hundreds of years, perhaps, or even longer. The priest's fear is that anyone in his parish would ever come in contact with his mysterious and unholy charge.
But what happens is even worse than he could have ever imagined. His lovely young daughter Milja, whose innocence and devotion to God he prizes over all else, trails her father into the cavern and catches a glimpse of the prisoner, a beautiful being like the most handsome of men, and yet not. She looks into his eyes and sees pain and wisdom and eternity. Unable to keep away from this silent creature chained to an altar stone, she is torn between family loyalty and her growing connection to their prisoner. One day her father discovers their forbidden intimacy and sends Milja off to America to be raised by her aunt in Boston.
This has got to be one of the weirdest stories I've read this year so far. Milja is a young woman from a small village in Eastern Europe. She's been raised very riligious, though she's been living in the US since she was eighteen. Her father send her away when she became too close to the monster in their basement. Now her father has fallen ill and she returns. With her father out of commission, Milja will need to take care of the prisoner.
Though the first things she does is release him. Which was to be expected or else we wouldn't have a story. I could understand Milja felt compassion for the prisoner. Still I had trouble seeing the attraction between them as something genuine. To me it felt like he tricked her somehow and that feeling stayed with me throughout the story.
Releasing the creature has consequences of course. Suddenly the Church is after Milja and meanwhile the creature has abandoned her. Luckily there is still one person on her side, sort of. This is the beginning of one wild and weird adventure.
I'm really not sure what to think of this story. The writing wasn't bad, just the characters and the plot couldn't keep my interest. Milja wasn't an easy character to like and overall I kept feeling a distance between me and her tale. It was really difficult to get into and most of the time I was bored. The focus is also mostly on Milja. The prisoner was absent about 75% of the time and the way the story line developed was just not interesting enough to keep my full attention.
While I did finish the story, I can not say it was a very enjoyable way to spend my time. The story I got and what I was expecting, seemed to be two completely different things. This time not in a good way.
Janine Ashbless is a British author of erotica and hot romantic adventure. Janine likes best to write paranormal- and dark-fantasy-themed fiction and has a lifelong interest in mythology, folklore and history.
Though the first things she does is release him. Which was to be expected or else we wouldn't have a story. I could understand Milja felt compassion for the prisoner. Still I had trouble seeing the attraction between them as something genuine. To me it felt like he tricked her somehow and that feeling stayed with me throughout the story.
Releasing the creature has consequences of course. Suddenly the Church is after Milja and meanwhile the creature has abandoned her. Luckily there is still one person on her side, sort of. This is the beginning of one wild and weird adventure.
I'm really not sure what to think of this story. The writing wasn't bad, just the characters and the plot couldn't keep my interest. Milja wasn't an easy character to like and overall I kept feeling a distance between me and her tale. It was really difficult to get into and most of the time I was bored. The focus is also mostly on Milja. The prisoner was absent about 75% of the time and the way the story line developed was just not interesting enough to keep my full attention.
While I did finish the story, I can not say it was a very enjoyable way to spend my time. The story I got and what I was expecting, seemed to be two completely different things. This time not in a good way.
2.5
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