The Emerald Talisman by Brenda Pandos Publisher: Obsidian Mountain Publishing (March 24th, 2010) Reading Level: Young Adult Paperback: 280 pages Source: Author (for review)
Series: Talisman, book #1 Rating: 5 of 5 stars To be normal, sixteen-year-old Julia Parker would shed her empathic gift in a second. Life has been difficult since her mother's mysterious disappearance ten years earlier — an event she witnessed, but can't remember. Julia's situation becomes more complicated after a near death experience from a blood thirsty stalker. As high school students go missing it is clear there is a connection to her own experience--past and present. Someone has to stop the madness and a chance encounter with a creepy psychic foretells that only Julia is the key to stopping the madness, but it may require the life of the one she loves.
Review: The Emerald Talisman starts out with a bang and never slows down. Julia was a fascinating character who immediately runs into trouble when something dangerous comes after her in the woods. To make things more interesting Julia has a"gift" of sensing emotions. The first thing she notices is the overwhelming hunger coming from her predator. This seems odd to Julia because she typically doesn't sense emotions from animals so that only means one thing; it's human. Out of nowhere Nicholas comes to save the day and this starts the whirlwind of their relationship, exposed secrets, and dramatic conclusions for Julia.
Julia and Nicholas were amazingly written characters but the story was not simply centered around them as most books are. Brenda incorporates more interesting characters as Julia's friends and classmates. This kept the story flowing smoothly even without the constant presence of Nicholas. I found this to be one of my favorite aspects of the story.
As things progress we dive into the drama of Julia's life as she learns about the truth that surrounds her, but we also get a glimpse into her past and the mystery surrounding the disappearance of her mother. Julia is a caring individual who is close to her family and easy to relate to. She seems to become a strong young lady as the story progresses. In many ways she is the typical teenage girl but her gift lets her in on some of the secrets people keep hidden by emotions. Nicholas is a vampire hunter and quite mysterious in many ways. One constant with him is his protectiveness of Julia. I look forward to learning more about him and his past.
Brenda did an incredible job of keeping the story moving and keeping me, as the reader, interested. I enjoyed the complex plot, strong characters, and fast paced action throughout. By the end of the story we have answers to many of the key questions but some remain that will be answered in the sequel, The Sapphire Talisman.
I'm also thrilled to be part of The Sapphire Talisman blog tour hosted by Teen {book} scene. Be sure to stop back by on Wednesday, November 24th for an interview with one of the characters from the series.
USE GOOGLE to find out how to pre-order a signed copy and all pre-orders can be entered to win a talisman.
The Sapphire Talisman, book 2 in the Talisman series, will be out December 15th, 2010.
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Book Trailer
