Ebook Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, by E.L. Tettensor
Well, when else will you find this prospect to get this book Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, By E.L. Tettensor soft file? This is your excellent chance to be right here and also get this terrific publication Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, By E.L. Tettensor Never leave this book prior to downloading this soft file of Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, By E.L. Tettensor in link that we provide. Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, By E.L. Tettensor will actually make a great deal to be your friend in your lonely. It will certainly be the very best companion to enhance your operation as well as hobby.
Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, by E.L. Tettensor
Ebook Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, by E.L. Tettensor
Why should get ready for some days to obtain or get the book Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, By E.L. Tettensor that you get? Why ought to you take it if you could obtain Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, By E.L. Tettensor the quicker one? You can find the same book that you buy here. This is it the book Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, By E.L. Tettensor that you can receive straight after acquiring. This Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, By E.L. Tettensor is well known book in the world, of course many people will certainly attempt to own it. Why don't you come to be the very first? Still perplexed with the method?
Checking out habit will consistently lead people not to completely satisfied reading Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, By E.L. Tettensor, a publication, 10 book, hundreds publications, and also more. One that will make them really feel pleased is completing reading this book Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, By E.L. Tettensor as well as obtaining the message of the books, then finding the other next book to review. It continues increasingly more. The moment to finish reading an e-book Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, By E.L. Tettensor will be consistently numerous relying on spar time to invest; one example is this Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, By E.L. Tettensor
Now, just how do you understand where to buy this book Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, By E.L. Tettensor Never mind, now you may not visit guide shop under the brilliant sun or evening to search the book Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, By E.L. Tettensor We below consistently assist you to find hundreds type of book. One of them is this publication qualified Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, By E.L. Tettensor You may visit the web link web page provided in this collection and afterwards choose downloading and install. It will certainly not take even more times. Just hook up to your web access and you can access the book Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, By E.L. Tettensor on the internet. Of training course, after downloading Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, By E.L. Tettensor, you might not print it.
You can save the soft documents of this book Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, By E.L. Tettensor It will certainly depend on your downtime and activities to open and also read this publication Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, By E.L. Tettensor soft file. So, you might not hesitate to bring this book Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, By E.L. Tettensor almost everywhere you go. Just include this sot data to your gadget or computer disk to let you review each time and also almost everywhere you have time.
He used to be the best detective on the job. Until he became the hunted...
Once a legendary police inspector, Nicolas Lenoir is now a disillusioned and broken man who spends his days going through the motions and his evenings drinking away the nightmares of his past. Ten years ago, Lenoir barely escaped the grasp of the Darkwalker, a vengeful spirit who demands a terrible toll on those who have offended the dead. But the Darkwalker does not give up on his prey so easily, and Lenoir has always known his debt would come due one day.
When Lenoir is assigned to a disturbing new case, he treats the job with his usual apathy—until his best informant, a street savvy orphan, is kidnapped. Desperate to find his young friend before the worst befalls him, Lenoir will do anything catch the monster responsible for the crimes, even if it means walking willingly into the arms of his own doom…
- Sales Rank: #491030 in eBooks
- Published on: 2013-12-03
- Released on: 2013-12-03
- Format: Kindle eBook
Review
Praise for Darkwalker:
"[A] definite winner...E. L. Tettensor crafts a tale that makes you think even while you shudder--a delightful combination. Darkwalker is brilliant!"--Fresh Fiction
"[P]acks a massive punch...The ending is suprising and perfect."--Bookworm Blues
"A new paranormal mystery series featuring an intriguing main character and rich, thorough world building; once the story takes off, it doesn't stop."--The Bibliosanctum
"Tettensor's first novel tackles some complex issues while simultaneously delivering a Victorian-esque crime drama that is sure to have readers hoping for a sequel. Darkwalker is a strong debut that will appeal to fans of both fantasy and mystery."--Owlcat Mountain
"A fantastic debut novel set in a wonderfully realized world."--Nothing But the Rain
About the Author
E.L. Tettensor likes her stories the way she likes her chocolate: dark, exotic, and with a hint of bitterness. She has visited fifty countries on four continents, and brought a little something back from each of them to press inside the pages of her books. She lives with her husband in Brooklyn, NY.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
He couldn’t breathe. He had been running for too long; every part of his body protested. His thighs trembled as he doubled over to catch his breath, and his heart thundered so that he could feel it in his temples. He glanced up at the sky, but it was obscured by a cataract of cloud, making it impossible to tell the hour. How long did he have until sunrise? Unless it came soon, there was no chance of him escaping. Not this time.
Mustering what strength he could, Lenoir loped to the end of the alley, but was dismayed to find that it opened into a courtyard. A dead end. The alley was short—perhaps he could retrace his steps in time to find another way. But when he turned he saw them again: eyes in the darkness, eyes that flashed like a cat’s, yet stood too far off the ground to be anything but a man’s.
He whirled back to the courtyard, praying to find an escape route that he had missed before. Perhaps he could climb a balcony, or find a place to hide? But he knew better: he was not a climber, and there was no hiding from his pursuer. Those green eyes could pierce stone.
He ran to a doorway at the far end of the courtyard and pounded on the heavy wood, the blows reverberating within the enclosed space. But the door did not open. No lamp was lit; no one was coming to Lenoir’s aid. And now the green-eyed man had stepped into the courtyard. He moved with uncanny grace, his step liquid. Raven black hair framed a youthful face so pale and beautiful it could have been shaped from marble. And like a sculpture, his expression was fixed, showing no pity, nor any hint of human feeling. His eyes were the color of absinthe, burning with a light that was unmistakably fey.
The green-eyed man loosed the scourge from his belt, that many-tongued whip that sought Lenoir’s flesh. And with a flourish of his wrist that seemed no effort at all, he sent its barbed lashes forth.
The scourge gripped Lenoir’s forearm near the elbow, jerking him to his knees. At first his terror was such that he could make no sound. When finally he screamed, it was with a violence that seemed to tear the inside of his throat. The barbs pierced his arm, but the pain was nothing, nothing compared to the sickening sensation of his flesh dying. There was something wrong with the whip, something terrible, a malevolence so potent that it made him nauseous. A chill rushed up his arm, filled his chest. . . . Now he could feel his consciousness ebbing, as though the barbs piercing his flesh were tiny vampiric fangs, draining his lifeblood. . . .
Lenoir woke to the sound of his own screaming. His frantic gaze took in the room around him, and at first he was wildly disoriented. After a moment his mind sparked to life and he knew he was in his own apartment. Yet the nightmare had been so real, so visceral, that he clutched at his arm, his fingers seeking proof that the scourge was no longer constricted around him like a snake. He felt the familiar numbness below his elbow, cold skin stretched over dead flesh that his blood never warmed. He was used to the morbid sensation by now, but for the first time in ten years, he half fancied that his flesh prickled somehow, like a limb gone to sleep that was slowly regaining circulation.
Lenoir heaved himself out of bed and went to the washbasin to splash water on his face. It was cold and bracing, for he had left his window ajar the previous afternoon and had been too out of sorts to bother closing it when he returned home from Berryvine. He stared at his reflection in the looking glass, willing himself to gain some mastery over his still-fluttering heart. It would do no good to panic, he told himself. If the green-eyed man was really here in the Five Villages, there would be no escaping him. Luck had saved Lenoir the last time, such luck as never visited the same man twice. The nightmare had been vividly accurate in every detail save one: it had been early morning when Lenoir found himself cornered in that courtyard ten years ago—not night as it had been in the dream. Dawn had broken at the far end of the alley, sending a lance of sunlight into the courtyard, and somehow that had saved Lenoir’s life. He could not remember what happened, for he had been virtually unconscious by that time. But he remembered seeing the light, remembered wondering if it was a sliver of Eternity peeking through as the door to Heaven closed, barring his entry. And when he woke, the green-eyed man was gone, along with the terrible scourge he wielded. The only sign that he had ever been there was the scar on Lenoir’s arm, that hideous patch of gray skin that would never again feel warmth, nor any other sensation at all. Forevermore it would feel as though someone else’s flesh had been grafted onto his own, thick and foreign. Forevermore Lenoir would carry that reminder of his brush with death, of his cheating the avenging angel that hunted him.
Yes, an angel, or a demon, perhaps. Either way, Lenoir knew with absolute certainty that although he thought of his attacker as “the green-eyed man,” he was nothing of the kind. Men did not carry cursed weapons that sap human life with a mere touch. Men did not vanish from one shadow only to reappear in another. And no man alive had ever had such eyes—that violent, uncanny green that glimmered as though lit from within. Not a man, but a spirit—a vengeful spirit that sought Lenoir’s blood in payment for his sins.
That morning in the courtyard had been Lenoir’s last in Serles. He had boarded a stagecoach that afternoon, away from his city, away from his country and everything he had ever known. He had gone north to Braeland, that mist-cloaked isthmus stretching like bridge across the veil to the underworld, the last outpost of civilization before reaching the savage shores beyond. He never saw his pursuer again. He thought he had escaped forever.
But I was wrong. He has come. How could he possibly have found me? But he had, and what was worse, he seemed somehow to be connected to Zach’s disappearance. It must be so, for though there had been many murders in the Five Villages since Lenoir had been here, none had borne the telltale marks of the scourge.
He would drive himself mad thinking about it. He had to get out of the apartment, had to find company. Lenoir grabbed his coat and headed out, making for his destination by instinct more than conscious thought. He needed someplace crowded, someplace familiar and comforting. And he needed a drink. He could only think of one place that would do.
Zera herself met him at the door. To his inquiring glance, she said, “I had to fire my doorman. You just cannot imagine what he’s been up to.” She raised her eyebrows significantly, but she did not elaborate, and Lenoir did not ask. “Besides,” she continued, looping her arm through Lenoir’s as she led him up the stairs, “there is a certain country charm in welcoming one’s own guests, don’t you think? I believe I shall declare it a fashion.”
“As you say, madam,” Lenoir replied distractedly. His eyes had fixed on a pale green light that came into view as they reached the top of the stairs: a panel of the stained glass screen that separated the main part of the salon from one of its more notorious corners. When lit from behind, it gave off a glimmer the color of absinthe. This bit of glass often caught Lenoir’s attention as he entered the room, particularly if his mind was preoccupied. Tonight, it positively mesmerized him.
He realized belatedly that Zera was still talking to him. “Nicolas,” she said coolly, “I sense I do not have your undivided attention.”
Lenoir blinked and tore his gaze away from the screen. “I’m sorry. What were you saying?”
She regarded him with a severe look, her dark eyebrows stitched together. She rarely permitted herself to express such raw displeasure, and it made Lenoir acutely aware of her imposing height. The Adali were an unusually tall race, but Zera’s height so suited her, rendered her so exquisitely statuesque, that Lenoir had ceased to notice it. “I was asking whether you had any news from your informant,” she said.
“My informant?” Lenoir echoed vaguely.
Zera’s mouth tightened. “My word, Inspector, are you quite well? The boy, Nicolas. What’s his name?”
“Zach.” The name brought Lenoir’s whirring mind to a sudden halt. He blinked once, and Zera seemed to come into sharper focus. “His name is Zach, and no—I have not had any news from him. None at all. You see, Zach has been kidnapped.”
Zera’s lips parted, but no sound came. Now it was she who blinked, her customary poise perturbed. “Kidnapped?” She seized Lenoir’s arm and steered him away from the other guests, her head bent conspiratorially. “Nicolas, are you quite sure?”
“I am quite sure,” he said, unsettled by the finality in his own voice. “Zach and another boy were both taken yesterday. We found the house where they were being kept, but only one of the boys was still there. And he was . . . unwell.”
Zera shuddered. “What has the world come to? First children’s corpses and now this. . . .” She frowned suddenly. “Actually . . . Nicolas, do you think they might be related?”
Lenoir had seen this question coming. Zera was uncommonly clever, and she loved to speculate about his work. He supposed it gave her a sense of intrigue. “Kody certainly thinks so.”
“Who is Kody?”
“One of my sergeants. He is a competent investigator, but he is given to elaborate notions of conspiracy. He sees connections everywhere.”
Zera’s long fingers covered her lips, her golden eyes round with wonder. “But in this case, he could be right.”
“It is certainly difficult to dismiss it as coincidence,” Lenoir admitted. “If it had only been Zach . . . So many orphans meet ugly fates in this city. But two children, both nine-year-old boys, just like the corpses . . .” He shook his head, frustrated. “Yet I can think of no logical explanation for it. How are they connected? It makes no sense.”
Most helpful customer reviews
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful.
An Interesting Story with some Problems - 3.5 Stars
By Tim Meloche
In this interesting introduction to Inspector Nicolas Lenoir, we are introduced to an urban fantasy world set in the Victorian era. The book is atmospheric and the reader might expect Jack the Ripper to make an appearance. This debut novel had some hits and some misses but succeeds in being more positive than negative.
Plot summary
Nicolas Lenoir is a legendary inspector of the Metropolitan Police force. Unfortunately he is not feeling quite so legendary these days. Bad choices and compromise have left him lazy while questioning his future. When a series of kidnappings and grave robberies bear similar signatures and point to a "gypsy" community, Lenoir is content to ignore the situation until it hits him close to home. Having a personal stake in the investigation, Lenior dusts off his skills and dives into the investigation. Little does he know is that he will be forced to deal with a darkness from his past and face his own mortality while fighting for another's future.
The Good
Who Doesn't Love a Tortured Genius
I found Lenoir to be an interesting character. He shows flashes of genius while preferring inaction and a greased palm to hard police work. We are given the impression that his reticence goes beyond simple laziness. While Lenoir's past could have been better developed, I found him an interesting character nonetheless. The author does a passable job of presenting a troubled character whose guilt and underlying good nature manages to prevail in the midst of the darkness.
The novel is well written with clean prose. The story doesn't move at a quick pace as it is, in part, a story of the internal struggles of the inspector. The supernatural is present but not pervasive. There are whispers of magic and the appearance of a supernatural being. The world of the mythical is clouded with disbelief and mystery. Don't expect Harry Dresden or even Peter Grant. I had the sense that the author wanted a "Sherlockian" main character who is forced to deal with mystical and unknown.
The Bad
Did I Miss Something?
While it may seem to be contradictory, the novel felt like both a stand alone novel and the second book in a series. In the first third of the book I consistently had the feeling I had missed some information about the characters and the world. As a result, it took too long to feel integrated into the story. While I still enjoyed the story, I can understand how some readers might abandon the story in the early going. The story also lacked the sense that this was part of a series. While the main character was developed, his police agency, friends and coworkers were simply background noise. If this is to be a series that I will continue to read over the long term, I want to see development outside of Lenoir.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Darkwalker is the start to a promising new series. Despite some warts, the story presents a main character who is beset by his own darkness ("Le Noir" - kinda obvious isn't it) while possessing positive, albeit restrained goodness. If the author continues her solid writing and improves her world building, this could be a successful and interesting series for years to come.
Content Advisories
It is difficult to find commentary on the sex/violence/language content of book if you are interested. I make an effort to give you the information so you can make an informed decision before reading. *Disclaimer* I do not take note or count the occurrences of adult language as I read. I am simply giving approximations.
Scale 1 - Lowest 5 - Highest
Sex - 1.5
There is some insinuation that a character is running a business in which some immoral activity is occurring. This is not a major point in the story and there is minimal space devoted to it. There is a the sense of romantic interested but nothing overtly sexual. Sexual content is acceptable for all ages.
Language - 2
Very little language stood out. I do not recall any usage of the f-word and some minor usage of mild obscenities. I would say the language is acceptable for all ages.
Violence - 3
The story is not especially violent. There are several scene in which characters are beaten in the streets. There is some fantasy violence with mild (but non-gory) horror elements. Part of the plot include young boys being kidnapped. It is understood that they are being harmed and hurt. Several scene include boys screaming in pain and terror but the method is not disclosed. There is a gun fight and some other minor violence.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful.
Intriguing main character and rich thorough world building
By Steff (BiblioSanctum)
Wow, what a surprising and fantastic paranormal debut. Dark mystery vibes and Victorian era inspired fantasy setting, this book was practically screaming my name when it was first brought to my attention, and even then I ended up with much more than I bargained for. That's definitely one way to make me a happy reader.
Anyway, one thing you should know about this book is that everything happens for a reason. I wouldn't have enjoyed this one so much if not for all the information that was given to me in the introduction, and likewise I would not have appreciated Lenoir for who he is at the end had not acted like such a jerk at the beginning. On that note, this story definitely includes one of those mystery plots that will have the reader flipping back the pages to a previous spot in the book, just to marvel at how the author had been dropping bits of clues and other details from the very start. I was still genuinely shocked at how things turned out; the answer came as unexpectedly to me as it did to the inspector.
Darkwalker also impresses me on the fantasy side of things. Lenoir works out of a city called Kennian, part of the Five Villages area, described as a rather backwater part of the book's world. The setting reminds me of turn-of-the-19th-century England, home to a population that largely does not acknowledge the existence of the paranormal, making the thing hunting Lenoir all the more creepy. There's also a group of people and culture called the Adal, a society of pastoral nomads persecuted for their outsider status as well as the actions of a few bad apples. The subject of Adali magic plays a big role in the case, and Tettensor has also crafted a very thorough and rich history for her fictional race. I am overall very pleased with the amount of world building presented in this book.
Everything in the plot just came together so well. Once you reach the point where the story takes off, it doesn't slow down. After making it through the introductory chapters, I was quickly drawn in by the intrigue and mystery, especially when I was treated to a brief glimpse of the brilliant and passionate detective Lenoir used to be. I found I could not bear to put this book down during the final hundred pages, and stayed up into the wee hours of the night just to finish.
Of course, there is still the big question of Nicolas Lenoir's past, which did not go fully addressed. So I was so glad to see this would be a series, even though this book can certainly be read as a stand alone with no cliffhangers or glaring loose ends to worry about. I would love to see further exploration into his character and this world, or heck, even stories about Lenoir that take place in an earlier time. Regardless of what comes next, I'm really looking forward to book two!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
I've got your gumshoe right here - with some extra creep to boot
By Pabkins
A most deplorable fellow
Darkwalker is a deliciously atmospheric read of the slightly creepy kind. Set in a city that reminds me of Victorian London and starring a police inspector Nicolas Lenoir who used to be highly esteemed but now seems to be uncaring and from the looks of it a bit crooked. Things have happened in his career that have changed him from a man that respected the law and sought justice to an apathetic loner who just goes thru the motions and doesn’t mind lining his pockets a little along the way. His underling Sergeant Kody is tired of Lenoir refusing to put effort into all of his cases. So on this recent cases of corpse theft of 9-year old boys Kody decides to pursue the investigation on his own. Lenoir is completely unmoved until living boys start being abducted and one of them just so happens to be a street orphan that he had become somewhat attached to.
The creep comes out at night
So what makes this mystery dark and creepy? Other then the theft of dead little boys we are soon introduced to this odd spirit, creature, demon, whatever you want to call him that can see from the eyes of the dead and who’s job it is to punish those that disgrace and foul the bodies of the deceased. He brutally punishes all perpetrators he can find and he is relentless. The entity has some kind of history with Lenoir that is slowly revealed to us as they encounter each other once again after ten years of Lenoir’s running. This addition of this vengeful spirit really adds to the atmosphere and firmly gives the read that of a paranormal, setting a toe a little into horror. At least you know if you meet this creature there is likely a very good reason why you deserve the business end of his whip.
When there is no redemption for your stained soul
Lenoir is an odd mix of a character that I absolutely loved to hate. He’s foul tempered, apathetic and now a dirty cop that doesn’t care about doing his job unless there is something in it for him. But you can tell he was once a good man. Whatever it is that torments him has been haunting and slowly destroying him for the past ten years. When he finally faces the fact that he can no longer run that is when I finally started liking him as a person (though I loved his tortured character from the beginning). His is a story so worth reading!
I’ve got your gumshoe
If you like mysteries with an edge of dark fantasy where everything has a somber note then you definitely want to read Darkwalker!
Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, by E.L. Tettensor PDF
Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, by E.L. Tettensor EPub
Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, by E.L. Tettensor Doc
Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, by E.L. Tettensor iBooks
Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, by E.L. Tettensor rtf
Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, by E.L. Tettensor Mobipocket
Darkwalker: A Nicolas Lenoir Novel, by E.L. Tettensor Kindle
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar