Blog Tour stop for this dark and haunting adventure
#BlogTour #TheGift #Eleanor @rawillams_author @wearewhitefox @whitefox_publishing @BlackCrow_PR @RandomTTours
"A lush historical adventure that's equal parts Gothic horror as it is tale of lost love, The Gift: Eleanor is the first in an exhilarating new trilogy that takes you from the Titanic to the trenches of WWI, and Honduran shipwrecks to ancient crypts in the heart of London "
Synopsis
The North Atlantic, 14 April 1912. Amid the chaos of the sinking Titanic, a young Eleanor Annenberg meets the eyes of a stranger and is immediately captivated.
As the ship buckles around them, she follows him down into the hold and finds him leaning over an open sarcophagus, surrounded by mutilated bodies. She catches but a glimpse of what lies within before she’s sucked into a maelstrom of freezing brine and half-devoured corpses. Elle is pulled out of the water, but the stranger – and the secrets she stumbled upon – are lost.
Unintentionally, however, he leaves her a gift; one so compelling that Elle embarks on a journey that pulls her into a world of ancient evils, vicious hunters and human prey to find the man who saved her that fateful night.
From trench warfare at Cape Helles in 1915 to a shipwreck in the tropical shallows off the Honduran coast, from a lost mine beneath the towering Externsteine in a Germany on the verge of war to the gothic crypts of Highgate Cemetery in London, Elle gets closer to a truth she has sought for most of her life. But at what cost? Gifts, after all, are seldom free.
An immersive gothic story spanning decades, The Gift is a compelling read that weaves the supernatural of Dracula with the adventure of Indiana Jones
My Review
I was drawn immediately to this book by the thrilling blurb and the dark and almost haunting cover, I already knew I was in for an immersive read!
Thrown straight into the drama the Titanic has hit the iceberg and you know its history and fate, meeting young Eleanor as this historical tragedy unfurls around her you do not expect the fight for her life against the Icey ocean to lead the the horrors she witnesses in the depths of the ship.
Her life is saved, a name screamed in the darkness "Bathazar" the horrors she saw never forgotten and the gift given and a longing for him and the secrets he holds.
We follow Eleanor's story through her life as she grows, study's, works and slowly seeks with a fierce passion the answers to that day, why she was saved and the truth of Balthazar and we travel the world hunting the truth.
As a no spoilers blog It is difficult to discusses this book further as it is so woven that I refuse to give up any more details but it is every bit the haunting and captivating read I thought it would be.
Not my usual genre I thought this would have a more supernatural edge of course after reading the blurb but I found myself struggling to place it in such a good way a fabulous mix of thriller, gothic horror, supernatural yes but surprisingly love and passion.
You are pulled along by this character of Eleanor/Elle and her intense quest making this read one you fly through to uncover the truth for yourself. Altogether a passionate and chilling read that I am thrilled to know does not stop here! Can not wait to get stuck into Book 2 and 3 of this haunting trilogy!
Author Bio
R.A.Willams lives by the Mediterranean with his wife and their one year old boy.
The Gift was born in Sherman Oaks, California, sussed out in Pimlico, England, and relocated on the Costa Brava, Spain, where Williams writes to this day amidst twelve cats who pay him never no mind.
Previously in fashion Williams has dressed A-listers across the globe. In his spare time, he enjoys painting miniatures and dioramas with an emphasis on pre-World War Two Europe and Pacific Rim.
Blog Tour
Thank you to the Publisher and Author for sending me an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this novel and for the opportunity to review these works.
All reviews are my own unbiased opinion.