Review: The Gargoyle Prophecies: The Savior Rises (Part 1) by Christopher C. Payne

Title: The Gargoyle Prophecies: The Savior Rises by Christopher C. Payne
Publisher: JournalStone (Oct 2010)
Paperback: 220 pages
Reading Level: Adult
Source: Publisher
ISBN-10: 0982811969
ISBN-13: 9780982811962
Rating: 3 Stars



SYNOPSIS (From Goodreads): With a tattered Raggedy Ann doll as her only companion, Stefani has spent her entire life immersed in self isolation. As a 10-year-old child she was the lone witness to her mother's murder. She vowed to find the man who robbed her of all she held dear in the world and ensure he suffers as she has before he takes his final breath.

Her childhood is consumed with training in the hopes of one day finding the scar-faced killer. But her world up-ends as her 21st birthday looms when she discovers she isn't the hunter. She is the one being hunted, and her predators are not human. Stefani finally opens herself up for the first time, allowing Dennis into her life, revealing her emotions to her hopeful protector. But her fear and confusion mount when he reveals he is a gargoyle - and she is, as well.

Dennis claims Stefani is the key to the future of the gargoyle world. She is the Chosen One, and she is in danger. Dark forces covet her imminent power and will use any means to steal it. Stefani's mind swims with peril she neither understands nor is sure she believes. She questions everything, including her grip on reality.

As Stefani battles the damned across the globe, she searches for answers about her identity. Is she truly the savior of an inhuman race or has her solitude and the trauma of her mother's death finally infected her sanity?

MY THOUGHTS: I love reading about anything paranormal, so I was excited about The Gargoyle Prophecies. But after reading the book, I realized that this book wasn’t entirely what I expected. We know from the premise that Stefani witnesses her mother’s murder and because of this experience, she wants to get revenge and find the killer. Her solitude is very evident, having lost her mother and she doesn’t trust anyone. She only has comfort in her Raggedy Ann doll that she had ever since she was a kid. But as she nears her 21st birthday, she meets Dennis, who she opens up to. But he tells her that he is a gargoyle and so is she. There is a prophecy that is involved and the whole story develops further from here.

I liked that Christopher Payne uses a female as the lead heroine fighting against gargoyles. Even though I admired Stefani for being a strong character, I was never able to fully attach myself or really connect with the characters. The reason being that the whole aura of the book, the style of the writing is such that you question what is reality, or rather that Stefani questions this. I felt this hindered me from really getting to know the characters well since the plot is not straightforward, it’s very perplexing. And I wanted to know where the plot was going and understand it, so reading through this book was a little challenging for me. While the author purposely wrote the book this way because he had a very good reason for this, since it played into the heart of the story, it didn’t make it less confusing to read through style wise. There is a fine line between reality and the possibility that Stefani might be nearing insanity. But with the many twists and turns in the story, you just don’t know for sure. But then the final twist in the ending was so unexpected and powerful, that I had to redigest the book as a whole. This made the whole story much more meaningful. You will definitely be in for a surprise. Even so, I didn’t feel that the strong ending was enough for me to really love the book. I thought the majority of the story was just ok, but the ending was better - it was good. So the ending did help improve my rating for this book just a little.

The book was definitely full of adventure and action, but the gargoyle fight scenes were a little too graphic for me, being too gory for my taste. I also wasn’t very fond of the quality of writing. While this book wasn’t for me, I really do appreciate the author’s bold and unique attempt at a different style of writing. If you like reading clear cut books, this is not the book for you. But if you would like to try something different and dynamic, this might be the book for you, especially if you like reading paranormal books.