Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Anita Clenney's Guardians of Stone is Fantastic Debut to Series!

"The place might not be cursed, but there were secrets hidden
here. She could hear them whispering. She wasn't sure if they
were trying to get her attention or warn her away, but the feeling
persisted that she had been here. That often happened with her
visions. Sometimes she wondered if she was traveling to another
dimension in her sleep. She checked on Jack again. As if he
sensed her watching, he turned and met her gaze. He continued
to move around the garden, while keeping her in sight.
"She was burning with curiosity about the place. Were there
others in the order besides this guy? He didn't look like a monk
or a knight, more like a warrior or a guard. It wouldn't be easy
getting past him, but they had to get inside. She was certain
the box was here.
"...She heard a sound and when she looked up, she saw a robed
figure move behind one of the statues. "Hello?" she called
softly. "Salve?" It was probably her imagination or her senses
playing tricks. She looked toward the garden. Jake's back was
turned as he examined the maze. She hurried toward the
nearest statue. It was at least nine feet tall. Some kind of
warrior. She looked behind him, but there was no robed
figure. The only things she saw were the other status lining
the castle grounds as far as she could see. The robed figure
must have been her imagination, or perhaps her sixth sense.
Sometimes it was hard to tell the difference.
"The studied the statue again. He wore a garment similar to
the ninja monk's. He had a sword clasped in his hand and his
face was coldly handsome. She touched the stone, letting the
texture settle against her hand. The images rushing through
her head startled her. Places and faces that felt more like human
memories that the impressions she usually got from an object.
The stabbing pain in her stomach startled her even more..."
~~~

Guardians of Stone:
A Relic Seekers Novel


By Anita Clenney


Out this month is the debut novel in a new series. I was an immediate fan, not only because of the content, but because of the characters. Relics - Just about anything that is old and hasn't yet been rediscovered from when it was hidden... That could cover many, many items and, in fact, readers will not even find out what it is we are searching for until later in the book...

But it really didn't matter, the setting was fascinating--a castle with hidden doors, catacombs, and life-like statues surrounding it.  And a way cool setup...That's all I'm saying, cause you need to be able to discover this place yourself!

But some of you may be able to see the ghost that will help...I couldn't, but Kendall did and shared what was happening.

Kendall is psychic...

And the addition of paranormal activities along with a relic hunt is just about the best you can get, right?!

Kendall Morgan worked along side her father since she was a child. Her father also possessed the sixth sense that allowed them to "read" ancient objects, or get flashes of what had happened.  Even though Kendall was now an adult, working on her own, she was not able to predict what would happen--each experience seemed to be different, perhaps based upon the particular relic and what happened to it?

Kendall had been working with a billionaire to help build his collection. But for this trip, he had added a partner for her--Jake Stone. And neither were happy with that arrangement!


Nathan was a demanding boss and neither had a choice. He believed Kendall might need protection, which she refused to acknowledge. Jake had gone on other search trips and had been successful and didn't need anybody else.

And none of them knew what they were looking for. Nathan had a picture of the top of a box and Kendall used it to study and try to get some feeling, but it wasn't working. Nathan also gave Kendall and cross to wear, not really knowing why. But he did have some general information that soon had them on the way to Italy!

Soon they were at a small hotel that was also hosting a tour group. From that combination came the need to pretend they were married and to start the fun part of the novel as other people became involved and Jake decided that he might as well start talking and trying to get Kendall in...

Actually, room accommodations sometime did require that they sleep together, but Kendall held strong--most of the time!

From the hotel manager they soon learned the location of the castle as well as all the ghost and horror stories aimed to keep them from trying to go find the place. But they were soon on their way, with Kendall using her skills to finally tell Jack where to pull in, hide the car, and start climbing.

Once there, a man who stated he was the guardian came out to stop them from entering. Jake pretended to be interested in the garden, so that he let them wander a little, but then he saw the cross on Kendall and completely changed, offering to have them come in, stay the night and promising something to eat.

But they were immediately taken to where they would sleep which turned out to be on the top floor, in a turret room that had no utilities. He brought them food and water, but by that time, they knew not to trust him and later discovered they were locked in from the hallway side...But that was after they had already did a little exploring...

Kendall had not wanted to stay in the room, having sat on the bed and discovered it covered in blood with a woman having delivered her baby (from the past...) As time went on, however, the Monk ghost came for her and while Jake was washing up, Kendall followed the ghost...right out of the room!

By now, you should have a sense of the spooky side of the novel, while I will warn you that there are many others also looking for the box and there's lots of action and adventure scenes to keep you happy while the searches go on. Oh, there's one other drawing point: Nathan is much more than a billionaire and you'll be picking up hints about him throughout the novel, just as Jake often points out that Nathan is verrry possessive of Kendall which proves to be fun to watch, as well as...dangerous... Hey, this novel has so much going on, I'll just warn you to be on your toes on every page to pick up all the clues--and even then you'll somewhat be left hanging until the next book...But there's a nice break at the ending that will keep you satisfied until Book 2 comes.


Personally, I am sooooo looking forward to this series. It has all of my favorite things and the writing and story has been created in such an intriguing manner that readers won't want to stop reading! I loved this one! Enjoy


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1 comment:

  1. It's a very cool combination--relic hunting, paranormal, and just plain fun!

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