Author: Rhys Ford
Narrator: Greg Tremblay
Publisher: DSP Publications
Run Time: 11 hours and 8 minutes
At a Glance: I definitely want more!
Reviewed By: Kim
Blurb: Kismet Andreas lives in fear of the shadows.
For the young tattoo artist, the shadows hold more than darkness. He is certain of his insanity because the dark holds creatures and crawling things only he can see—monsters who hunt out the weak to eat their minds and souls, leaving behind only empty husks and despair.
And if there’s one thing Kismet fears more than being hunted—it’s the madness left in its wake.
The shadowy Veil is Mal’s home. As Pestilence, he is the youngest—and most inexperienced—of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, immortal manifestations resurrected to serve—and cull—mankind. Invisible to all but the dead and insane, the Four exist between the Veil and the mortal world, bound to their nearly eternal fate. Feared by other immortals, the Horsemen live in near solitude but Mal longs to know more than Death, War and Famine.
Mal longs to be… more human. To interact with someone other than lunatics or the deceased.
When Kismet rescues Mal from a shadowy attack, Pestilence is suddenly thrust into a vicious war—where mankind is the prize, and the only one who has faith in Mal is the human the other Horsemen believe is destined to die.
Review: I was a bit nervous about reading Ink and Shadows, mainly because of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. I thought it might be a bit too religious for me, and I’m not a big fan of those types of stories, but, having just finished listening to Black Dog Blues, I was very impressed with how Rhys Ford and Greg Tremblay brought that one together.
From the moment I turned on the audio for Ink and Shadows, I was totally captivated by Greg Tremblay’s outstanding narrating skills. Not to mention that my interest was piqued by how the Four Horseman were portrayed during the first chapter. I was pleasantly surprised that I wasn’t in for a religious read and loved what Rhys Ford did in creating this Veil and with how the Four Horsemen interacted with each other—especially Death and War. Now, there’s a romance waiting to happen! War, aka Ari, has it bad for Death. And even though nothing really happens sexually between the two, you can tell there’s a story that needs to go into more detail. A possible sequel?
Anyway, Ink and Shadows is more about Kismet and how someone inducted him into seeing the Veil, and their eventual motive for him and his hidden little talent. It was interesting how Kismet used drugs to control his ability to see what was in the Veil, but it sure did him no good when the creatures started to come after him. As for Mal, there are hints that these two may get to know each other even better in a later story… ???
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed Ink and Shadows. It wasn’t what I expected, and it kept me guessing until the very end as to what would happen next! Good thing it was the audiobook I listened to, though, because I think I would have cheated and snuck a peek at the end if I’d been reading the book. I definitely want more!
Rhys Ford, thank you again for writing another wonderful story, and I’d like to applaud Greg Tremblay for another fantastic narration. I love how he gives each of his characters their own distinct voice and builds on the suspense.
You can buy Ink and Shadows here:
The Novel Approach Reviews 
Leave a Reply