Review: Lord of the Last Heartbeat by May Peterson

Title: Lord of the Last Heartbeat

Series: The Sacred Dark: Book One

Author: May Peterson

Publisher: Carina Press

Length: Novel

Category: Paranormal/Fantasy

At a Glance: Lord of the Last Hearbeat gives lovers of spec fic plenty to feast on. With the hefty task of the setup behind her now, I look forward to seeing what the author has to serve up in book two.

Reviewed By: Lisa

Blurb: Stop me. Please.

Three words scrawled in bloodred wine. A note furtively passed into the hand of a handsome stranger. Only death can free Mio from his mother’s political schemes. He’s put his trust in the enigmatic Rhodry—an immortal moon soul with the power of the bear spirit—to put an end to it all.

But Rhodry cannot bring himself to kill Mio, whose spellbinding voice has the power to expose secrets from the darkest recesses of the heart and mind. Nor can he deny his attraction to the fair young sorcerer. So he spirits Mio away to his home, the only place he can keep him safe—if the curse that besieges the estate doesn’t destroy them both first.

In a world teeming with mages, ghosts and dark secrets, love blooms between the unlikely pair. But if they are to be strong enough to overcome the evil that draws ever nearer, Mio and Rhodry must first accept a happiness neither ever expected to find.

Review: One of the predominant markers of an author’s success in drawing me into the fantasy they set out to create is to build a lush and vibrant setting out of the whole cloth of their imagination, and then translate that through rich descriptions and the complex layering of both characters and storyline. Lord of the Last Heartbeat is not only May Peterson’s debut novel, but it is an impressive debut that showcases her talent for commingling romance with a variety of complex external forces which influence everything they touch. Rarely, if ever, for the good.

The building up of Mio Gianbellicci’s character as the proverbial Siren who sings his victims’ secrets up from the depths of their minds so his crime-lord mother can compel them into servitude is not only unique but shapes Mio’s character as well. When he passes Lord Rhodry Bedefyr a note begging to be stopped, it is neither random nor without consequence that Mio selected Rhodry to put an end to his existence. Mio can no longer bear the heartache and emotional burden of acting as little more than a useful pawn in his mother’s political power-grab, and so he gives in to the desperation that death is his only means of escaping Serafina’s cold and ruthless clutches. That this meeting between the boy with the voice of an angel and the foreign dignitary who also happens to be a moon soul (a werebear in more familiar terms) sets the stage for everything that happens after. When Mio ultimately discovers the courage within himself to defy his mother’s demands and affect his escape, it’s through his defection and Rhodry’s rescuing him that allows Mio to encounter the true shape and breadth of his own magic. But he does so in silence, which ushers in another of the several things I embraced in this book—the concepts of sacrifice and purification.

House Bedefyr is a down-the-rabbit-hole, dangerous and deadly Wonderland of a ghost-scape, and I loved every moment the story spent here. The atmosphere is claustrophobic, isolated, and yet there are yawning holes in the fabric of its reality that allows readers to see deeper into Peterson’s imagination. The esoterica of the household is encompassed within regrets, secrets, and the betrayals of its inhabitants, and in the menace to those who cross its thresholds. The battle for possession of Mio and his magic comes to the fore as readers meet the otherworldly characters who make up the cast of friend or foe, those roles being delineated fully as the danger crests and the story reaches its apex. The romance that blossoms between Mio and Rhodry is, for Rhodry, a bit of “I loved you before I even knew you” thanks to Mio’s soulful voice. There is a virtue and innocence to it which offsets the age gap and the imbalance of power displayed in the beginning. That balance is met and narrowed further along as Mio grows into his skin. And, as a side note, I appreciated the clear intent of Mio’s name and how it meant something different for his mother and Rhodry. Mio, Mine, was the difference between possession and passion when spoken by the two people who meant very different things to Mio himself.

Lord of the Last Hearbeat gives lovers of spec fic plenty to feast on. It’s also a book that requires the reader’s absolute and undivided attention from beginning to end, as the author begins her weaving and layering early and continues it consistently throughout. The villains are superbly villainous, the heroes and heroines are supremely virtuous, the battle lines are clearly drawn and intensely defended, and the suspense is meted out alongside the heartache and romance and redemption in a polished prose one doesn’t often find in a debut. With the hefty task of the setup behind her now, I look forward to seeing what the author has to serve up in book two.

You can buy Lord of the Last Heartbeat here:
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