Title: Liam’s Doom
Series: The Adventures of Sam Hain: Book One
Author: Robin Schadel
Publisher: Amazon/Kindle Unlimited
Length: 235 Pages
Category: Fantasy, LesFic
Rating: 4 Stars
At a Glance: Liam’s Doom gives great imagination and some new characters I’m looking forward to following on more adventures. If it proves anything, it’s that a book in need of an editor can still be a fun read.
Reviewed By: Lisa
Blurb: Full moons bring out danger, and for private investigator Sam Hain, that means a supernatural creature has run afoul of the Veil Watchers, a government organization dedicated to preventing humans from knowing they share a world with supernatural creatures by any means necessary.
As her birthday nears, an evasive redcap asks seeks her aid for a banshee whom a young woman filmed singing her warning of doom and then uploaded the video to social media. As the video went viral, teams of amateur ghost hunters descended upon the sleepy Irish village of Bannagh. Now the banshee, the young woman who discovered her, and numerous ghost hunters are in danger from the Veil Watchers and from ancient evils and shadowy forces alluded to in the banshee’s song.
With only four days before Veil Watcher Michael Cormack arrives to preserve the secret through a shoot-first policy, Sam has little time for error if she is to protect everyone from overzealous Watcher Michael Cormack, known for his scorched earth approach to keeping the secret safe. And as ancient evils rise and threaten the living, Sam’s resolve to protect the lives of all involved will be tested as she unravels the mystery of Liam’s doom.
Review: If Liam’s Doom proves anything, it’s that a book in need of an editor can still be a damn fine read. There are so many fun things to sink your fantasy-loving teeth into in Robin Schadel’s mystery within a mysterious world that any blips in the reading were worth it.
Samantha Blake Hain, aka Sam Hain, (gotta love the homage to the mispronunciation) is a fixer. She’s a PI with a deceased mom she’s allowed to talk to once a year on her birthday—thanks to a deal with the literal Devil—and a father who is absolute shite. Sam wants nothing to do with him, but, much to her frustration, he keeps insinuating himself into her life and, more specifically, her most recent case. A young woman has gone missing after she caught a wailing banshee on video and then loaded it to TikTok. Because of course she did. So Sam hies off to Ireland to comb the bogs and uncover clues to Mabd’s disappearance.
Sam is up against time, a faction that’s been appointed to secure the Veil between earth and the otherworld, not to mention a group of men that wishes to awaken an evil the likes of which would wreak nothing but horror and chaos. She meets some interesting characters during her investigation and, even more interesting, discovers the existence of the curse that gives the book its name. While I felt the fulfillment of the curse was given rather short shrift, it led to the pivotal scene where all the danger comes to a satisfying head.
Sam isn’t an investigative wonder for whom everything comes easily, and that’s what I liked most about her. She isn’t perfect, she makes mistakes, but she’s also not afraid to jump into a case and take on whatever comes her way. I also liked her assistant, Destiny, mostly because her ancestry is pretty excellent. And then there’s Countess Carmilla Karnstein, who Sam fancies in a big way, but there are certain obstacles they’ll need to overcome if they’re going to get their happily ever after.
Liam’s Doom gives great imagination and some new characters I’m looking forward to following on more adventures.
You can buy Liam’s Doom here: