Review: No Man’s Land by Sally Malcolm

Title: No Man’s Land

Author: Sally Malcolm

Length: 319 Pages

Category: Historical, Paranormal/Horror

Rating: 5 Stars

At a Glance: Sally Malcomb delivers an utterly engrossing story in No Man’s Land. Not only is there horror enough to satisfy my love of the genre, there’s also a romance that blooms alongside what resides under the streets of London but was created on the battlefields of France—monsters that thrive on chaos, death, and destruction.

Reviewed By: Lisa

Blurb: There are worse things than death…

It’s 1917, the height of the Great War, and Josef Shapel has one objective: tell the people at home the truth about the slaughter. That’s why he’s smuggled a camera to the front line, risking charges of treason to photograph the carnage.

But everything changes when he meets handsome and charismatic Captain Winchester.

Although the charming officer isn’t his usual type, Josef finds Winchester impossible to resist. But the captain is not what he seems, and after spending one glorious night together Josef discovers he’s been betrayed…

Months later, back in London, their paths cross again and Josef finds himself pulled into a dark and secret world. A world he can scarcely believe is real; a world that’s bringing the horrors of no man’s land into the streets of London.

With both his life and heart at risk, Josef must rethink everything he knows to fight for his home—and for a future with the man who blew his world apart.

Review: Being a conscientous objector to a war never made anybody a hero. Josef Shapel knows this firsthand. It cost him his family and made him a coward in the eyes of those who faught for king and country in World War I. But Josef is anything but a coward. He’s committed to exposing the truth, the horrors of war, and it leads him on a journey he could never have imagined would brew from the carnage of the battlefield. Joe’s own war is between what is right and what is his end goal. In this war—another war he wouldn’t have chosen if he were given the opportunity—he must fight what he wishes weren’t true and what lies ahead.

“You’ve dipped your toe into a world you barely comprehend, Mr Shepel.”

Sally Malcomb delivers an utterly engrossing story in No Man’s Land. Not only is there horror enough to satisfy my love of the genre, there’s also a romance that blooms alongside what resides under the streets of London but was created on the battlefields of France—monsters that thrive on chaos, death, and destruction. Josef meeting Captain Winchester among the casualties seemed like random chance. Josef would soon learn that amongst the lies the captain was willing to tell, is a horrible and deadly truth.

Josef’s skepticism, while aggravating to those of us who know that his world has changed in irrevocable ways, was perfectly suited to not only build suspense but to make Alex (aka Winchester, aka a variety of identities to suit his needs in any given situation) a sympathetic character when, by rights, he’s committed enough trespasses against Josef that he shouldn’t be trusted. Alex’s desire to protect soon extends to Josef, both despite and in spite of the danger that befalls them. Their attraction is inescapable. Their escape is never guaranteed.

While No Man’s Land is not listed as Book One in an ongoing series, my feeling (or maybe my thirsty, book-loving hope) is that Josef, Alex, and their host of complementary role players will be back for more. This doesn’t feel like The End. It feels like To Be Continued thanks to the authors use of lore and what could become of a world where the team of a witch and her partner (smash the patriarchy) and a journalist and his partner (much altered) exist to fight another day.