REVIEW: Peregrine Harker & the Black Death by Luke Hollands

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My Rating: 5 out of 10 stars

It's the year 1908 in London and Peregrine Harker, an enterprising young reporter, is sent on a mission to uncover the cause behind the rising price of tea in England. But with his knack for turning up clues, what Harker discovers is so much more: smuggling rings, murdering lords, and a mysterious brotherhood called the Black Death. Can Harker get to the bottom of the story before he finds himself six feet under?

I received this book in exchange for an honest review and for the most part, I enjoyed it enough to continue reading, even though at times it seemed to get bogged down in details. In addition, there were several incidents which seemed to happen purely for the sake of the storyline, and then all of a sudden everything would turn around and one of the characters would have this grand explanation for why things went down the way they did. It made the story seem a bit too forced at times. (I know there's a proper term for such phenomenon but for the life of me, I can't recall it right now.) Suffice to say, I realize that's probably a common shortcoming of any new writer, one that can easily be overcome with practice and more writing.

Beyond some of these minor annoyances, I found the plot interesting, and when it moved along at a steady pace, was able to hold my interest. Despite the subject matter, I think it's definitely geared towards a younger audience due to the simplistic way certain events unfolded and then were quickly wrapped up.