We were approached by Mr. Farland's representative about a month ago to see if we were interested in reviewing this "enhanced novel." It is the first book in the Nightingale series and is designed to be read on a computer, iPad, smart phone or other such device. It is also currently available as a traditional ebook (without the enhancements) if you prefer to read it on a traditional eReader and the hard copy is available for pre-order. The enhanced version consists of not only the novel, but a 45 minute soundtrack, full color animated drawings at the beginning of each chapter, and author notes throughout the text. There were sentences throughout the book that were highlighted in blue. If you click on them a text box provides additional background information, what the author was thinking at the time, his source of inspiration, etc. I thoroughly enjoyed the pictures and the author's comments, but could have done without the audio component. It took a long time for the pages with audio to load on my iPad and I became impatient when all I REALLY wanted was to continue reading the story. I emphasized the word really because I truly did enjoy the story. All of the enhanced features were nice, but not necessary. I would have enjoyed this book with or without them.
Bron Jones was abandoned by his mother as an infant and has been in foster care ever since. He was bounced from home to home and has had a very rough upbringing. At the age of 16 he is fortunate enough to get placed with Olivia and Mike Hernandez. She is a teacher at a school for the performing arts and recognizes Bron for what he truly is. Bron thinks that his life may finally take a turn for the better. He is popular at school, is living with a nice family, has a potential girlfriend...but of course this may all be too good to be true. There is a secret that Olivia is keeping and with it comes a tremendous amount of danger.
Mr. Farland has developed a set of characters known as Masaaks, which look human but have very special powers. They are nothing like other paranormal characters we have all read about. I found their history and abilities to be very fascinating. When you add in the fact that there are good and evil Massaks that have been battling for thousands of years you begin to wonder, how can humans not know they exist? There is a very good explanation for this which you will want to read about. There was plenty of action to keep the pages turning with just enough relationship and character development to really allow the reader to connect with these characters.
It appears that there are currently three additional books planned for the series and I honestly can't wait to get my hands on them. The end of the book was a bit of a cliff hanger, which is often the case with a series, so I was not surprised. I just wonder how long we will have to wait to find out what happens next for Bron, Olivia, and the rest of the Masaaks. I have not been able to find a potential release date for the second installment in this series, but I will be sure to let you know when I do.
Good review! You have made me intrigued about thses Masaaks!
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