After by Savannah Jezowski (The Neverway Chronicles; 1)

The Synopsis:

“Some people might say that there are worse fates than death. In some worlds, perhaps that may well be the case. But in mine, it would be a lie. There is no greater horror than that which comes after death.”
On the streets of an ancient city, with creepers wandering at will and a mysterious assassin leaving corpses all over Pandorum, a young Spook with a dark secret will do anything to keep his brothers safe, even from forces that threaten to tear them apart from within. While others are searching for impossible cures from outlawed Spinners, Conrad Ellis III does not believe in fairy tales and miracles. But when he discovers a strange girl with shrouded ties to the Assassin, Eli is forced to leave the streets he loves and travel into the very heart of Pandorum in order to save a member of his family. With his health failing and the danger escalating, there is no escaping the inevitable truth. Today, he may hunt creepers.
Tomorrow, he just might be one.

I received this book from the author for the purpose of this review. All comments and opinions are entirely my own.

Review:

After is a fantasy adventure fraught with danger, mystery, suspense, and a race against the clock.

The storyline is tense from the very first page, and though the action may die down in some places, the suspense and mystery never leaves us. It truly is a page turner on all accounts.

I loved Eli. As an eldest child myself, I could feel the responsibilities that he bestowed on himself, the fear and protection he shouldered on behalf of his family, and even the choices he made. He was a very real character and I was very pleased with how he handled his unfortunate turn of events.

The story, though excellently paced, did seem to be confuse me a lot of times. We open with detailed descriptions of the Creepers (undead/zombie-like people) which made me think that they would play a bigger role in the story than they did. They didn’t disappear, but about a third of the way through the book, the story turned from Eli’s job as a Spook (someone who captures Creepers) to an epic adventure filled with deception and disguise. I loved the concept for sure, but the transition was just very sudden and I felt the mood of the book shift from dark and mysterious to almost a Tolkien-like quest. Like I said, still a wonderful story, just a bit choppy in the transition.

The content is clean though a bit dark. There is no cursing or sexual content, however the blood and gore is decently high. As are the descriptions of the Creepers. So overall, I really enjoyed After and I do look forward to reading the next book in the series, Specter. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.