Nocturnal Book Reviews

This was such a fun romp! Perfect book to break the monotony of reading the same genre.

The setting of the story is some sort of fantasy/alternative history with kings, aristocracy, knights, sun cult, assassins and plenty of superstitions and fairy-tales.

Cameo is an assassin whose mission goes all wrong after a highwayman stops the carriage she is travelling in. A unique sort of circumstances brings Cameo and Black Opal (the highwayman) together on a very dangerous journey, losing and acquiring friends and enemies along the road.

What stood out for me in this story is that Cameo and Black Opal both are not your typical protagonists. Cameo is a legendary scary assassin whose name simple folks use to frighten their children. She is not beautiful at all, but dark, lonely and eery.

Opal has poor vision, is scarred by pockmarks, which he covers by heavily powdering his face and wearing ridiculously foppish clothes. He is also not young and kills easily. But the guy is devilishly charming and thinks that Cameo is beautiful.

I couldn't help laughing visualising this pair. Because they are so imperfect, they are very lively. The same can be said about secondary characters who are just as vivid.

The whole book come to life very easily, and becomes a fast read. There are also plenty of unresolved mysteries in the end which make you want to read book #2.

Very much recommended.