Farish's Freehold: My first 5 star review of Soulless Monk

Soulless Monk went on sale 1 October. And while I knew people were waiting to buy it what I did not expect was that some would plow through it like a buzzsaw through butter and then post a review the same day.

Next we cut butter for our English muffins!

The 5 star review:

What a riveting tale of horror and heroism!

Lincoln Farish has a way of scaring me senseless and still not letting me walk away from the story. It is definitely NOT for the weak-minded, weak-souled, or even those with the weak stomach.

The bad guys' hatred of all, including each other jumped off the page and smacked me upside the head. I kept telling myself that it was time to go to bed, and yet I continued to read.

Sebastian is still the angry but innocent monk. Aching still from amusia and the loss of his wife and child, he hunts the bad guys with a desperate frenzy that could qualify as dedication or idiocy.

Can't wait for the next book!!!

To say I'm pleased is a lie. I'm very, very happy.

I did things differently in Soulless Monk than I did with Junior Inquisitor. Changes include POV, who was the main character, surprises, a couple of nice twists, monster types, and so on. I wasn't sure it would work. I'll admit it, I had some doubts. Perhaps changing things in a series would cause problems, the readers might reject what I'd done. Then there was other issues, could I make the “voices” different for the main characters? Would each person be whole and complete, would they live and breathe in the pages, or just read like a really evil Mary Sue, or Marty Stu? Something straight out of central casting and as real as a cardboard cut out? The concept worried me. When I was done I thought I had pulled it off, but the real test was my audience. People who had paid money to be entertained; where they entertained? Did it meet their expectations?