What Immortal Hand by Johnny Worthen – A Book Review

Blurb:

Michael is called of God; just not that God.

What begins as a routine investigation of a hijacked truck turns into a desperate and personal quest for memories, faith, and meaning. The answers to these, for Michael Oswald, like the strangled cries of a thousand murdered travelers, is found in the dark heart of an ancient cult of killers.

Literary and dark, What Immortal Hand is a road trip across American wastelands and into the depths of spiritual darkness, where the Dark Mother, Kali, has set up house in the New World, and her children, the Thuggee cult of ancient India, are alive and thriving.

 

Author: Johnny Worthen

Publisher: Omnium Gatherum

Release Date: 22/09/2017

Genre: Fiction/Fantasy

Pages: 320

Chosen Format: Kindle

My Rating of ‘What Immortal Hand’: 5 out of 5

Purchase:Amazon UK, Amazon US

 

Review:

What Immortal Hand tells the tale of Michael Oswald and his buried past. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked this title up, but I can say that I was blown away by it. Everything from the storytelling to the character building is superb. The first fifty percent simply flew by as, much like Michael, I had no idea what was going on and was simply along for the ride as far as his journey of self-discovery played out.

Michael is one of those characters that, despite the fact he is a selfish, fairly unlikeable guy, you can’t help but root for him and want him to succeed in everything he does. Every moral choice he is offered is, to an extent, shared by the reader. I found myself really getting invested in his journey and hoping against hope that he made the right choices.

The story, as a whole, delves into the past of the ancient Muslim/Hindu cult known as the Thuggee (worshipers of Mother Kali, Goddess of Destruction). It toys with the idea of the cult still being active and plying its trade across the US and other parts of the globe. It’s a group of people I knew nothing about and this book made the history geek in me very happy at getting to learn about them.

One part of this novel that caught me off-guard at how well it was done, was Michael’s background. I won’t go too in-depth into it as that is a large part of the novel and way better if discovered when reading the actual novel. But, suffice to say, it is so well done.

I enjoyed this tale of darkness and intrigue so much and I can only hope that my review inspires other people to take a chance on it. I can say with great confidence that you’ll not find yourself disappointed.