Spirit of Fire by Albert Nothlit

Spirit of Fire

Author: Albert Nothlit
Title: Spirit of Fire
Series: Part of the Sharing the Season Collection
Genre: Paranormal
Pairing: M/M
Rating: Three Petals

On the Author's Website:
http://www.albertnothlit.com/

Summary:

Playing around one night, jokingly building a Wiccan altar in the dead of winter, Jacob accidentally summons the Spirit of Fire. And it has a message: the world will end unless a human sacrifice is made to the Old Gods.

He has two nights to find a willing candidate who doesn't think he's crazy. If he doesn't, his terrifying visions of flames will become horrifyingly real.

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Maggie's Rating: Three Petals

Maggie's Review:

I received this book as an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Jacob is a half-assed Wiccan.  He wants to believe in something and he likes the idea of Wicca, but he's not sure about whether it's real.  Then he builds an alter and accidentally summons the Spirit of Fire who tells Jacob the world will end unless he finds a willing human sacrifice.  Suddenly, it's all too real for Jacob and he only has a few hours left to save the world.

I feel like I'm being very generous giving this story three petals, but while there was a lot wrong about this story, it was still well written and the Wiccan aspects were interesting enough that I can't quite give it the two petals it probably deserves. 

The story started with Jacob having already met the Spirit of Fire and now he's trying to figure out what to do to stop the world ending.  He's the only one that believes the tall tale, so he can't find anyone to help him locate a willing human sacrifice.  The biggest problem with the story is I didn't believe him either.  Perhaps had the story begun with Jacob accidentally summoning the Spirit so the reader could experience the build up of panic and fear from the onset, I might have been more invested in Jacob's plight.  Instead I found the plot slightly ridiculous.  Unfortunately, the rest of the book shared the same quality so I couldn't become invested in the budding romantic relationship Jacob formed or what should have been very interesting Wiccan traditions. 


Maggie's Recommendation:

I gave this story three petals because it was well written and the Wiccan aspects to the story were interesting, but overall this story barely deserved two.  I couldn't get invested in anything Jacob was doing, from trying to save the world to building a romantic relationship.  Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this book.