May 29, 2012

Review: The Society of Sinners by Charity Parkerson


Title: The Society of Sinners
Author: Charity Parkerson
Series: The Sinners #1
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Charity Parkerson
Format: eBook/Paperback
Release Date: July 13th 2011
Pages: 334
Source: Purchased from Amazon


Contact Charity


Overall Rating: 5 Bad Boys – Absolutely Loved It!!!!!
Reviewer: Kat


Author Summary
"Evil lives in the dark. We instinctively know this as children."
Nestled high in the mountains...
The quiet community of Jackson Station is where everyone knows your name and...species?

Vampires have existed since almost the beginning of time, but not in the way we have been led to believe. These were not men cursed by the devil but warriors blessed by God to have great strength, agility, and eternal life.
Eternal life came at a price, the price of human blood.
Some chose to live within their own society; The Society of Sinners.

The Society of Sinners is the first in the new Sinners series by Charity Parkerson introducing a paranormal world filled with vampires, werewolves, changelings, and a God's greatest warrior.


My Thoughts

Incredible! This novel is like waking up Christmas morning to find that Santa brought you every single thing you wanted on your wish list!

The Society of Sinners is a compilation of five different short stories making it refreshingly unique in this genre.  Each one tells the story of a specific character; however, they are all interlaced by bringing characters in and out from the other stories as needed, and by keeping the overall plot the same.  

There is an overall intensity and impassioned feel to this novel.  Each short story is a heartfelt paranormal love story with lots of conflict and a healthy dose of sensuality that Charity Parkerson is famous for in her erotica novels. The tone is definitely more on the light-hearted romantic side rather than the dark or threatening paranormal side.

The author tells each story with a nice balance of internal and external dialogue. The pace is swift-moving with no real slowdowns or deviations from the main plot. However, despite its’ fast pace, the events flow nicely from one story to the next so there are no gaps that leave us confused.  Some resolutions occur yet there are many openings for future novels.

Especially impressive to me is that in a compilation such as this, I would have expected each story to be slim in establishing a solid backstory, interesting plot and developing characters in such a limited amount of pages.  This is extremely challenging for most authors and the end result would normally be overwhelming readers with too much detail or underwhelming them with too few.  It’s hard to get the balance just right.  I think it’s a true test of an author’s skill to communicate all we need to know and successfully deliver a well-structured story.  Charity Parkerson is one of those skilled authors that has managed to overcome the challenges and produce a great story.



About the story…


As the first in the Sinners series, this novel nicely sets the stage by giving us an overall understanding of the storyworld and background.  

The Society is an organization that protects humanity from what they consider the “Evil Ones” - those turned into a supernatural being and not born one, thereby having tainted blood.  Bestowed with great strength, agility and eternal life, members of The Society are considered blessed by God.  Not cursed by the devil as with most other novels in this genre. The premise is unique for that reason.  Also the fact that the characters can be a mix between vampires and weres sets this novel apart from what we normally see in this genre.

Even though The Society considers those with tainted blood to be evil, such is not always the case. A few recognized this and established a Safe House for those hiding from the Society. The Safe House is made up of humans who are kind of like a witness protection program for supernaturals (and humans too) providing them with new identities and backgrounds so they can live out their lives in peace away from the ever-watching eye of The Society.



About the Characters…


With all romance novels, I tend to focus more on character development as I feel that’s most important.  Most authors focus on developing the main characters so thoroughly, the supporting characters are sometimes neglected.  Not Charity Parkerson.  Each and every character in this novel is captivating and unique with their own issues, abilities and backgrounds. I won’t go into a long description of each one but I’ll say that every one of the heroes, heroines, villains and even the “scary six” (you’ll have to read the novel to know what I’m talking about here) are compelling and easy to invest in and care about.


Bottom Line


In my opinion, The Society of Sinners is a well-structured collection of short stories with a unique and exciting premise for a (hopefully) long running series. Readers, please don’t get discouraged by the fact that this is a complilation. Like I said above, the stories are entwined and the characters are brought together expertly with this author’s unique writing finesse.

I highly recommend this novel to all lovers of steamy Paranormal Romance and I can’t wait to delve into the next book of the series, Wicked Sinners.  

Happy Reading!!

5 Bad Boys – Absolutely Loved It!!!!!




5 comments:

  1. ooohhh I love good anthologies/short story compilations too!

    Talk Supe

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    Replies
    1. me too!! You'll wanna be reading this one. I picked up the second one, Wicked Sinners, and hopefully will read it soon.

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