BLACKWELL (Magnus Blackwell 1) by Alexandrea Weis with Lucas Astor-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date January 17, 2017

Hell has a new master

In the late 1800s, handsome, wealthy New Englander, Magnus Blackwell, is the envy of all.

When Magnus meets Jacob O’Conner—a Harvard student from the working class—an unlikely friendship is forged. But their close bond is soon challenged by a captivating woman; a woman Magnus wants, but Jacob gets.

Devastated, Magnus seeks solace in a trip to New Orleans. After a chance meeting with Oscar Wilde, he becomes immersed in a world of depravity and brutality, inevitably becoming the inspiration for Dorian Gray. Armed with the forbidden magic of voodoo, he sets his sights on winning back the woman Jacob stole from him.

Amid the trappings of Victorian society, two men, bent on revenge, will lay the foundation for a curse that will forever alter their destinies.

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REVIEW: BLACKWELL book 1 is the first installment in Alexandrea Weis/ Lucas Astor’s slightly dark, Victorian, paranormal series focusing on jealousy, revenge, betrayal and magic.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Magnus Blackwell and Jacob O’Connor) covering a timeline of several years, BLACKWELL focuses on the friendship and betrayal between college friends Blackwell and O’Connor.

Magnus Blackwell comes from money; a spoiled, rich young man who takes what he wants, one way or another. A man with a dark side, and a darker need for violating the woman in his care Magnus Blackwell will lose the one woman he cannot have to the man he believes owes him his career and his life. Jacob O’Connor was orphaned at an early age, and through his mentor was accepted into Harvard and graduated with a degree in Architecture only to discover that his friendship with Magnus Blackwell proved to be more dangerous than not. Jacob will fall in love with the woman Magnus tossed aside, and in the ensuing years Magnus would devise a plan to destroy the man he once called a friend.

BLACKWELL is a slow building story line; set in New Orleans, Louisiana; steeped in magic, spirits and the practice of voodoo; betrayal, murder, discovery and revenge. Two friends, one woman and years to plan his retribution, Magnus Blackwell is a man possessed by anger, evil and a dark, foreboding malevolence that is focused on avenging the loss of the only woman that called to his heart. Jacob O’Connor will get his retribution by destroying everyone that gets in his way including the man who has been the focus of his anger and grief.

Alexandrea Weis pulls the reader into a dark and fated tale of catastrophic jealousy; of one man’s overwhelming anger and need to destroy and break the only friend that he has ever known. The premise is intriguing, thrilling and suspenseful; the characters are passionate in their desires and pathways to revenge. BLACKWELL is a tragic tale of jealousy and love; of betrayal and revenge; of dramatic and questionable journey of vengeance.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy