TALEN by Shay Savage-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date February 19, 2019

In a world plagued by constant earthquakes and volcanic debris, people in the valley struggle to survive while those on top of the hill want for nothing.

This is where I come in.

I spend my nights plundering supplies in the walled city of Hilltop, and I trade them to the valley people below. I’m not a thief. I prefer to be known as the head of Lost and Found.

When I discover a beautiful but dangerous competitor in my territory, I also learn she knows more about me than she should. Is she a spy sent by my father, or is she a rebel like me? I don’t trust her, but together we’ll discover secrets that may destroy what’s left of our world.

There have always been those with wealth and those without.

My name is Talen, and I’m here to even the score.

•••••••••••

REVIEW: TALEN by Shay Savage is a post –apocalyptic, dystopian romance story line focusing on twenty-seven year olds Talen and Aerin, survivors in a world gone to h*ll.

Told from first person perspective (Talen) TALEN follows a hundred plus years after the ‘Great Eruption’ in which most of North America fell prey to earthquakes, floods, viruses and death, leaving the survivors divided into two warring camps-the Thaves (the haves), and the Naughts (have nots). Talen lives amongst the Naughts and ‘procures’ the necessities of survival for the people he has learned to call family and friends. Segregated in a valley, in a small encampment known as ‘Plastictown, the Naughts battle the elements, the environment and one another in order to survive. As the resident ‘thief’ and ‘lost and found’ expert, Talen ventures into a world many will never experience, in the hopes of finding the tools and necessary implements in order to survive. Enter Aerin, a young woman whose own adventures find her ‘hunting’ in the land of the Thaves, where upon she will come face to face with her future. What ensues is the building relationship between Talen and Aerin, and the potential fall-out as the Thaves descend upon the remaining survivors in an attempt to take everything and more.

TALEN is a story of betrayal, vengeance, survival and loss; power and contol. Talen and Aerin both have secrets that if revealed would deeply affect their precarious friendships with the remaining Naughts. As the government and Thaves put their plans into action, Talen and Aerin must face a possible future alone or not at all. Working together, Talen and Aerin ensure that the people in power pay for the current situation, and the death of their friends.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful, energetic and broken characters. We are up close and personal with the people who struggle one day at a time-people who never knew the comforts of living a life without the daily battle to survive. The requisite evil has many faces.

TALEN is a thought-provoking and cautionary tale of what if; what if the world as we know it was destroyed by climate change and the fall-out of man’s destruction of the environment? The premise is imaginative; the characters are eclectic and spirited; the romance is passionate and emotional, without the use of over the top,sexually graphic language and text.

I am not sure if the author has plans for a series but there are a large number of characters and open ended plot points that could use some resolution.

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Reviewed by Sandy