Perish

By L.C. Barlow

Book Overview

Jack Harper is a dangerous woman, capable of death and resurrection. Raised and utilized by Cyrus, the leader of a mystical religion, she was once a fearless and brilliant weapon against all who blasphemed. Now, having destroyed Cyrus, Jack is free to be more.

While starting anew, Jack begins receiving letters from children trapped in Infinitum who beg for rescue, and she soon discovers that Cyrus's cult is alive and thriving, with tendrils branching across the world. One of these tendrils leads Jack to Patrick, a man who speaks of a contraption that "bleaches anything white." Yet another tendril stretches beyond death, where the Builder and Jack's brother, Alex, reside. Jack must now seek to permanently destroy the following she once escaped by fixing her sights on a higher target-the infamous demonic Builder, who once supplied Cyrus with overwhelming power.

Potential aid arrives from an unusual source when Jack encounters Jonathon Roth and his kill-for-hire outfit. Combined, they hope to become an unstoppable force, but only the future will tell. Jack may be falling into her old acolyte ways, and Roth may have found in Jack the very thing that made Cyrus so powerful-his own magical being.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1644281376
• ISBN13: 9781644281376
• Release Date: October 2020
• Publisher: Rare Bird Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Jack is the heroine that persisted

I received an e-book ARC of Perish from the author, L. C. Barlow, in return for my honest review, which follows below. I thank her for this opportunity. I rated this 5 stars. Book two in the Jack Harper trilogy held up the first novel’s pleasant break from the heavy cliffhanger trope to reel in the reader to continuing the series; something I appreciated just as much this time around as the first. You pick up the story a sentence break from where Pivot lets off, which felt astonishingly smooth, considering, as I’ve mentioned, it did not feel at all like you were left dangling at the end. I find myself looking forward to reading the last book when it is released. I recommend this for readers of dark fiction, cult horror, nefarious entities and the ethereal paladins set on stopping them, and a protagonist that has some sharp edges and little patience. I could see this a gift, and I would re-read this. I intend on getting buying a physical copy of this book when it is released. Cyrus is defeated, his mansion burning to the ground. The blanket protection given by the box winked out of existence with the box’s destruction. The freshly raised Ferric are not pleased to hear that Lutin intends to let Jack keep her new powers; a piece of himself, given freely, that will become wholly hers if left long enough alone. It seems they can not force the issue, but warn he may be punished when they return to wherever home base is for Ferric folk. Jack is surprisingly not along for the ride, she is is left to fend for herself; the reader is left with the impression there is an adjustment period best gone through alone in the cards for her. With sirens wailing ever closer, Jack gets behind the wheel of Cyrus’s car and drives off in the opposite direction. Alone for the first time in her recent memory, without the safety net of Cyrus’s bankroll, Jack takes to robbing people for cash. She can just bring them back if they accidentally die during the attempts, and she very quickly amasses enough to pay for an apartment to hole up in. She refers to the times she is healing people as being her true self. I find it so interesting that she can say that without irony, because she is bringing people back from the dead, that she killed, while stealing their money. She is a different creature than one would usually imagine as a heroine. Her views on right and wrong may be a little skewed, but if you cross one of her lines it’s over for you; forgiveness is not on the menu today. She makes connections by necessity, teaming with a murder for hire business originally sent to take her out. Her abilities from Lutin seem to be growing stronger, though not quite the same as his. Alex is still out there, a thorn in her side. This second book is Jack coming into herself as a woman, having to stand by her decisions and mistakes. So many times you are reminded, she is only seventeen and never got to be just a kid; but she may be the only one who can devise a way to defeat the Builder. I was once again left looking forward to the next, and this time final, book in the Jack Harper trilogy. If the third book grows exponentially to the second, as the second did to the first, then this series is going to going to be a favorite for most.