Imagine a modern-day Atlantis, formerly hidden quietly off the coast of Massachusetts. Those who dwell there have power and spells, but are in an all our war between courts based on a traditional tarot deck. Welcome to the world of K.D. Edwards’ The Tarot Sequence. The second book in the series, The Hanged Man, features Rune Saint John; the final member of the Sun Throne. His family is loaded with secrets and the first few pages of the book has him delve into his old home, now over run with ghouls and nightmarish creatures designed to keep him out and his family secrets locked in. Desperate to protect Max, a child of The Lovers kingdom (which also sounds like a nightmare from the book’s description), Rune Saint John and his bodyguard/friend/assassin are busy trying to figure out why another Tarot kingdom wants the boy, and how it ties into family mystery.
K.D. Edward’s The Hanged Man is imaginative, vivid, and quite hard to put down when one needs to complete chores or other of life’s necessities. The world is elaborate, highly thought out and detailed. Its hard not to be intrigued by a world where someone is literally referred to as Lady Death and there are dangers everywhere. It was also wonderful to have a few LGBT relationships inside the story that didn’t feel forced; they just were. Just a caution: if you’re super sensitive to sexual violence, you may find yourself twinging from time to time at some of the descriptions of past experiences for Max and members of The Lovers’ kingdom.
I would encourage readers to pick up the first book, The Last Sun, before embarking on The Hanged Man. It will make certain concepts and characters a bit easier to follow than diving headfirst into the second novel.
The Hanged Man is now available from Pyr Publishing.
