#Equinox by David Towsey @AdAstraFiction @HoZ_Books #BlogTour #BookReview #Fantasy

Ljwrites85

May 20

Title: Equinox by David Towsey

Date Published: 12th May 2022

Publisher: Head Of Zeus

Genre: Historical/Fantasy/Mystery

Description:

In this world, two souls inhabit a single body, one by day, one by night. But though they live alongside one another, their ends do not always align. For Special Inspector Morden, whose hunt for a dangerous witch takes him far from home, this will be a problem...

Christophor Morden lives by night. His day-brother, Alexsander, knows only the sun. They are two souls in a single body, in a world where identities change with the rising and setting of the sun. Night-brother or day-sister, one never sees the light, the other knows nothing of the night.

Early one evening, Christophor is roused by a call to the city prison. A prisoner has torn his eyes out and cannot say why. Yet worse: in the sockets that once held his eyes, teeth are growing. The police suspect the supernatural, so Christophor, a member of the king's special inspectorate, is charged with finding the witch responsible.

Night-by-night, Christophor's investigation leads him ever further from home, toward a backwards village on the far edge of the kingdom. But the closer he gets to the truth, the more his day-brother's actions frustrate him. Who is Alexsander protecting? What does he not want Christophor to discover?

And all the while, an ancient and apocalyptic ritual creeps closer to completion…

Review:

I want to thank Head of Zeus for providing me with a copy of Equinox in exchange for an honest review.

Every person has two souls in one body. Special Inspector Christopher Morden shares a body with his feckless musician brother Alexsander. They've always rubbed along together, but his latest case will put that to the test. Christopher is called to the city jail to see a young boy. He tore his own eyes out and teeth grew in their place. He quickly rules it to be the work of a witch and asks someone else, someone younger, to take the case. There's no such luck for him and he's forced to travel to a small village of Drekenford. A strange place that really doesn't want him there. It's up to him to discover the witch before they finish what they've started, with deadly consequences for everyone.

I love genre-bending books and Equinox is just that. It had elements of fantasy, magic and mystery combining to make an original and gripping read.

The story was quite dark and gritty, which I'm a huge fan of. There was also a tense and unnerving atmosphere over the story that gave it an extra dose of creepiness, which I enjoyed.

The two souls in one body is what drew me to this novel. I was thinking it was going to be some sort of Jekyll and Hyde situation, but it was more gentle than that. One person went to sleep, then the other would wake. Not that it didn't have its problems. Both people were very different. Alexsander was a musician and carefree spirit, whereas Christopher, as a Special inspector, was more uptight and serious. It was interesting to see their relationship and how each soul affected one another.

I did mention earlier that this had some mystery in it, but I will warn you it's not as strong as the other elements of the story and felt a little slow paced at the beginning.

Equinox is a dark yet enthralling fantasy novel, packed with atmosphere and peculiar characters.

About the Author:

David Towsey is a graduate of the Creative Writing programmes at Bath Spa University and Aberystwyth University. Born in Dorset, he now lives in Cardiff with his girlfriend and their growing board game collection. Together, they write under the pseudonym of D.K. Fields whose Tales of Fenest trilogy is also published by Head of Zeus.

David's first novel, Your Brother's Blood, was published by Quercus, and was the first in the Walkin' Trilogy. He is also one half of the indie games company, Pill Bug Interactive, who have released three titles across PC and Nintendo Switch.