My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Blue Courage, Battle of the Afterlife is a fantasy book. We are introduced to Reese in a present day situation as he demonstrates his Navy seal training in a daring kidnap rescue from a Mexican drug cartel. It ends with his death and a leap to the afterlife where Reese arrives as a Noob (Newbie)
Here Reese is very naïve and trusting of all those around him, accepting all that he is told without question. We are introduced to groups within the afterlife and Reese discovers that he is destined to become a Centennial Warrior for the Blues in a contest of power and skill. He is taken to a healing chamber and then trained as a warrior with three others for a tournament.
When the Reds start the Centennial contest early the Blues must also head in to danger even though they may not be battle-ready. The contest is watched by other inhabitants of the afterlife on large screens and the story ends with a big power showdown and the promise of more battles to come in the second book of the series.
There are a lot of characters in this book and I would have liked the main characters to have been fleshed out more so that I engaged with them and they stood clearly out from the minor characters. There is a lot of back story to set the Afterlife scene and the Centennial battles and I would have liked to see more time spent on Reese, his feelings, his questions, his life.
Overall I felt there was room to tighten the writing style, and the copy I had needed another proofread.
Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
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