Review: Pestilence by Laura Thalassa

Pestilence
(The Four Horsemen #1)
by Laura Thalassa
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication date: Sept. 14, 2018
Genre: Fantasy Dystopia Romance
Rating:

They came to earth—Pestilence, War, Famine, Death—four horsemen riding their screaming steeds, racing to the corners of the world. Four horsemen with the power to destroy all of humanity. They came to earth, and they came to end us all.

When Pestilence comes for Sara Burn’s town, one thing is certain: everyone she knows and loves is marked for death. Unless, of course, the angelic-looking horseman is stopped, which is exactly what Sara has in mind when she shoots the unholy beast off his steed.

Too bad no one told her Pestilence can’t be killed.

Now the horseman, very much alive and very pissed off, has taken her prisoner, and he’s eager to make her suffer. Only, the longer she’s with him, the more uncertain she is about his true feelings towards her … and hers towards him.

And now, well, Sara might still be able to save the world, but in order to do so, she’ll have to sacrifice her heart in the process.

I have been lusting after this book for over a year now, and I finally got my hands on a copy. Something about the dark romance, the oh so sexy cover, and the fact that it’s about the Four Horseman, had me dying to read it. I am glad to say that the wait was worth it. The author did a great job mixing a dark post-apocalyptic world, Stockholm syndrome, redemption, a slow burn romance, and an immense amount character growth. I was worried that I might has some problem with this story, but the author took her time and slowly brought everything together.

Let me back it up for a second. I know that this is a story about Pestilence, and he’s walking the earth with the sole purpose to spread the plague and kill off humankind. Surely, there can’t be anything redeeming about him. But you’d be wrong. Now hear me out. When Sara decides to stay behind in her hometown and kill Pestilence, she’s prepared to go down fighting. However, she somehow manages to get the best of him, and kills him… or so she thought. Apparently, Pestilence can’t die, even when you set his body on fire. Who knew? Of course, Pestilence isn’t overly happy with this murderous human and is prepared to kill her, but instead decides to spare her life and make her suffer instead by becoming his prisoner. He makes her walk behind his horse as he travels between cities. He makes her watch as the plague infects all but her. However, when she falls ill, he’s beating down doors to get her help. He’s making stops for her to rest. He starts off as Pestilence the Conqueror, but soon you start to see that there’s more than the surface image.

Sara of course has a heavy dose of Stockholm syndrome. Deny it all you want, but she finds him attractive immediately, and when he shows her a small kindness, her lusty thoughts come rearing to the forefront. Doesn’t matter how he treated her previously. Doesn’t matter that he kills everyone he comes near. Doesn’t matter that he still calls her his prisoner and that he intends to make her suffer instead of allowing her to die. He’s hot, and therefor we must love him. Since the book is written only in Sara’s point of view, we are privy to all of her thoughts, desires, and turmoil over her attraction to Pestilence. So, it was clear early on that she had a thing for him, even before he showed any real kindness towards her.

Now, with that being said, this is a slow slooooooow building romance. Sure Sara has the hots for Pestilence, but he’s indifferent. He can’t bring himself to kill her outright and you never fully know why, but it’s not because he wants her. For a good portion of the book, he looks at her in a detached way. However, feels compelled to care for her when she becomes ill. Then as she tries to save him and tend to his wounds, he finds himself softening towards her. I really wish we could have been inside his head. He was such a complex character that I think it would have been interesting to know what he was thinking when everything clicked into place for him.

This was a really well done story. The author did a great job taking what would otherwise be a despicable character, and humanizing them and making them likable. At times I sort of felt bad for him. I mean, his whole existence is to spread the plague. That’s what he was created for, and that’s all he knows. However, humans are trying to kill him in the most vicious ways, as he simply rides through. All he’s been shown is how awful the human race is, so of course he feels no sadness about killing them. The fact that the author was able to make me feel for Pestilence speaks volumes. I can’t wait to get my hands on War and see how his story plays out.