Pyre
By James McCann Book Review by Miranda Fraser ISBN: 978-1-894965-66-8 Woah, yet again, McCann has drawn me into the little town of Minitaw and I am still not ready to say goodbye. This is Book Two in the Rancour Chronicles but it’s not exactly a sequel. This story actually takes place in 1998, whereas Rancour will take place several years in the future, in fact events from Pyre are mentioned rather early on in Rancour. And while Pyre’s story takes place first, I still think reading them in their published order adds more to the weight of the story and the depth of the characters. If you haven’t already read Rancour, it is the first review that was ever published here at Pick Up A Book Today and I highly recommend reading it! To begin with, if you did read Rancour (or Rancor as it’s also been titled) then you know from his point of view, that he is a werewolf who’s greatest enemies are Vampires. However, in Book Two we see more things on the Vampires side, told from the point of view of Jonathan Pyre a mortal boy who finds himself neck deep in immortal feuds. Once again the emphasis on good verses evil is prominent in McCann’s storytelling, in fact, almost more evident than in Book One. But before all of that, Pyre has dreams of rock and roll and freedom, unfortunately as is more typical for high schoolers anymore, he instead is actually quite burdened by bullies at school and some problems at home. That’s when an act of vandalism finds him in an ‘after school’ activity of cleaning up the very center he tried to vandalize. This is the turning point in Pyre’s life. In the meantime a string of, what appears to be, wolf attacks has begun terrorizing the little town of Minitaw. This is also when a mysterious new student with emerald eyes begins attending Fillmore High (sound familiar to anyone?) He goes by the name of River. And mostly keeping to himself he somehow seems to draw little suspicion from anyone other than Pyre. All the while Pyre finds that the man he works for after school is indeed a vampire and he has a strong feeling that the recent changes to his strength and senses can all be traced back to that fact. What has he gotten himself into? As Pyre discovers the impossible truth around every corner fate closes in on him, and all that he loves, right up to the very ending of the novel. In the end, I found myself picturing the same school, parks, and overall little town that I did throughout Rancour. And while yes, it is the same town, even the map on the inside cover of the books are the same, it is hard to explain the talent it takes to bring a reader right back to where they once were. It felt like coming home, so much so, that I caught myself mixing the timelines of the two stories in my mind as it all sank in. And as if Rancour hadn’t already played with my emotions reading Book Two in the chronicles surely did the trick. As I said before, I was not ready to let go of this town and I wish there was more to this extraordinary world and the creatures within it! I highly recommend this series and hope that it brings the same sense of wonder and joy to you as it has for me. Below are the links to James McCann's Goodreads, Facebook, and website so you can follow him for more updates. He has also recently published a new novel "The Rise of the One-Eyed King" an apocalyptic drama filled with twists that will keep you sitting at the edge of your seat until the very end! Definitely keep and eye out for it or order one as soon as you can.
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