Before I Die
by Jenny DownhamTessa has just a few months to live. Fighting back against hospital visits, endless tests, drugs wi
Read ReviewMammon
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Forget anything you ever heard about possession, exorcisms, salt circles and pentagrams. The modern demon is far more difficult to catch - and even harder to destroy.
After the savage, tragic deaths of their parents, Grace and Joe Callahan learn that they are descendants of the sarsareh - an ancient order of mercenaries who hunt very special prey. Grace and Joe take their place in the Order, but are treated with hostility and fear by other recruits.
For the Callahan siblings have powers that fascinate and terrify.
Joe is a Ferryman, capable of opening dimensional rifts, while Grace's telepathic abilities surpass anything the Order has ever seen.
To complicate matters, Grace falls for her older, more experienced squad leader, Ivan. Meanwhile, the sarsareh elders have their own plans for Joe.
But none of that will matter if the powerful demon Mammon manages to convince Joe to open a gateway to his demon world and overrun Earth with his armies.
If he succeeds: game over.
(2 votes)
Reviews
Sep 03,2011
Mammon by J.B Thomas turned out to be a great entertaining read. It took me a little while to really get into this book. In the very beginning when Grace and Joe were first discovering powers, things seemed to move really fast and I felt disconnected from the characters. However as the book progressed the more I seemed to enjoy it. This is a bit different from the other demon books out there that I’ve read. The idea of it, the overall way that demons form and what they actually are, is unique and I really liked that about it. As I mentioned before, the story seemed to move really fast in the beginning; it seemed to me like the characters accepted things so easily and it in turn made it hard for me to accept what was happening, but once Grace and Joe end up in training and learning more about the world; then I really got sucked in. This book was action packed and tended to be fast paced the majority of the way through, with plenty of romance to keep me entertained and swooning.
I had mixed emotions about the characters in this book. There seem to be so many of them, that at times I kept forgetting names and who they were supposed to be as well as their place within the story. I liked the majority of them, although I found I didn’t like Joe. I found I didn’t care for him and his attitude; he didn’t draw any empathy from me and he grated on my nerves over some of the selfish and annoying choices he made. I know he’s one of the lead roles, but I just didn’t like him.
Grace on the other hand, I did like. I enjoyed begin inside her head and following her the most during this book. She herself has made her fair share of mistakes and she’s got a lot to learn, but she’s brave and feisty and has a good heart. She was generally good to read about and I can’t wait to see how her abilities develop in the rest of the series.
And Ivan. Oh.....I liked Ivan, I liked Ivan a lot! He has to be the highlight of the book for me. He’s so brave and tough and sexy and fierce. I’m a sucker for any kind of soldier or military man, so he had my heart the moment he appeared in the book. He and Grace were so sweet and I loved seeing their relationship change and alter and I was soooo happy to see them together. They obviously care deeply about one another and I love them as a couple. Theirs is the kind of romance I love to read about.
I liked the way this book progress and I feel like it was a really great, easy read. You can relax while you read it and get sucked into the characters and tale. The ending was exciting and left me wanting more. I’m wondering what’s next in store for Grace, Joe and Ivan and can’t wait to read the rest of The Ferryman Chronicles.
Sep 02,2011
Mammon is one of those books where the cover speaks for what’s inside. The cover gives you a view of what to expect without actually reading it. With its strong colours and great-looking design, I wanted to read this, and because the book involves demons. . .even better! I was pleasantly surprised when I finished Mammon as J.B. Thomas introduced us to another form of demon – and mythology that surrounds them – that most of us have no idea about, and the way it was used was great.
Grace and her brother Joe discover they have special abilities. Grace is telepathic while Joe is a Ferryman capable of opening dimensional rifts which has been unseen for a while. When their parents are killed, they are taken to an institution called the Order where they discover that their parents were sarsareh and are trying to lower the amount of demons that walk amongst the public. However, these demons are just individuals who after doing criminal activities such as dealing, murdering, etc., degenerate; their souls and humanistic qualities are suppressed.
While I did enjoy Mammon and basically everything about it, I found myself comparing it to many other books: Harry Potter because Mammon, the enemy, reminded me of Voldemort and his evil doings, and the relationship between Grace and Ivan reminded me of that in Vampire Academy 1. But either way, what’s there to not like? But one thing I’d like to point out, is that the romance which shoots out at you at one point, is actually not very large compared to everything else that happens. So I don’t know why it is given its own space within the synopsis. Most likely to attract the female readers, as does the ‘J.B.’ to not deter male readers.
All in all, Mammon is a compelling, original take on a demon lore that none have heard about before, giving us a type of demon and bad guy that could may as well be relatable to many people who have committed crimes and have a lost apart of their innocence who may be trying to discover it back. Mammon teaches us a lot about being human and what it takes to not lose ourselves within a material world.
Sep 01,2011
I’ll start by saying that Mammon is now up there on my list of all-time favourites and is worthy enough to rival some of my favourite series (The Mortal Instruments, Divergent… you get the picture.) The entire book, from start to finish was action-packed, thrilling and just plain remarkable.
Just so I can dedicate the rest of my review to just how marvellous the novel was, I’ll first mention the not-so-good parts of the book, although truthfully, there’s not much. The only problem for me was the beginning. While it was written brilliantly, the start was rather slow, and just wasn’t strong enough to leave an immediate impression on me. Several times I did stop reading it to do other things (yes, my attention wavered), but the rest of the book more than compensated for the beginning.
Now, on to the good part. What did I like about the story? Everything. The characters, plot, writing style and pace; everything was perfect. After the first 20 pages or so, I was utterly hooked; my attention never wavered again and I stopped reading halfway through another book just so I could finish this one. The whole demons and sarsareh concept completely enraptured me. Since I haven’t read many books that focused mainly on demons, Mammon was a fresh and unique read for me.
The plot was compelling and I liked how all the events that occurred happened for a reason. It all developed and built up to the intense and riveting climax near the end of the book. I loved how Mammon never strayed from the main plotline, and there were subplots that enticed me they but never overrode the main storyline. The relationship between Grace, our main character and Ivan, her team leader was a nice complement to the main plot. I also liked how there was no unnecessary love triangle – finally!
The characters were all incredible! But one particular character totally won my heart. Ivan. Sexy, charming and strong.
“And boy, was he ripped. Not obscenely, his muscles weren’t bursting through his sleeves, but just enough to create an impression of lithe, gymnast-like strength.”
Oh, why don’t you exist in real life? Ivan did remind me of Four from Divergent, (whom I love) but Ivan is still Ivan. I’m certainly looking forward to learning more about Ivan in the next instalment. Grace was also likable. She wasn’t whiny or immature and I really liked how she stood her ground and never allowed anyone to take advantage of her, thereby earning my respect. As for Joe, he was impulsive, and much in need of anger management. At times, I really wanted to just smack him and shake some sense into him. But then again, he was an essential character and the catalyst for some of the major events that occurred. Without Joe, Mammon would just not be complete.
Overall, Mammon is an exciting and character-driven novel packed with endless action and unpredictable twists. It will leave you aching for more, especially the heart-pounding fighting scenes and the deliciously sweet relationship between Grace and Ivan. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll pick up a copy of this book and read it immediately. I don’t know how I’m going to survive until the second instalment comes out!
Sep 01,2011
You know what? I'm very surprised by how good this book is. When I was sent a package from the lovely Random House Australian publishers and seeing this book waiting inside it, I was very excited to read it! The first thing that attracted me was the cover - an eye-catching-wow-of-a-cover - and since the plot sounded interesting . . . I was very glad that I got the chance to read it early before September came around. So again, thank you Dorothy - the publicist of Random House - for sending me a review copy! Totally worth reading this book here!
MAMMON is a book crossed between Cassandra Clare's Mortal Instruments series and oddly enough it had a likeness of Vampire-Academy-and-Strange-Angels-esque to it. Just minus the vampires and add a hell of a load of demons. MAMMON is a story about two 'typical' teenage siblings, Grace and Joe - whom discover they have powers. Grace is a telepathic whereas her brother Joe has the ability to open rifts and move between dimensions. Then something rocks their world completely - their parents are brutally murdered and now they must seek help from the Order, people who are like them and must help the siblings train to become demon fighters. As you can clearly see this book is going to be awesome.
So what did I love about MAMMON? I admit the beginning of the novel fell a little flat - in terms of the pacing - however after you read a few chapters, things start to get interesting and you begin to fall for the book. One of the standouts is Grace herself. The main heroine. She's your average teenage girl - brave, strong, witty, and can hold her own. I instantly connected with Grace and she never disappointed me. Her brother however, that being Joe, was the major iffy thing I didn't like. He was impulsive, had a big ego, and rarely listened to anyone. Not that he didn't have any appeal, but let's talk about Ivan. Ivan. What can I say about Ivan? He is your G.I. JOE who has a tough-as-nails-but-secret-sensitive-side of a personality and I believe he will appeal to anyone who loved Dimitri Belikov from Vampire Academy. Yup you heard me ladies! You'll love him if I compared him to my dream man. *smirks* With the perfect action sequences and the cool demons wrecking havoc around this world of J.B. Thomas, I absolutely loved the interaction between Grace and her potential love interest Ivan. It was divine. The banter shared, the stolen kisses, the longing stares . . . ah the list goes on with how much I love those two.
Overall, I loved MAMMON as a whole. It offered everything a demon/action/fantasy fan could ever possibly want in a book. The major thing that I hate was the cruel cliffhanger! How could you do that to me J.B. Thomas?!?! You're killing me here. But all-in-all I recommend this book to Cassandra Clare, Richelle Mead, and Lili St. Crow fans out there! You'll love this gripping, action-packed read and you won't be able to put it down. MAMMON is the first book in The Ferryman Chronicles and I'm looking forward to reading the sequel! So definitely pick up a copy of this book and find out how cool it IS!
