Redemption ★★★☆☆ | #COYER Book Review

Author: C.J. Barry
Genre: Metaphysical Thriller
Source: NetGalley- (Forever) Grand Central Publishing
336 pages

Reya Sinclair is a Redeemer of Souls. Her mission is to give Earth’s most depraved sinners a shot at redemption just before they are slated to die. Her own redemption is on the line as she fulfills her duties, leaving a trail of dead bodies in her wake. It’s all going perfectly well until one detective takes notice, possibly bringing her salvation to a halt.

Thane Driscoll is a good cop who’s seen too many bad guys get away, including the man who murdered his father. He exacts his own style of justice, even if it costs him his humanity. A string of mysterious deaths leads him to a woman who’s not quite human and might hold the key to finding his father’s killer.

When death and shadows descend, New York City becomes a battleground for the forces of light and dark. As the body count rises and sparks fly between them, Reya and Thane race to uncover a terrible truth. Can one man hell-bent on revenge and one woman determined to save her eternal soul be enough to keep the planet from spiraling into darkness?

     Redemption is like Celestine Prophecy meets Angels and Demons.  I decided the closest description for genre would be metaphysical thriller.  I've read a lot of metaphysical type books and this book actually contained a lot of my personal spiritual beliefs.  Yet, I had a hard time reading this one.  I loved the beginning and the ending but somewhere in the middle I feel like C.J. Barry could have cut out 100 pages and the story would have been fine.  Despite liking the book I felt like it dragged on once I got about halfway through.  It took me almost a week to finish the second half.  It picks back up at about 80%.

     Redemption is not your usual good vs evil type of book. It deals with the spiritual salvation of the entire planet. Kind of serious stuff there. A little too serious for me truthfully. I tend to avoid any fictional books that touch on religion. I actually thought this was an urban fantasy book when I read the description. Redemption is about Reya who is a redeemer. Basically she tells people their sins before they die and ask them if they are sorry. She's been caught on several surveillance cameras near people right before she dies and this flags the polices attention. Namely officer Thane Driscoll. Thane has a major chip on his shoulder and a terrible attitude through most of the book. I really liked Reya a lot but most of the time Thane annoyed me.

     Around the time that Reya and Thane meet up and start working together people start catching fire and burning to death. Then churches start burning down. All hell breaks loose, literally, in New York City and it's up to Reya and Thane to figure out what's going on. It turns out they work really well together. Between the two of them they know all kinds of people who help them out throughout the book. It's like a wild goose chase and a lot of it links back to Thane's past. Which of course makes Thane even more volatile than he was before. All in all this was a good book and I would recommend it to anyone looking for something different. It's not your usual urban fantasy or paranormal romance that's for sure.


Favorite Quotes:


"She was the most beautiful crazy person he'd ever met. What a waste."


"I still don't get how you have human responses, and yet make yourself thin as air," he said as he looked through the file.

"It's a gift," she said. "At least that what they keep telling me. I'm beginning to not believe them. Really, if they wanted to give me a gift, I can think of a lot better things. Like balls of fire on demand or sonic sneezes or something useful."