Bastet

Title: Bastet
Author: T.A. Chase
Publisher: Amber Allure
Genre: M/M fantasy, paranormal romance
Length: Novel (136 pages)
Rating: 4 stars out of 5

A guest review by Jenre

Summary Review
An entertaining shifter fantasy romance which combines Egyptian mythology with action/adventure to good effect.

THE BLURB

Kellan Largent is a grad student at Harvard. His thesis is on ancient Egyptian religious cults. While immersed in his research, he comes across an obscure reference to the Earth Warrior cult. Little does he know that one sentence in a dusty, tattered book will engulf him in a battle between good and evil. A battle that could be the end of the world as he knows it.

The stray cat wandering the streets around Kellan’s house is more than an abandoned feline. Bastet has roamed the earth from the days when Egypt was young. He’s watched the pharaohs rise and fall, new gods come and go. His purpose, however, has remained the same—protect the earth at all costs and keep the secrets of the Earth Warriors from regular mortals. He’s sent to keep Kellan Largent from finding out the truth about the cult, but also to keep the unsuspecting college student alive.

One man will do anything for the spell that created the Warriors. He wants immortality, and killing Kellan for the secret is just the beginning of the trouble he’ll cause to get what he wants.

THE REVIEW

Grad student Kellan, who is studying obscure ancient Egyptian cults, comes across a reference to a strange cult called the “Earth Warriors”. He’s curious enough to delve further into this line of research. At the same time he has two new additions to his life: One is a stray cat who has started visiting his flat and the other is a gorgeous man, Baz, who he meets at a bus stop and finds a mutual attraction. It isn’t long though before Kellan finds that he’s put his life in danger by a man who will stop at nothing to discover the secrets of the Earth Warriors, and only Baz has the ability to save him.

Before I begin, I feel I ought to warn you that in order to enjoy this book you need a healthy dose of suspension of belief because, let’s face it, this isn’t the most realistic of books. From the dramatic opening scene where we learn of Bastet who is tricked by an Egyptian Goddess into joining a band of immortal warriors whose job is to save the Earth from disaster, to the number of startling coincidences throughout the story, this book will tax your incredulity. However, whether it was that I liked the characterisation, or found the story entertaining, or just that I was in the mood for something frivoulous and action-packed, I actually enjoyed this story as I threw out my doubts and hung on for the ride.

One of the strengths of the book was in the character of Kellan who is a mix of wide-eyed innocent academic and a man with a strong sense of self and of what is morally right. At the beginning he’s a bit of a history nerd, so absorbed in his studies, and so socially shy that he’s oblivious to his cute looks and appeal. Yes, I suppose that is a bit of a cliché, but it worked well within the context of the story. As the book progresses, the attention from Baz brings about a change in Kellan as he grows more confident until a scene at the end which shows how strong a person he really is. Kellan also has a delightfully dry sense of humour and a good use of wit which made me smile on a number of occasions.

Baz is your typical T.A. Chase strong male. He’s gorgeous and has a take charge attitude and tone of voice which makes Kellan melt into a puddle of desire. There’s not much else beyond that, unfortunately, other than falling in love far too quickly with Kellan and making all sorts of stupid mistakes because he’s thinking with his dick. I didn’t mind that so much, and actually I was expecting it, as that sort of character crops up a lot in T.A. Chase’s books. One thing I particularly liked about Baz links with the world building in the story. I liked the way that he communicated with his ‘brothers’ the other Earth Warriors, and the general camaraderie and rivalry involved within the group. I also liked the way that his religious beliefs are important to him and the way he draws strength from that.

The story itself was suitably pacey that I raced through the pages, eager to discover what was going to happen. There are several other memorable characters who appear in the story too, other than the heroes. There’s the different Earth Warriors, all of whom I anticipate will get their own story since this is the first in a series. There’s also a hilarious section where Kellan is kidnapped by an apathetic kidnapper who pretty much stole that part of the book in the banter which happens between him and Kellan.  There’s a fair amount of world building, as is to be expected in the first in a series, but it wasn’t too intrusive to the story.  The story ends with a few loose ends which I expect will be picked up in further books so I wasn’t too concerned about that.

I finished the book feeling that, despite some of it’s flaws, the book was an enjoyable read. The writing was good, and I’ve seen a definite maturity in the writing between this and some of the earlier T.A. Chase books that I’ve read. The characters are pretty well rounded and likeable, and the story good fun. If you like T.A. Chases’ books then you’ll love this. If you like fantasy adventure books, especially those with a mix of a light-hearted tone, some humour, but also some dark, tense scenes, then you should like this book. I did.