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 … 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.
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The beautiful cover does a disservice to this epic gritty dystopian apocalypstic fantasy. Yes this is a romance, EVENTUALLY, but it isn’t insta-love or Hearts and Flowers. I actually kept scrolling past this book because of the cover. It is a messy book with a human Sara Burns, being the would be killer of Pestilence the first horseman of the apocalypse. Humanity had been put on notice and they still ignored the trumpets, so enter Pestilence. Plague has come and humans are dying in massive numbers. The author has some dark emotional themes playing in this book, and it isn’t an easy read. It is well worth it. The book does have sex in it hot scintillating sexy times, but it’s more than just sex it’s the humanizing of Pestilence.
The witty internal monologue and hilarious character banter had me laughing the whole time. It was such a great read.
I came across Pestilence (The Four Horsemen) by Laura Thalassa a while back. Unfortunately for me, this book sat on my kindle for quite some time before I took the leap.
I don’t even know where to begin describing my love for all that this book has to offer. Lets begin with the world development. I was completely astounded by her ability to create something so believable that sucked you right in from the beginning. And the characters – I can’t even with them. I love how both Pestilence and Sara grew individually and together.
The story begins right after what is known as the Apocalypse has already began. I have a thing for end of the world books. Especially when it involves a jerk that keeps spreading a plague that is literally ending the human rice. That is until he meets and comes across Sara Burns – a firefighter who by “draw of luck” is chosen to stay behind in her hometown and tries to kill / murder / get rid of the Horseman known as Pestilence. Unfortunately for her, things don’t go her way.
She is ends up being his slave in every sense of the word. He tries her in so many ways multiples times. And because of her strong will, she manages to survives. She not only survives, but thrives. Along the way, they become more than captor and captive. They become friends, and that friendship grow to too much more.
I loved everything about this book. From the beautiful storyline and how it was handled, to the characters that were well developed. I seriously can’t say how much this book means to me. I couldn’t keep my hands off of it. I’m so excited to dive back into this world and finish / complete this series. This was most definitely a 5 Star Book for. So much so, that I went and read almost every single book that she has published. This author definitely has a gift, and for that – I’m thankful that she’s willing to share that with us, her readers.
5 Conquering Stars
Another great book by the amazing Laura Thalassa. I did not expect to laugh as much as I did with this book, but I am so glad it happened.
Our story starts off 5 years after The Four Horsemen make their first appearance. Pestilence is the only horsemen walking the earth and spreading his plague. We meet our heroine Sara after she draws tne short end of the stick and sacrificing herself in an attempt to save everyone in her group and the world. Unfortunately, things are not that easy when dealing with an Apocalyptic creature, and Sara ends up getting herself imprisoned by Pestilence.
So, now starts our enemies to lovers story that also has everything we love in a PNR novel. We have our heroine who is a strong, caring, sassy, sarcastic, compassionate, with an all around “take no bullshit” attitude dealing with the sexy and brooding, assh*le Pestilence. You can just imagine what their banter is like.
The sarcastic back and forth between these two was AMAZING and HILARIOUS!
*****
“So… I haven’t gotten sick yet.”
“Astute observation, mortal.”
“Is it just luck or do you control who gets the plague?”
“Were you born with all your organs intact?”
“Yes…” I say cautiously.
“Good,” he responds, “then I expect you to use the one beneath your skull.”
Damn, that insult burned a little. *****
*****
“I’m quoting ‘The Raven.’ It’s a poem by Edgar Allan Poe.”
I should’ve known that brief flash of eloquence was not your making.”
“Do you even have the ability to speak without insulting me?” I swear, this bastard is just trying to kill my morning buzz.
“Of course… It is just that there are so very many things about you worth insulting.”
*****
Amazing work, Mrs. Thalassa!!! I can’t wait for the next book in ‘The Four Horsemen’ series, “WAR.”
I have read this book twice since I got it a short time ago. The first time I was so enthralled by it that I stayed up way too late on a work night. The second time I tried to analyze what made it an un-putdownable book, to try to identify the techniques the author used, and I got sucked into the book once again. I would highly recommend this dystopian PNR.
The first in Laura Thalassa’s ‘The Four Horsemen’ series, I have to admit there were times when (intentionally or not) I almost fell off my chair because I was laughing so hard! Still, it was easy enough to empathize with Sara as she struggles trying to make sense of (and finally accept) her growing feelings for this being whose purpose is to destroy humankind. But keeping Sara with him in order to make her suffer (well she did try to kill him) has a profound effect on the Horseman. One that will change him in unexpected ways. A great read and I can’t wait for the others in this series to come out.
This hits a lot of familiar fantasy romance genre beats with a biblical apocalyptic twist.
Easy read, light, predictable. Sometimes it’s what you need.
This book is definitely a page-turner. It’s a love/hate relationship between the reader and Pestilence. This book left me with a lot of soul searching and “what would I do” questions. It is a great read but has a slight darkness to it and has some abusive situations in it, so if you have issues with that, then it may not be for you. I’m glad I read it and would highly recommend it. Laura Thassala does a wonderful job world building and bringing the main characters through so many emotions. Definitely worth the read.
This is the first of a series of the Four Horsemen. I am awaiting the next, War which should be out soon.
PICTURE THIS. Me lazing on my couch procrastinating doing work by going through the hordes of junk emails that litter the inbox on my phone. I only keep a precious few, one of which is the Goodreads romance newsletter because I get a kick out of some of the titles they list on that thing each month. This one catches my eye because of the pretty (if not a tad dramatic) cover and once I read the description I download it IMMEDIATELY.
It sounds like the most ridiculous thing ever and I HAVE to know more. I mean, she falls for one of the four horsemen?? Wtf?!? HOW?!
I’m here to tell you that this surpassed my expectations because IT’S HILARIOUS, both intentionally and unintentionally. First of all, for all my friends who don’t know (since I had to do a little Googling myself), this is about The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Four men on horseback sent to start the apocalypse with each one symbolizing a tragic end—Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death. Obviously this one is about Pestilence, the one who brings sickness and plague.
That’s right, HOMEGIRL FALLS IN LOVE WITH THE PLAGUE. I can’t stress enough how endlessly entertaining that was for me. SHE GETS IT ON WITH THE PLAGUE. And apparently the plague is a hottie. Who knew?
The great thing about this book is that it knows exactly how kooky it is and plays into that using Sara, the hilariously blunt, sarcastic narrator and protagonist. In between my bouts of hysterics over her FALLING IN LOVE WITH PLAGUE (SERIOUSLY, WTF?), I had some genuine laughs over Sara’s inner monologue. The combination made for a strangely pleasant reading experience.
Now I’m trapped waiting for the next one, which I HAVE to read because I’m SO CURIOUS. The next novel will be about the horseman War and I need to know how his power works. Does he start brawls wherever he goes?? When his love interest finally meets him, will they just get an overwhelming desire to punch him in the face??? When he walks into a room, do a million fights break out??? I’m picturing it a lot like that church scene in Kingsman where everyone just attacks each other.
THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS AND I NEED ANSWERS.
~| FINAL WORD |~
This book isn’t campy or terrible enough for me to dub it “so bad it’s good” because I liked the writing style, but I vote read it for the entertainment value.