Review: Thunder by Bonnie S. Calhoun

Title: Thunder
Author: Bonnie S. Calhoun
Publisher: Revell
Pages: 432
ISBN: 978-0-8007-2376-7
Publication Date: October 7th, 2014

Synopsis:

The Time of Sorrows is long past.
The future of Selah and her people is shrouded in mystery.
And the clock is ticking.

Hidden in the tall grasses along a shore littered with the rusted metal remnants of a once-great city, a hunter crouches. It is the eve of her eighteenth Birth Remembrance and high time she proves to herself and her brothers that she can stand on her own two feet. Selah Rishon Chavez waits not for game but for one of the small boats that occasionally crash against the desolate shoreline. Because inside one of these boats she will find her quarry--a Lander.

These people from an unknown land across the ocean are highly prized by the Company and bring a good price--especially if they keep the markings they arrive with.

Everything falls to pieces when the Lander whom Selah catches is stolen by her brothers, and Selah wakes the next morning to find the Lander's distinctive mark has appeared on her own flesh. Once the hunter, Selah is now one of the hunted, and she knows only one person who can help her--Bodhi Locke, the Lander her brothers hope to sell in the Mountain.

With evocative descriptions of a strange new world that combines elements of disturbing scientific advances, devious political conspiracy, and survival in a hostile wilderness, Bonnie S. Calhoun weaves a captivating tale of a society more like our own than we may want to admit. From the tension-laced first scene to the captivating last page, Thunder is an epic journey into the heart of humankind that explores how far we are willing to go when we're pushed to the limit.

Review:
I love when a new dystopian book captures my attention. I heard about Thunder a couple of months ago and waited till I could request a copy from the publisher. When I got it, I dove into it pretty quickly. I haven't gotten around to reading Tremors (the free prequel novella) yet, but I hope to soon.

Selah is a teenager, desperate to be considered a woman and an adult to everyone around her. She also does not want to get married to man from a neighboring village her step-father has picked out for her. All she wants to do s to join her step-father and step-brothers and join in on the hunt that has been very profitable for their family. From the information that she has been fed, Selah has no problem with what her family hunts...people who wash up on their shores. She just knows in the last 18 years, these people with strange markings offer a good price. She has been taught they are not good, they are dangerous, and the company can put them to good use and rehabilitate them. That all changes when Bodhi saves her from an attack on her beach....her confusion is intensified when her step-brothers come and take Bodhi as their prize and haul him off. Selah doesn't harm to come to this guy, and the fact he wasn't dangerous to her has her questioning many things she has been taught.

Here is where the story gets interesting and where a few of my questions pop up...I will get to those in a bit. On Selah's Birth Remembrance day, she wakes up to a shocking surprise and her mother telling her she needs to run. With a few things and packet of letters to help explain things, Selah flees toward the Mountain to help Bodhi and get answers.

The Mountain is an interesting place. It is a home for many who fled there when the world started to follow apart. Scientist live there and plot and plan and it is run by the Company. The Company in turn is lead by Dr. Noah Everling and he has many colleagues in his science division and some enemies, namely, Charles Ganston. I have to say, when reading about these two, I couldn't tell who was going to be the "bad guy", but is soon became clear and my goodness...he had the crazy, sociopath down to an art! The other, I'm still wondering about. I still have an iffy feeling.

This was an interesting world that Bonnie has created. It was unique and a bit rough...which we see through Amaryllis, she is a young girl who latches on to Selah. It is a hard terrain that is a mix of old world living (horses and wagons) and futuristic travel (hover crafts). The world building was fantastic. I enjoyed that a lot.

The questions I had, had more to do with the Landers past. There is much we don't know...we are able to get glimpses, but it causes more questions. What we discover of the Landers is through Selah and the letters she has. We are able to find out some info, but just enough to keep up searching for more. It has definitely made me want to keep reading the series to gain more answers.

Selah and Bodhi were good leads. I thought Bodhi was the strongest personality of the two however. He has a very take charge kind of attitude. Selah reminds me of a teenager who is desperate to be considered a grownup, but when the time comes, has issues dealing with the decisions that need to be made. Thankfully though, her attitude morphs and she is able to listen and take advice from others as the story progresses.

All in all, it was a fun story to read.

Too Read
4 out of 5


About the Author:

Bonnie S. Calhoun loves to write, but it doesn't make her happy unless there are the three Bs: body count, blood, and blowing things up. She also has mad skills at coding HTML and website design. Bonnie lives in a log cabin in the woods with fifteen acres and a pond full of bass. But she'd rather buy fish, ready to eat and under plastic, at the grocery store. She shares her domain with a husband, a dog, and two cats, all of whom think she is waitstaff.

To see an exclusive video trailer and to get more information on the Stone Braide Chronicles, go to www.BonnieSCalhoun.com.


Thank you to Revell Reads Blog Tour, I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review.