The Knightmare by Deborah Valentine

Book Blurb:

France, 1209: A Knight Templar, riding through an eerie forest, is suddenly attacked by an assassin as a man and woman watch from a distant hillside. When his death seems certain, the woman takes up a sword...

Present, Formula 1 race, Magny Cours: Observed by the very same couple, Conor Westfield, a career-obsessed Scottish driver, is in a horrible racing accident. Miraculously, he survives what seemed to be certain death.

As he is recovering from his injuries in London Conor’s childhood nightmare recurs, a strange jumble of terrifying images that feel more like memories than dreams. Can it be mere coincidence that the very next morning he is informed a mysterious woman with whom he had very brief affair has died and left him as her heir? But this was no ordinary woman and no ordinary affair. Dogged by a niggling feeling of déjà vu, Conor travels to Amsterdam to identify the body. At her home he finds an illuminated book that transports him back in time, to a woman he left behind and a life lived in the shadow of a tragedy that cries out across 800 years for resolution.

Weaving history with the present, fact with fantasy with brilliant assurance, The Knightmare is an unforgettable story of angels and alchemy, betrayal and sacrifice, and a truly extraordinary love.

Conor is a Scottish race car driver who experiences a major car accident during a race. As he recovers, he becomes involved in a murder mystery involving a past lover, Mercedes. She leaves her entire estate to him, and it surprises him as it is not only is sizable, but they shared only one memorable night together. He travels to a different country to resolve the estate and makes new friends along the way.

As Conor recuperates, he hallucinates through his dreams and is caught between two worlds: the present as he knows it and the past which he believes he is reincarnated from. He then begins to believe the people around him are players in his past life.

My heart breaks for Conor in the end. His past life was filled with so much turmoil, and he loses Mercedes in the end the first time around, too. The woman he loved in a previous life was a descendant of an angel and a mortal, therefore she is immortal herself. Conor is stuck in a constant state of longing with Mercedes knowing they will never be together.

The author projects both worlds well. The dialogue and imagery felt real, and when Conor goes back in time in his dreams I felt a part of that world. The storytelling was superb, and I look forward to reading future stories by this author.



Book Information:

• The Knightmare by Deborah Valentine
• 2012; Deborah Valentine

Author Information:

• Deborah Valentine's website
• The Knightmare facebook page

Disclosure: This book was provided by the author and any opinions are my own.