Burning Alive – Shannon K Butcher
Penguin Onyx, 2009
368 pages
RRP: US$7.99
ISBN: 9780451412713

Reviewed by Liz Grzyb

Burning Alive is the first book in the paranormal Sentinel Wars series by romance author Shannon K Butcher. It follows heroine Helen as she finds out she is not just an average human, but one of the few remaining demon-hunting Theronai women, capable of wielding great magic against the monsters invading the earth, and saving one of the Theronai heroes from the torture of containing his magic.

The novel starts out with Helen, a volunteer carer who happens to have frequent visions of herself dying by burning alive, out for her usual Tuesday night meal with elderly Miss Mabel. Unfortunately, at the diner they are eating at, Helen catches sight of the (very attractive) man she saw in her visions. When this man, Drake, touches her, he finds that she eases the pain he suffers containing the magical power of the Theronai. The men take Helen and Mabel with them as they retreat, giving time for Drake’s and Helen’s attraction to deepen.

The characters in this novel are a little predictable. Helen is a typical ingenue – innocent, kind to others, beautiful yet unaware of it and very passive. She lets herself be drawn into Drake’s troubles (and into his bed) with very little discussion. Drake is a macho man: big, strong, and won’t take no for an answer. He forces Helen to accompany him when he finds out she might be able to help him and considers Helen as a sex object and not much else, for all he claims to care about her. Then, in true Romeo and Juliet style, these two decide they love each other deeply after knowing each other for all of three days, Helen completely ignoring her visions telling her that Drake watches her burn to death. This stretches the plausibility.

Burning Alive will be enjoyable to those who can completely immerse themselves into the world of the story. I couldn’t manage to suspend my disbelief to this extent, so found the plot unrealistic and the characters unengaging.

Fans will be pleased that the second Sentinel Wars novel, Finding the Lost will be available in November, and the third, as yet unnamed, in September 2010.