Riders

by Veronica Rossi

"Nothing but death can keep eighteen-year-old Gideon Blake from achieving his goal of becoming a U.S. Army Ranger. As it turns out, it does.

While recovering from the accident that most definitely killed him, Gideon finds himself with strange new powers and a bizarre cuff he can’t remove. His death has brought to life his real destiny. He has become War, one of the legendary four horsemen of the apocalypse."

Apocalyptic Fiction (the main characters are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse) is a departure from my usual reading preference of dystopian fiction. But it definitely falls under my preference of reading about horses!  This book is #1 of a duo book series "Riders" and "Seeker" for Young Adults.   The author used the story-telling vehicle of alternating first-person, present-tense and flash-back by the main character, I felt it was a dynamic way to present the story to the reader. The story begins at almost-the-ending and the narration of first-person, present and flash-back helps bring the reader forward through the past events to culminate at the current time of the narrator speaking.  I found it unusual and strangely compelling to read. Gideon, and his fellow Apocalypse Riders' story flowed well and gave me a good sense of how the characters met and meshed together over the timeline of the story. I especially enjoyed each character and their horse's description of their embodiment; Of Death on his pale gray mare, Famine on his dark black mare, Conquest on his bright white stallion and War on his flaming red stallion. I found the dialog witty with plenty of sarcasm sprinkled in and the action fast-paced.  This book really turned into a page turner for me and I would highly recommend it to my YA reader.

Heidi Y.