Ink of Blood

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a review).

(This review may contain spoilers).

I thought this book was a really entertaining read. I was surprised at how quickly I was drawn into the storyline… and it was good that the action started right from the beginning, though I was confused by the importance of the sphere… both right at the beginning and every time it cropped up through the course of the book.

I was a bit unsure about Kyle’s character at first. I wasn’t really sure I liked him, as he seemed to have real jerks for friends. I thought his interactions with Len were more interesting than with Mike and Neal.

There was a lot of good tension in this book… and I liked there were different types of tension. While the dreams were really confusing, I did feel like they made a lot of sense by the time I got to the end of the book.

I did like seeing Kyle interacting with the other characters and it was interesting to see his relationships with them. However, I did feel there was a little bit of information dumping when it came to some of the characters Kyle knew in the past.

I really didn’t like Dmitri very much, even though I did feel a bit of sympathy for him. I could completely understand why he was so desperate to capture Zero… but I couldn’t see much that was legal in the kind of surveillance he had Kyle under.

I liked that there was a lot of action in this book and I was taken by surprise by the ending… although one character in particular hadn’t stuck with me, so I was confused by their appearance… at least at first. But it was good to get a lot of answers by the end of the book… and I especially liked that there was something of a multi-genre feel to this book.

The ending of the book seemed to imply there was more of the story to be told and I would be interested in reading a sequel to this book, since I would like to see more of the characters and get some more answers about the spheres.

This book was really entertaining to read and if you enjoy young adult mysteries with hints of other genres, I would suggest reading this book.

1) What originally inspired you to get into writing?

When I was in grade school, I used to write short stories, print them out and sell them to my classmates. They were pretty popular… though I did almost get expelled from school a few times for them. Thanks to that experience, however, I discovered how much I liked writing. Ever since, I haven’t stopped inventing new worlds, thinking up new stories and new characters, and delighting readers with them.

2) Where did the idea for Zero come from?

A few years ago, my apartment was robbed. It was a very hard time for me until everything was back to normal. During this time, I thought a lot about the thief. What he might look like, why he had done it… And all this led me to Zero. I stopped writing the book I was working on and started with Zero. Curiously, when the novel had already published one of the rings that the thief stole me appeared in my house, inside a black envelope.

3) Was there any particular character that you liked or felt able to relate to?

Without doubt, Kyle. Mainly because he has faith and willpower and that is something that I like very much. When there is an obstacle in his way, he always moves forward. And, at the same time, he has his own weaknesses which make him a very complex character.

4) Was there any particular character that you disliked?

In reality, there isn’t a single character in Zero that I particularly dislike. Regardless of how evil or cruel they are, each one adds something different to the story, and I have a special fondness for each one.

5) Were there any scenes in particular that were particularly challenging or easy to write?

The biggest challenge I came up against was how to maintain the suspense. No chapter was harder to write than any other, but there were quite a few I had to make changes to so that certain secrets weren’t revealed too soon. I’d say the easiest part was the last chapter. It’s still exactly the same as the day I first wrote it.

6) Do you have any advice/pearls of wisdom for budding writers?

It’s not easy to be a writer. It’s an incredible job that I personally adore, but it can also be quite frustrating when you don’t get responses from publishers or when you get writers block. That’s why the best advice I can give anyone who’s starting out in the literary world is to always keep your eye on the horizon, don’t let difficulties get your down and, most importantly, to believe in yourself and your work above all else.

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