Robots and Vamps

Reviewed by Christel

I admit, I don’t know a lot about martial arts and the philosophies surrounding them, but I find eastern philosophy fascinating. So, when I got the chance to read an advance copy of Keeper of Light and Dust, I was really excited.

I want to be Mia Lockheart. She is a tattooist, a martial artist and a Keeper.   A Keeper is one who provides healing energy to keep those under her charge safe. Mia comes from a long line of Keepers.  Her mother was a keeper, her grandmother was a keeper, and so forth.  Residing in the same neighborhood where she grew up in London, she keeps 3 fighters under her protection and watchful eye.

Recently Mia’s old friend, Nick Duffy moved back to the old neighborhood.  As a young lad, his family had to move to Edinburgh after his  mother’s marriage.  After a few years of hard but very lucrative work on the trading floor, Nick decided to focus full time on his website, Kime (a web community for Martial Artists). But despite all of these life change, two things remain constant, his love for kick-boxing and his love for Mia. Nick is back and he is preparing for his biggest fight yet, a shot at the regional title.

Along comes Adrian Ashton (Ash).  Ash is new to town and has his sights set on Mia.  Upon moving to London he  joins Nick and Mia’s Dojo, Scorpio. He becomes fast friends with Nick and even agrees to be his training partner. Before moving to London, Ash was a billiant scientist.  He worked at the Exmare institute, where he studied the sleep cycles and human light emissions (Chi).  His research was considered too New Age and too far out of the realm of science.  When Ash couldn’t get grants for his research, he left the facility to go out on his own.

Shortly after Ash’s arrival, strange things start happening. One of Mia’s fighters dies and his cause of death is unclear. His heart just gives out. He entered the ring with out telling Mia, which meant she didn’t have a chance to perform her ritual of “stepping out” to protect him. Even though he died days after his fight, Mia still feels responsible for his demise. Nick learns that random fighters have been mysteriously dying within a few days after their fights. After stumbling upon these coincidental deaths he decides to investigate. Is there a connection between these deaths? Are they natural or is there something sinister behind them?

What I liked:

This book was a nice departure from what I normally read.  I was hooked from the beginning and found myself wanting to learn more about the light and dark sides of Eastern Philosophy. The art of Dim-Mak is frightening yet intriguing.

The suspense was powerful and I just wanted to keep reading to find out what happened to Mia, Nick and Ash. And without giving away too much of the story, I found myself sympathetic to the “bad guy”. Perhaps he really wasn’t all that bad, just misguided. Albeit, extremely misguided!  I suppose I just have a soft spot for the guy because he is akin to the vampires I love.  He doesn’t drink a persons blood but he does rob them of their Chi.

What I didn’t like:

The ending was just OK for me. It lacked punch and had a “and then he just walked off into the sunset” type of quality to it. I was always waiting for something big or terrible to happen, but it never really did.

Last Word:

All in all, I really enjoyed reading this book. So much so that I went out and bought one of Natasha’s previous novels, Season of the Witch and I am really looking forward to reading it. Ms. Mostert has really done her research with this novel and it shows.

Natasha is donating a portion of the proceeds from the sales of Keeper of Light and Dust to CPAU Fighting for Peace. A worthy cause, empowering the women of Afghanistan to take charge of thier own lives through boxing.  Any thing that helps women to be all they can be is fantastic in my book and I applaud thier efforts.  So check it out, you can enjoy an entertaining, thought provoking story, and do some good at the same time.

Authors Website: Natasha Mostert

To discuss this book, please visit Robots and Vamps Book Club