Reviewer: Robyn Roberts
Title: Price of Admission - 2nd in the Elven Lords series
Author: Sylvia Shults
Publisher: Dark Continents Publishing
ISBN-13: 978-0-9831603-2
Release Date: April 2011
Genre/Sub-genre: Horror Time Travel
Year/Setting: Present Day and Roaring 20’s, Chicago Area
Overall Rating: 3.25
Sexual Content Rating: Subtle
Language (Profanity/Slang) Content Rating: Mild
Violent Content Rating: Intense/Extreme
Sylvia's Website: www.sylviashultz.com
Jessica Taylor finds her life to feel somewhat meaningless. She has a guy who is supposed to be a great boyfriend, but he won’t make a commitment and always seems to be putting her down. Taking her boyfriend to an amusement park sounded like a great way to spend the day. Ride some rides, see some shows, have fun together. But he won’t ride the rides she wants to ride and the one show he agrees to see becomes the source of future nightmares.
When she meets Max, something starts to change in her life. First of all, she’s been thrown back to 1927. She’s glad to meet Max because he looks so much like someone she had seen in her present day. Turns out, Max is a gifted musician—but one who is hiding a few secrets…like the fact that he’s a three hundred year old immortal. Music sustains him and gives him his immortality. It’s the power of music that keeps Max going and that same power pulls at Max and Jessica to get closer to each other. They share secrets that nobody else knows. But is there any way to gain the love of an immortal? How can she be with a man who will never age? Will he ever allow himself to open up and feel emotions for another person again?
First of all, I didn’t put the details in the synopsis, but it is very important to note that this story is first and foremost a horror story. I had a hard time reading and completing this book because horror isn’t my thing and it bothers me too much to read it. If I had picked this book up on my own, I would have either skipped over the horror scenes or put it aside unfinished. As a reviewer, that isn’t fair to you as a reader or to the author who put her heart into writing this. So I did read the horror scenes, they did keep me awake at night and I didn’t like them. If you do like horror, this would be the perfect book for you.
Max and Jessica are both keeping secrets from each other and from themselves. If they were both to be honest with each other, they are afraid to let their secrets out for fear of nobody liking them anymore. Jessica’s character irritated me at times when she’s with the present day boyfriend. I really don’t like to see women being treated like dirt by the men they are with and when he tries to inflate his ego by crushing hers, I came to hate him and got mad at her for not realizing how much better than him she really is. I was thrilled to watch her character stretch and grow throughout the book as she gained that self-confidence she was missing in the beginning.
Max is quite the interesting hero. He’s so gentle and tender, yet has the ‘artist temper’ that flares up and makes him seem mean at times. I realize if he doesn’t get enough music in his day, the immortal side of him rages and craves music like an addict craves drugs. He needs the energy he gets from music to interact normally with others.
I was never sure how they could ever be together. She’s trying to return home and he can’t go with her. The ending was a total and complete shock and I loved how it ended.
If you like horror stories, this one is for you. If not, better take a pass.
Robyn
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