The Calling

by Robert Swartwood

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This is definitely one of the more interesting stories I've had a chance to read. The story kept me interested for the most part, there were a few times when I got bored and/or irritated with the content.

Most of my problems with the story came in the formatting. Chapters were too short and several could have even easily put together into one. (A story with 42 chapters does not sound too pleasant even with 329 pages.) The letter with several pages of italicized text was a bit hard on the eyes. There was also several things added to the story that could have Ben left out. I won't go into details to keep from spoilers, but for me they didn't add to the story at all. Also, there was a detail or two that wasn't explained until the connection was made, which seemed to be unnecessary to hold off of. I was confused by the door connection when it came up due to this.

The characters were fun, when it didn't seem like they were being cliched. Some were definitely better than others. Chris bothered me some, but that was mostly due to differing views. Joey might have been my favorite of them all.

Overall, I did enjoy this book. It did keep me guessing what was going to happen. It does have its faults, but what book doesn't? Some things could have been explained better, such as Chris's sudden new powers that seemed to appear out of nowhere. (This is, of course, unless I missed something which is always possible.) I did enjoy Moses and Joey's adventures and story and the telling of Samael. It was a fun, supernatural book and definitely not what I was expecting when first received it.