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Keeper of Light and Dust

di Natasha Mostert

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9811275,010 (3.45)25
A highly original supernatural thriller, blending magic, science, martial arts, and the greatest desire of all: to live forever.
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Pearl Ruled

Rating: 2* of five (p141)

The Book Description: A highly original supernatural thriller blending magic, science, martial arts, and the greatest desire of all: to live forever

Mia Lockheart has a secret. Her mother was a Keeper, as was her grandmother--women who were warriors, healers, and protectors. As Mia practices her craft among the boxers and martial artists of South London, and begins a romance with her childhood friend, the fighter Nick Duffy, she has no idea that a man who calls himself Dragonfly is watching from the shadows.

Adrian Ashton is a brilliant scientist, an expert in the breaking field of biophoton emissions from cells within the human body. He is also a skilled martial artist--and a modern-day vampire. With the aid of the enigmatic Book of Life and Death, written in the thirteenth century by the legendary Chinese physician Zhang Sanfeng, he preys on other martial artists and drains them of their chi--the vital energy that flows through the body.

Mia finds herself drawn to his dark genius, but when he targets Nick as his next victim, she is forced to choose between the two men. It becomes a fight to the death in which love is both the greatest weakness and the biggest prize.

My Review: Oh for goodness' sake. Really now! I made it to p141, the end of chapter 27, by dint of the good things I'd heard about the book...interesting conflicts, good writing, and so on. The following is said of a hungry vampire:

“His heart trembled. He couldn't remember desiring anything so much.” (p141)

And that's where my give-a-damn gave out. The writing's okay, not by any stretch of the imagination awful or even tedious, but with a tendency to the over-the-top that wore on me. It doesn't help that Mia, the main character, is so annoying to me that I want to cause her pain.

So, on balance, I think not. And I'd steer you away from it, too, if unbearable aches and eternal yearnings and the like make you twitch the way they do me. ( )
1 vota richardderus | Sep 27, 2012 |
This is about the juxtaposition of good and evil. The relationship between love and hate, healing
and taking life. It is a WOW read. Mia Lockhart is a Keeper, so was her mother, and grandmother before
her. As a keeper she is a protector and a healer. She is also a tattoo artist, and martial artist. All of
these things and beautiful, too.

There is more than a little mystery involved, and there are deaths, But the how and the why of the deaths
are elusive. A strong woman who knows how to love and knows how to protect. Most of the time.

recommended ( )
1 vota mckait | Jun 29, 2012 |
Keeper of Light and Dust is one of those books that has been sitting on my TBR shelf for so long that I've forgotten where I got it. I know that I won it from a blog a couple years ago but I neglected to leave myself a note in the book about which blog it came from. After being pushed to the back of the shelf many times as review books, books by my favorite authors, and newer books were read first, I finally decided that I needed to pick this one up and read it.

Keeper of Light and Dust is a really interesting book but it definitely isn't for everyone. Mostert brings together elements of the mystical, martial arts, tattooing, and technology to create a unique blending between tradition and the modern world. Mia is a tattoo artist and a Keeper, watching over three martial artists. She uses her spiritual practice to protect her charges before and during each match. The death of one of her fighters brings on emotional doubts and questions about the mysterious circumstances. Nick, Mia's childhood friend and a martial artist himself, begins to investigate the death and finds several more deaths among martial artists that follow the same pattern. The two meet Ash, a handsome and charismatic martial artist searching for a new training partner. While he seems to be the perfect trainer to get Nick in shape for his next fight, Ash carries mysterious secrets and dangerous intentions.

Mostert does a fantastic job of drawing the reader into Mia, Nick, and Ash's world of martial arts and tattoos. The training sessions and fights are painted realistically but not graphically. A reader who knows little of this world would still be able to follow along. She also moves between characters easily so the reader can learn about each character's motivations without the secrets being spilled to other characters too soon. The pacing of the book is excellent and the characters are strong.

I think Mostert did the book a disservice by adding too many contemporary references though. It was almost as though the characters inserted very specific mentions of people and internet sites in order to position themselves as experts in their fields. Unfortunately, this also gives the book a very specific time frame and moves it away from a book that could remain relevant through the otherwise universal themes it presents. While I don't think Keeper of Light and Dust would ever become a considered a classic novel of any type, I think it could have had a longer shelf life while keeping the contemporary feel if the references had been a bit more generalized to the time period.

Keeper of Light and Dust is a unique story and I greatly enjoyed it. However, I can see how the subjects of this book might limit its appeal for many readers and this narrows the appropriate audience considerably. ( )
  DonnerLibrary | Feb 2, 2012 |
Keeper of Light and Dust is mixture of martial arts, science and mystical intrigue, told from the three main characters' point of view. It also offers a very different look at the makeup of a vampire. Instead of the traditional immortal vampire living off of a person's life blood, the vampire here lives off a person's life energy to obtain immortality. Natasha Mostert has a very easy writing style that's easy to follow and she's subtly reveals secrets about each character as you read, keeping you glued to the book. There's also a great deal of historical facts and information about the different martial arts disciplines, which will make this great reading for those who enjoy these elements.

My favorite part of reading Keeper of Light and Dust was the interest tidbits dropped in about martial arts and beliefs from different Asian cultures. I've never practiced any martial arts myself but I've always been fascinated by it and the discipline it takes to perfect these arts. And I was intrigued by the fact that Mia wasn't only a practitioner of martial arts but also a tattoo artist, these talents gave her such an interesting air about her that I wish she was someone I could actually sit down and have a long chat with. I also found myself more drawn to the bad guy, Adrian more than the good guy Nick. That’s just my preference for the tragic bad boy persona.

While I did enjoy reading it and how it ended, I found myself wanting more to happen than what did by the end of the book. Plus, Natasha Mostert had created such fantastic world surrounding Mia’s heritage but I felt just the surface was skimmed in the story in regards to it.

Keeper of Light and Dust was a suspenseful psychological thriller steeped in mysticism and modern day science that made for fast enjoyable reading. And it isn’t as steeped in the paranormal and fantasy as the typical Urban Fantasy novel; it had more a mystical air to it. I liked Natasha Mostert’s writing well enough that I plan reading her other stand alone novel Season of the Witch. ( )
  FantasyDreamer | Jul 6, 2010 |
I am not sure what to rate this book, 3.0 stars or 2.0 stars ? Probably a 2.5 stars. Not real happy how the book played out. The writing was OK, and parts of the characters were OK. The rest not so much. It was really a goopy romance ala Harlequin, very little thriller.

The 2 main characters, Nick and Mia had the hots for each other, but kept it a secret from each other for 3/4 of the book. Very boring to read about, very tired premise.

The women in the book were quiveringly drooling over the mostly unclothed men, and were happy to be picked up by construction workers, and to clean and cook. They couldn't stand up for themselves when they or their loved ones were in danger. They tried, but in the end failed (even after a lifetime of training) so as to preserve their femininity. Then it had to be said that they had no time for feminism, no kidding. Retro crap thick enough to apply with a trowel.

The other big problem is the premise. It was not thought out or developed. Mia is a Keeper from a long line of females who are protectors of warriors/fighters. The women use martial arts training and discipline to focus Chi (spiritual energy)to heal and strengthen.

The problem is that the fighters here don't do anything except inflict pain and violence on other men in the ring. No helping the weak, fighting evil, or working for justice, just the pursuit of domination and a title or trophy. With that set up, the Keeper seems to be helping them cheat rather the serving a moral purpose. Not to mention perpetuating senseless violence for entertainment purposes. Very icky and it made the book hard to keep reading.

There was information about martial arts, tattoos and bio chronology and luminescence, all very interesting and worked well into the story. Unfortunately the story just wasn't worthwhile. ( )
  FicusFan | Mar 27, 2010 |
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I dedicate this book to Isabella and Tatyana: two little Keepers in the making
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