Book Reviews

Eve

W.A. Stanleyby
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They’ve spent their lives looking over their shoulders – knowing their parents’ pasts and fearing a return to their birthplace until they lost the youngest of their sisters a year ago. One night shatters that tentative peace and sets Phoenix on edge, distracting the city from the growing threat of a viral outbreak. While the mass shooting lingers on everyone’s mind, no one notices the rising count of animal attacks and violence. Most people anyway. Arden and his sister are all too aware of what it means, and what they carry in their blood. As if being Anglo-Russian wasn’t difficult enough, they weren’t born human… Finding Diana and keeping their secrets may be harder than it appears in a city teetering on a knife’s edge.
Eve
Written by Mark Jonathan Runte

You may recognise the name Mark Jonathan Runte, particularly if you pop by this little website on occasion, especially over the last few months. Although I reviewed Ash what seems like an age ago, way back in August 2022, April saw reviews for his Midwinter Nights duology, Wolf Prince of Kstovo and Zolushka. I have reviewed books in his Mythos series these last two months: Bound in Blood in May, and both Silver and Salt (albeit not a recent release) and Faerie Thief in July. It’s always interesting watching an author you’re a fan of writing something different, and with Eve comes a (so far) standalone book that sits outside of both worlds. Once again, the author knocks it out of the park; with each book, he goes from strength to strength.

Where Runte’s previous books are fantasy stories that trade in mythologies and fables, Eve is a science fiction story with a dystopian sensibility and a healthy dose of horror. Not that the author entirely abandons fantasy elements; instead of gods and creatures of magic, werewolves—a fantasy mainstay—populate the book’s world. While fantasy fans will no doubt enjoy their inclusion, the book certainly presents them with more of a science fiction edge.

The novel’s edge isn’t merely limited to its science fiction trappings, however. If you’re familiar with Runte’s Mythos world (if not, feel free to click those links I included above), you’ll know how heavily urban fantasy can feature in his work. Eve dials up the urbanity to levels not seen in Runte’s previous works. The book’s world isn’t something us readers will recognise, but with added splashes of magic, it’s a dark, unrelenting world. It’s still as recognisable as those other stories, but sits on the opposite—and apparently darker—side of the coin. The world is moody and atmospheric, yet feels as lived in as the one we all reside in. Although it’s set in a world we all recognise—in Phoenix, Arizona, to be precise—the author has built an intriguing world that draws the reader in.

For all of Eve’s world building, its science fiction, horror and fantasy trappings and its dystopian themes and setting, it is, at its heart, a story about its characters. Characters should always play an important part in a work of fiction, which they always do in the author’s writing, regardless of where it sits on the scale between short story and novel. However, Eve’s characters all bring a level of depth to them, which elevates the story. This holds true, whether the character sits within a major or a supporting role, and whether they are human or werewolf. While not every character is likeable, they all feel like real people (or oborotni, Russian for werewolf—the book’s educational, too!). Not only are they engaging to follow, the reality of the characters adds to the novel’s stakes.

At an estimated 352 pages on your favourite eReader (I don’t yet have a page count for the paperback version), Eve is a reasonably long book. Not only does the author use this space to tell a character-focused story, but he focuses on a wide variety of characters. Each chapter is told from the perspective of one of the book’s characters (all clearly stated at the beginning, ensuring there’s no confusion about whose perspective the reader is following). There are eight of these in total, and the novel manages to explore each of the characters in depth while ensuring none of them gets lost in the shuffle. Each character has their needs, wants and their own agenda, and I loved jumping between their points of view, rather than wishing the story would just focus on one or two favourites. 

As Runte tends to do with all of his books, he writes in an engaging style that’s easy to pick up and read. However, given Eve’s harder edge, the sentences are shorter and sharper than much of his work. This approach creates an atmosphere that conveys the story’s mood and world, but without ever feeling like it’s overly bleak. In writing the story in the third person, Runte has avoided the need to make the prose sound different from chapter to chapter, ensuring the style of writing is consistent. The dialogue—which forms a fairly large proportion of the writing—is as clean as the prose, but uses the characters’ voices to excellent effect. The characters all have various backgrounds, coming from different ethnicities and species, and their distinct voices set them apart from each other. These characters’ conversations work wonderfully as they flow together naturally.

It is through these characters that Eve’s themes are at their most resonant. It explores what it is like to be an outsider, both through the characters’ lycanthropy and not being native to the USA, but Russian. The book doesn’t discuss the Russia/Ukraine situation, but it does touch upon the country’s historical deeds. The book is also set against a backdrop of gun violence, particularly mass shootings, something that adds to the book’s tense relationships. A theme Runte often delves into is familial relations, and he does so once again here. These relationships add colour and depth to the characters, as well as the book’s heart.

Eve represents another evolution in Runte’s writing. While once again including strong characters and relationships, and again delving into fantastical elements, fans of his work will recognise much of what they enjoy. However, this story is more visceral than what’s come before, adding a new dimension to the author’s bibliography. If you enjoy fantasy, science fiction, dystopian tales, immigrant tales or engaging characters, you’ll find a lot to love.

Favourite Passage

Blood splattered the walls and floor, filling the air with a mix of copper and iron as he fumbled for the gun at his waist, feeling eyes on the back of his neck as he stumbled through the overturned desks and shattered glass littering the pale carpeted floor. 

A low growl sounded too close behind him and he flinched, expecting teeth to close around his neck.

Eve, Chapter 49

Eve was provided by the author for the purpose of an honest review.

Eve will available in both paperback and eBook from retailers, including—but not limited to—Amazon, from 19 September 2023.

Note: I do not post scores for reviews on this website, but do post them on my Amazon and Goodreads reviews:

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Interested in purchasing Eve?

Please find a link below; please note I do not collect any proceeds from the sale.

Eve

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