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Death's Door by April White
Death's Door
The Immortal Descendants: Baltimore Mysteries Book 1
Time Travel Science Fiction
Corazon Entertainment
May 29 2020
ebook
109
A master of the macabre and an ageless crusader cross paths in the shadows of time…
“Ye who read are still among the living; but I who write shall have
long since gone my way into the region of shadows.”
~ Edgar Allan Poe
The first time Alexandra “Ren” Reynolds meets Edgar Allan Poe is the night he walks into her bar - over 170 years after his mysterious death.
Ren has heard rumors of “Clockers” – the Descendants of Time who can travel through portals. But until she can find the portal Poe accidentally used to reach 21st Century Baltimore, she’s stuck with him. And there is a problem: someone else has seen Poe and now they’re hunting for him. Not even Ren’s fledgling friendship with Officer Nick Pieretti will keep the vigilante away.
Hiding an arrogant anti-abolitionist in a secret room in her bar – once a station along the Underground Railroad - is oddly satisfying to the descendant of slaves. But Ren has much bigger secrets to conceal than the out-of-time presence of Edgar Allan Poe, and the events that transpire during their brief time together will alter both their destinies forever.
Death’s Door by April White is a spin-off novella of The Immortal Descendants series. A time-travel, historical, mystery book mash-up, Death’s Door is the literary equivalent of a hug for fans of April White.
Not only is April White one of my must-read and absolute favorite authors, she’s also one of my favorite people. There is truly something to be said about a thoughtful, kind and whip-smart person who brings out the very best of the people who are around her. Those particular characteristics are something that I believe April White also bestowed upon the heroine, and main character of Death’s Door, Ren (short for Alexandra Reynolds).
There are some characters that leap off the page with action, electricity and a wildness that not even the author can contain. Ren is a woman who is F-I-E-R-C-E, but she protects her true self behind a mask of composure and grace. Ren is someone who has built a life for herself. She is the owner and operator of a local Baltimore bar called The Door. Ren isn’t a character who is wild and fierce with her actions, but she shows glimpses of herself through her words and interactions with other characters who, in any other circumstance, would dismiss or belittle her as a single black woman.
It is the thoughtfulness of Ren’s character, the care that it took to give Ren a background and demeanor that is worthy of a woman who in some other place and time might not be given a second thought, that makes Death’s Door more than just a time travel book but also a work of importance. There are some books you read for fun, but there are those few books that will educate in subtle ways. Death’s Door fun, but it is also insightful as well as educational.
With every great mystery there is always a problem to be solved. In Death’s Door, Ren’s problem is that Edgar Allen Poe stumbles into her bar in modern Baltimore…170 years after his death. The bigger problem that both Ren and Poe face is that his appearance draws the attention and ire of local neighborhood inhabitants. It is while trying to solve this mystery in which Ren learns that she has seemingly and unknowingly collected a group of unlikely people that have become her friends and— to her surprise— have grown protective of her. To someone who does not want to draw attention to the details of her life, Ren must come to grips with the choices she has made in order to get where she is, and the choices she must make in order to put Poe back in his correct time. These choices become harder for Ren when her friend and local cop, Nick, tells her of his feelings…much to her horror. To be honest, part of the humor that comes with this story are the different male reactions to a woman such as Ren. She a force to be reckoned with, and if the Baltimore Mysteries are going to be like Death’s Door, fans will be beating down April White’s figurative door in order to get more of these tales.
Death’s Door is set to release May 29th to go along with the complete Immortal Descendant series which can be currently found in Kindle Unlimited. You will not want to miss this Five Star Read!
Jes is a self-proclaimed bookworm, who recently moved from the PNW back to the Midwest. When her nose isn’t in a book, she’s spending time with her husband, two kids, and her three fur babies, or exploring the globe. She also firmly believes that you should start the day with coffee, and end the day in bed with a good book.
