Today is my stop on the blog tour for Odin’s Betrayal by Donovan Cook.

Here’s the blurb.

Two kingdoms destined for war, one boy caught in the eye of the storm…

Francia AD853

After a failed Viking raid on the Frankish coast over 20-years-ago, Jarl Sven the Boar is forced to leave his only son, Torkel, as a hostage and warned never to raid Francia again or his son will die.

In Hügelburg, a small town in East Francia, Torkel and his 9-year-old son Charles are ambushed at home.

Before dying, Torkel thrusts a package into young Charles’s hands and tells him to flee Francia for Denmark in search of his grandfather Sven the Boar’s protection.

But the man Charles eventually finds is not who he expects, and Charles must put his fate in the hands of a man betrayed by Odin.

Together they must uncover the significance of the package and why the Kings of Francia want Charles dead.

Review

I’ve heard good things about Donovan Cook so I was very eager to jump on this series from the start.

As soon as the first page hits the scene is set, a failed Viking raid.. a young boy taken as hostage to ensure the Vikings behave.

Many years pass and Torkel is now a man with his own child, Charles. He’s still young and hasn’t yet learned how harsh life can be so when his farther is murdered he holds himself to blame… little does he know there’s a lot more history behind this murder and  there’s people out there who have yet to rear their ugly heads.

Charles, under his fathers dying request flees in search of his Grandfather. Along the way he makes friends with a slave who aids his escape. There’s a nice bond growing between the two.

We soon meet Sven the Boar..but times have been hard.. he’s not the man he was. Interestingly as the story flows we learn more about his downfall.. and it all stems from the loss of Torkel all those years ago.

The pace of the story flows well and there’s a lot of action as we see Sven warm to Charles and we see the Boar return..and with good reason.. there’s things even Sven didn’t see all those years ago.. hidden secrets.. hidden betrayal. At times you wonder can anyone actually be trusted… those twists are just immense!

Plot wise I can’t fault this, hooked in from the first page. Perfect pace and a great mix of plot versus character development. Sometimes I find not enough time is given to mix the development just right so it doesn’t feel forced but now I know why I’ve been hearing good things about Donovan Cook. It felt like a tapestry, expertly woven.

For fans of historic fiction you’ll love this, action packed with perfect mix of development to suit any type of reader.

Resounding 5*

To find out more head to Amazon or Goodreads.

My thanks go to @rararesources for having me on the tour, as well as the author and publisher for supplying an ARC to aid my review. As usual though… I’ve bought the book too. It’s too good not too!

Why not follow the tour?

Author Bio –

Donovan Cook is the author of the well-received Ormstunga Saga series which combines fast-paced narrative with meticulously researched history of the Viking world, and is inspired by his interest in Norse Mythology.  He lives in Lancashire and his first title in a new series for Boldwood will be published in Spring 2023.

Social Media Links –  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DonovanCookAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DonovanCook20

Bookbub profile: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/donovan-cook