Review of “The Dark Citadel”, by Jane Dougherty

“The Dark Citadel”, by Jane Dougherty

5 stars

Synopsis:
Ah, Providence. What a lovely word. The dictionary defines it as “The protective care of God or of nature as a spiritual power”. Sounds like a lovely place, doesn’t it?
It may have been at one time, but after the bombs were dropped and the demons unleashed from Hell, it becomes the only city still inhabited, still in existence, thanks to the crystalline dome that covers it. And it’s a real question as to which is safer—the demons swirling with the desert sand Outside, or the life of the citizenry inside.

All is grey, all is iron-ruled. Color is quenched, creativity is frowned upon. Asking questions can get the inquisitive thrown in jail, where he/she is forced to chant passages from the book that rules their lives.
Food, water, even newborns, not to mention the very air the citizens breathe, are meted out by the whims and decisions of the Elders, who have enough demons in their souls to challenge the population outside the dome.

Yet there are those who harbor hope, and hide it in the secret spaces of their ramshackle tenements. They are looked down upon, despised, yet they know of the Prophecy.
And when two young people, each on their own missions, gain entry to the secret world of the hopeful and thus to the Outside, it is apparent that the Prophecy will soon be revealed.
But at what price?


This was a terrific read. I enjoyed it cover-to-cover. Never was there a dull moment, as we follow two young people in their scrapes with the law and their flight from the city. Their destinies, if that is not too hackneyed a word, seem to take them in diverse directions, but they end up in the same place—hours or days apart. To enable the reader to see the same scene through two different sets of circumstances took a great amount of talent by the author.
It was really easy to get into the hearts and minds of the protagonists, and I wonder what will happen when they meet up again. For they did have a chance meeting at the beginning of the story, and it was not a pleasant encounter. How will time and experience change their views of each other?
This is a cliffhanger, and I am rabid about getting hold of the next one.