Review ‘Chasing Embers’ by James Bennett

There’s nothing special about Ben Garston. He’s just a
guy with an attitude in a beaten-up leather jacket, drowning his sorrows about
his ex in a local bar.

Or so he’d have you believe.

What Ben Garston can’t let you know is that he’s also
known as Red Ben. He can’t let you know that the world of myth and legend isn’t
as make-believe as you think, and it’s his job to keep that a secret. And
there’s no way he can let you know what’s really hiding beneath his skin..

But not even Ben knows what kind of hell is about to
break loose. Because the delicate balance between his world and ours is about
to be shattered.

Something’s been hiding in the heart of the city – and
it’s about to be unleashed.

Publication Date:	September 6th, 2016
Series:	Ben Garston #1
Genre:	Contemporary Fantasy
Pages:	464
Formats:	eBook, Paperback, Audiobook
Available at:	Amazon

When I received an email about ‘Chasing Embers’, and I
saw that beautiful cover, I was super excited to get the change to start
reading this book. I was also a little scared though.. Lately I’ve either loved
a fantasy novel, or just didn’t get it at all. But I definitely wanted to give
this book a try.

In ‘Chasing Embers’ we meet Ben Garston. At first Ben
seems to be a leather jacket wearing drunk. But soon we find out he is much
more than that. One day when he is sitting at a bar, he is suddenly attacked
and the strange thing is he doesn’t seem that surprised at all.

I really wanted to like ‘Chasing Embers’ and I tried hard
to keep on reading. But I had a lot of trouble getting into this story. I lost
track several times and I just kept needing to go back a view pages to get what
was happening.

After the first view chapters, the book became easier for
me to read. I enjoyed getting to know more and more about the hidden magical
world Ben Garston lived in. And I especially loved the dragons part since I
love dragons, and I always enjoy reading about them.

The world building in ‘Chasing Embers’ was definitely
impressive. I felt like I was reading a lot of different myths and stories put
into one new world. I enjoyed getting to know this world.

Unfortunately for me, this book just wasn’t for me. I can’t
say the writing was bad, because that was definitely not the case. James
Bennett definitely has a good writing style which makes you want to keep on
reading.. but I just couldn’t connect with the characters in this book.

I think I have to take a little fantasy reading break
since I feel like I’m reading all these great fantasy novels and I just can’t
get into them the way I used to.

James Bennett is a British writer born in Loughborough
and raised in Sussex, South Africa and Cornwall. His travels have furnished him
with an abiding love of different cultures, history and mythology. He’s had
several short stories published internationally and Chasing Embers is his debut
fantasy novel. James currently lives in west Wales and draws inspiration from
long walks, deep forests and old stones . . . and also the odd bottle of wine.

For more information about James Bennett please visit his
website. Or visit him on Twitter. 

I received this book from the Little, Brown Book Group in exchange for my honest review.