Pretty original plot line for a fantasy story huh? I thought so too. One by one Ein must create a scenario where each of the heroes he thinks can help him will die and then subsequently be brought back to life by him using the power he has been granted by the god of death. Recruiting these heroes does come with a big catch, you see they have to die first so that they can be bound to him. We don't know any of the backstory of Ein or why the emperor is his target, but what we do know is that in order to achieve this murderous task, he must recruit four heroes or champions to assist him in defeating this seemingly unconquerable figure. The book surrounds the exploits of an enigmatic boy named Ein who was murdered years ago and is now on a mission from the god of death to kill the Emperor of Ten Kings. I read this book over my entire holiday vacation and am so pleased to have it be my very first review of 2019. Then when I dug a little further and saw that the theme of his new book NEVER DIE was steeped heavily in Asian culture/philosophy, I was even that much more eager to begin reading it. Rob has always been among my favorite authors so when I saw that he had a brand new title coming out in early 2019, I literally jumped (pretty high I might add) at the opportunity to pick up an advance copy. His 2017 book Where Loyalties Lie even won the 3rd Self-Published Fantasy Blog Off contest against some pretty stiff competition. Hayes is an author who just seems to get better and better with each book that he puts out. Hayes / Publisher: Self-Published / Publication Date: January 29, 2019)

Where Loyalties Lie by Rob J. Hayes