In this urban fantasy adventure by RS McCoy, we follow Mason, an ordinary New York book cover designer who has his life turned upside down when he has a seizure for the first time in his life on the subway. Terrified of hospitals due to past trauma, Mason gets away from the hospital as quickly as he can but soon realizes that life with this new reality will be far from easy. Still, even with his job on the line and a lumbering Great Dane keeping tabs on him 24/7 in case he seizes again, he’s compelled to seek out the one who saved his life by getting him to the hospital. When he finds her, he’s in for another life-changing experience…
Talia, formerly Callidora, has been alive for thousands of years. A member of the luminaries, an offshoot of humanity born in the time of ancient Greece who age incredibly slowly and possess even more incredible powers, she was once revered as godlike. Now she spends her near-eternity hiding from the indestructible luminary who would make her his queen and has wiped almost all of their kind off the face of the earth. But when the man she saved on the subway tracks her down in New York City and charms his way into her life, she finds herself suddenly wanting to rejoin the world and experience life again. But can a hunted luminary really live unmolested in the light of day, or will her decision spell disaster for them all?
I rather enjoyed this book. Although I’m not frequently a fan of stories about immortal people who have existed for thousands of years living in the modern day, I do enjoy them a lot when they’re done right, and this one does a lot of things right. The pacing hits just the right marks. Not dragging out the reveal of immortality far too long (as most stories of this type do, in my opinion), nor rushing the reveal either.
The characters are definitely the best part of the book. Each of them is interesting to get to know and fleshed out as a real, interesting person. In particular, McCoy’s use of backstory without overusing it or allowing it to overshadow the present moments in the book is admirable.
If I have one gripe with this book it’s that I do feel the method by which the main villain can be defeated is revealed much too late in the book. Although there’s some nice foreshadowing of it, I still feel like it would have benefited the story to have this revealed earlier, simply because it felt a bit thrown in the way it is now. Still, this did little to detract from my enjoyment of the tale.
This book focuses more on the love story and the relationships than it does on the action, so if you’re looking for high octane adventure this one probably isn’t for you. Still, I recommend it to urban fantasy fans who appreciate a well-crafted romance. “The Lightning Luminary” gets 4 out of 5 stars from me.
