Customer Reviews

The Prophecy (Watchers Chronicles, The)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Would you live your life differently if you knew there was an invisible world around you? If you knew there was more to life than you ever imagined?

These are the questions raised by Dawn Miller's debut novel in The Watchers Chronicles. Imagine if Stephen King sat down with Frank Peretti and the creator of Heroes and they collaborated on a novel.

Yeah, it's that good. And yeah, it will blow your mind. And maybe make you want to keep the lights on!

Five friends from middle school, bonded together through a common experience that none of them can remember. Now they've gone their separate ways, each making choices that affect a lifetime.

And that open doors to things they could never begin to imagine.

Strange happenings: dreams, nightmares, flashbacks....all serving one purpose. To reunite these young people in one location for one feat that only they can achieve.

Problem is, each holds a piece to the ultimate puzzle, with one holding the key.

Dawn Miller is a MASTER at building suspense, foreshadowing and giving you just enough breadcrumbs along the trail of pages to keep you guessing. She is a word crafter of the highest caliber, and I'm eager for more about Jonah, J, Jenna, Carly and Mikey.

I had a hard time remembering that these characters (with the exception of Mikey) were all supposed to be in their late teens. The novel is supposed to be geared toward a young audience, but I found it engaging and captivating.

Portions of the story reminded me of Stephen King's "It"; other parts reminded me of the first season of "Heroes"...and the spiritual overtones of one of Frank Peretti's earlier works left a fragrance that grew sweeter as the novel progressed.

Reading "The Prophecy" was a real treat. I haven't found any information about future volumes, but it would be a tragedy if Dawn didn't write more about these amazing and well-developed characters.

I'm giving this one five out of five bookmarks, with a paintbrush as a charm. Don't miss "The Prophecy", published by Zondervan. It may say teen fiction on the back, but adults will dig into the story and get lost in the mystery.

Thanks to my friends at Zondervan for surprising me with this terrific story!

I always say that there's basically three types of books that mix religion & fiction. One type is where the book is religious to the point that the story is overwhelmed & overshadowed. Another type where the religion content is so awkwardly placed into the book to the point where the plot development doesn't feel natural. Then there's the type of book where the religious content mixes perfectly with the rest of the story, making for one fine book. Relax readers, this book is solidly in the third category.

Sam doesn't talk to his childhood friends much anymore, but lately he's been experiencing things that remind him of certain mysterious events that happened in his youth- things he can't exactly remember. Somehow knowing that their lives- and souls- depend on it, Sam attempts to gather all of his friends together, including his wayward brother Jonah. With all of them having similar episodes of memory loss & nightmares, they have no way of knowing that they are the legendary Watchers- people who will be instrumental in deciding the outcome of an epic battle between the forces of Heaven & Hell!

The plot for this book sounded great, but I'll admit that I was a little skeptical for multiple reasons. First off, angels have started becoming the new "sparkly Twilight vampires" in YA fiction, so I didn't know if I'd be jumping into a series that would be similar to this. Don't worry- it isn't that type of book. Secondly, I'm used to my religious reads falling into the categories listed above, but I shouldn't have worried- this book was excellently written.

I really enjoyed the slow buildup to the finale of this book, although once or twice I did feel as if the plot could have moved a little bit faster. (Ok, so I was impatient.) I loved that the characters are all flawed, but aren't over the top flawed. I can honestly believe that with everything the kids had gone through, that they might have ended up like the ways they did. (Can't elaborate without doing spoilers.)

My only real gripe is with all of the angel name dropping. It was a bit difficult to keep up with the multitude of names & the different types of angels, so I really wish that there was a glossary or an index in the back of the book. It would have made keeping up with the 5-6 different angel names a bit easier- especially since the angels weren't entirely in play that much until the end of the book. There's a lot of characters in this book & with the main action taking place with the human side, it was a bit distracting to have to keep up with the many exotic angel names, their sides & what they were doing in battle.

Overall though, this is an excellent book & one that I will be recommending to people at work. I may have gotten this book for free, but I can guarantee that I'll be buying the next volume. I want to know where it goes from here. This book had a conclusion (much like others have said), but it does leave it open for the next book in the series.

Five friends who have the same dream and forgotten memories have been called to battle the forces of evil. Sam, reeling from a recent family tragedy, has been having the same reoccurring nightmare, and awakens to find strange drawings, that he doesn't remember doing. Calling on his childhood friends, he realizes that they too are having the same nightmares. They are all intrinsically linked and prophesized to be guardians (Watchers). And it would seem that only they can save humanity and stop the fallen angels from reeking havoc on the world. As the group struggles to understand their role in this mission, they have to learn to trust each other. After all, they are in the middle of a war, between good and evil, and they must protect humanity at all cost. And as the truth is revealed, they must have faith, in each other and those forces around them that they can't see.

This book reminded me of a couple of things.....vintage Stephen King, with a little Constantine and another recent movie (I can't remember the name) that I saw about the end of times or near the end of times, with fallen angels and an eventual showdown or struggle between the forces of good and evil. I definitely can see why some argue that it could be marketed like the Left Behind series, but I think it could be more. There was the Stephen Kingish type beginning (friends intrinsically linked through events from their childhood...like "It"), but there is also the religious aspect (like Kings "The Stand). When I selected this book, I knew that there would be heavy overtones of religion and wanted to see how it would play out in a young adult story. It was definitely heavy, and offers a lot of food for thought and discussion, but I think once you sink your teeth in it, it is a decent read. There are issues relating to drug use, teen pregnancy, suicide and criminal behavior, but there is also that overreaching sentiment of hope and faith. And even if the cliff hanger suggests future battles, we all know that good always beats bad. So, I enjoyed "The Prophecy" and would recommend it to those who want a challenging read.

"Old Devil likes you to think in grays, boy"... "Gray keeps you trapped in the in-between. Keeps you from looking for the one true Light that will lead you out, that'll show you are who you really..."

That right there, that says it all. This is a book about faith, about conviction and definitely a book about the supernatural war between good and evil, God and the devil. A fictional paranormal read wrapped up with a good amount of biblical references and scripture and one that I thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed.

Each of the first chapters introduces you to a new character and contains a ton of information with bits and pieces of lost memories from their past and an explanation of their current life situation. As these 5 young people, (just under age 20) start to have recurring not quite normal nightmares, it becomes clear that these horrible dreams keeping them awake all night aren't night nightmares at all but, flashes from their childhood together. So now what?.. Well, they haven't been in contact much since they were 12, but now with all the bizarre happenings, spooky "I must be seeing things" moments and bad "dreams" they decide it might just be time for a reunion... And that's when things really get interesting.

THE PROPHECY (The Watcher Chronicles #1) is not a Twilight-like angel paranormal romance read, but a thriller of the Stephen King variety with a scriptural twist. With dangerous creepy demon/fallen angels working in your ear, just outside most people's line of site and a select young with the supernatural ability to see and fight the evil with the help of Gods warrior angels; the novel has a very TV "Heroes" meets end-times biblical warfare feel.

Dawn Miller did an excellent job realistically describing (in accordance with the bible) the angels, in beauty and fierceness for both the Fallen and the Warriors of God's Will. I loved that all the characters felt so real and true to life. Each being very unique and from a different walk of life; some with a fairly normal home life situation, others with drugs, alcohol and/or gang issues and even a teen parent is present. But what wasn't present was the typical syrupy unrealistic love story (or any gratuitous sex scenes) to hook you in and move the story forward, because well, it wasn't necessary; just a great story and some good writing.

Really my only issue with THE PROPHECY wasn't with the book itself at all, but was that I was on a family vacation and I didn't have a more consistent time allotted to sit down and just read it through. A mistake I will be sure not to duplicate when I up the next exciting installment in The Watcher Chronicles.

Just to start things off, I have seen alot of people saying that the characters were hard to follow. If you have you are not able to tel the difference between the characters then you might want to make sure that you are reading the correct book, the mass amounts of in depth detail make you feel like these characters are some of your closest friends. I was so drawn into this story that I just couldn't put it down. The plot is that of nothing I've s seen before. I loved every second of it. If I had to sum up this book (and how confident I am in the rest of the series) in one word, it would be nothing short of epic.

The story starts with five different 19 year old kids that used to be close friends in St. Louis, Missouri. Seven years prior, they were very close. But something happened that they cannot remember and they went their separate ways. Now, Sam Becker, the leader of their little gang, has been having nightmares, painting in his sleep, and can see creatures that other people cannot. He has the desire to get everyone back together.

Jonah, Sam's younger brother, plays in a bank in New Orleans. J is a gang leader in Chicago. Carly makes vintage jewlery and lives in Florida with her dog Doc. And Jenna is a mother of a 5 year old in Las Vegas. But it seems as if something is trying to keep them apart as ones plane almost crashes and two almost get into serious car wrecks.

Then you learn that they all see things that others do not, see visions of their past that they cannot remember, and have nightmares. As they try on figure out what is going on around them, you learn that there are angels getting ready for the final war. That there are a few humans that have the ability to see them and they are called Watchers. The five are the Watchers of their time. Now they need to get together and stay there, try to keep alive, and defeat the Grigori.

The beginning of the book is a little confusing.You get bits and pieces about the different characters in such small parts that it takes half the book to figure out who is who and what is going on for each person. There also is a couple spots where a couple of things are going on at the same time but there is no break or such to show that you are going to another character. I found that I had to read a couple paragraphs a couple times to figure out what is going on.

Besides that, this is a great book. It is a religious apocalyptic novel without being preachy. Although the characters are supposed to be nineteen years old, they act far older and I found to easy to forget they are late teens. They all came from rough backgrounds and all excel in the different trials that they face. I was so hooked that I ended up reading the entire book in one day. I cannot wait for the next book to come out.

Shawn Kovacich

Author of the Achieving Kicking Excellence book and DVD series.

Five former best friends are literally being haunted by their past. A past they have no memory of. As invisible forces battle over their very souls, the five struggle to remember their unique past to rip the scales from their eyes and finally see the truth that will save the souls of billions. But it already may be too late for some...

The Prophecy is a little bit heart wrenching drama and a lotta bit incredibly creepy thriller complete with an age old message of supernatural proportions told a fresh new voice: things are never as they seem.

It's refreshing to read a YA thriller without a cliff-hanger ending for once. But there are still enough loose ends that you'll definitely want to read book two.

The book was okay, but came off too strong. It feels like it should have been in the religious fiction section rather than young adult.

Before I found out about the whole popular angel-in-YA trend, I notice this book and tried it and was glad I did. The sole gripe I have is the beginning. After a prologue that gives readers a reason to get intrigued, the first few chapters seem a bit too interwoven to the point it gets confusing who's being talked about at first. Some backstory per character and a little memory, and I began to get it pretty well. Add to that a story about spiritual warfare of angels and demons and five teens who can see them all of a sudden, it gets even better. My favorite character definitely had to have been Jonah considering his hard backstory and very rebellious nature. Since this is a Christian book, a very rebellious kid would sound like a bad idea to many traditiona churchy groups, but in the face of the enemy the teens have to face, it's both comical and useful. That along with crazy good twists on the way art can be used and how the story goes on, I can definitely say I'm getting impatient waiting for the next one.

Nightmares and mysterious paintings are challenging Sam Becker's hold on reality. He also seems to be incapable of remembering certain things about his childhood, which he attributes to the nightmares. One event in his past could hold the key. He gets in touch with the four people who may know; the four people that was with him, and finds out it's happening to them too. The answers lead them to the knowledge of something much more important though; they are Watchers. They have to save humanity from the war of the fallen angels.

I want to start off by saying that this is an ARC copy and not the final print.

I always get excited when an author brings originality to an old plot. Ms. Miller accomplishes that. There was action, mystery, and drama to keep it entertaining. In my opinion though, there was too much clutter. There were a lot of characters and I couldn't keep them clear. I had a hard time remembering which back story went with which one. I found myself going back to reread sentences because I was confused too many times. I got frustrated with the fact that I could have really enjoyed this book, but again that's just my opinion. I know this is a series and I will read the second just because I do have hope for this story.

via goodreads