Curse of the Specter Queen by Jenny Elder Moke || The Mummy Meets Indiana Jones

Curse of the Specter Queen

MAY THE HAZEL BRING YOU WISDOM AND THE ASPEN GUIDE AND PROTECT YOU...

Samantha Knox put away her childish fantasies of archaeological adventure the day her father didn't return home from the Great War, retreating to the safety of the antique bookshop where she works. But when a mysterious package arrives with a damaged diary inside, Sam's peaceful life is obliterated. Ruthless men intent on reclaiming the diary are after Sam, setting her and her best friend, along with her childhood crush, on a high-stakes adventure that lands them in the green hills outside Dublin, Ireland. Here they discover an ancient order with a dark purpose - to perform an occult ritual that will raise the Specter Queen, the Celtic goddess of vengeance and death, to bring about a war unlike any the world has ever seen. To stop them, Sam must solve a deviously complex cipher - one that will lead her on a treasure hunt to discover the ancient relic at the heart of the ritual: a bowl carved from the tree of life. Will she find the bowl and stop the curse of the Specter Queen, or will the ancient order bring about the end of the world?

Indiana Jones gets a refresh with this female-driven mystery adventure, set in the 1920s, full of ciphers, ancient relics, and heart-stopping action - the first in a brand-new series!

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Perfect for readers who want:

• Historical fiction mixed with paranormal and fantasy.
• An Indiana Jones adventure vibe mixed with a delightfully nerdy The Mummy vibe.
• A bookish protagonist who needs to find her inner strength.
• A super fun, individually unique trio of protagonists.
• A creepy, atmospheric story that’ll give you goosebumps.
• All the plot twists and turns that’ll keep you guessing!

Many thanks to Disney-Hyperion and Rockstar Book Tours for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. Quotes are taken from an unfinished version and may differ from the final product.

This book 100% had me at archaeology, because I’m a really simple bookwyrm. The fact that it also happens to be comped to The Mummy and Indiana Jones was really just icing on an already sweet cake. I’m all for mythology, mystery, and delightfully nerdy characters, and this did not disappoint.

Curse of the Specter Queen is a historical adventure akin to Indiana Jones meets The Mummy. It’s delightfully atmospheric and creepy and has so many plot twists that it’ll keep you guessing what comes next!

This book was dark and spooky and filled with so many plot twists that I never knew what to expect until I ran face-first into it. There were a couple twists that I predicted, but there were so many that I not only found that I couldn’t put the thing down, but I never quite knew what to expect!

If geeky, bookish protagonists are your thing, you’re going to love Sam. She might be a little intolerable at first, but give her a chance to grow into herself!

There may be one or two similarities between Samantha Knox and myself . . . first name notwithstanding. She works at a bookstore, where she maintains and repairs old and damaged books. So obviously, she’s what we’ll call a book connoisseur (because it sounds much fancier and nicer than bookwyrm, okay?). She’s the poster child for introverts, to the point where leaving her small town to travel sounds like a nightmare. Stop me if any of this is starting to sound a bit too familiar. Sound like someone you know, hm?

I think a lot of readers will have absolutely no trouble at all seeing themselves in Sam, which makes her journey all the more important as she’s forced out of the safe, comfortable walls she’s erected around herself.

In case Sam doesn’t sound like you and rather like a wet blanket, have no fear! This is an adventure book, so whether she likes it or not, Sam is quick to find herself in situations she’d rather not, and she’s forced to learn to navigate this new large, terrifying world. Which is fun, in a delightfully nerdy way. Even if you don’t see yourself in Sam, it’s fun to see her character growth just the same.

Sam’s quest really begins when a mysterious book arrives at her shop, and she opens it . . . because no harm ever came from reading a book, right?!

If you don’t recognize that line, I’m a little sad for you. Go watch The Mummy movies. All of them. I’ll sit here and wait.

Creepy books is one of my favorite catalysts for adventure. Because why else would anyone bother leaving home? Pffft. Solving the Mystery of the Creepy Book™ is obviously the only way. Extra exciting, potentially, for science nerds is that this book was sent to Sam by a famous archaeologist on a dig in Ireland, so lots of creepy potential there.

The adventure moves along at a pretty fast pace, which kept me engaged all the way through, even when they had to slow down to solve clues.

I mean, if you’re as big a nerd as I am, solving clues is also thrilling, but I realize there are some weirdos people out there who don’t think solving clues is the epitome of excitement. Moke strikes a nice balance between the two, which maintains a nice level of tension throughout the book that makes it hard to put down.

Joining Sam on her adventure are her childhood best friends, Joana and Bennett, who are siblings. Which you will definitely be able to tell the minute they start interacting.

Joana and Bennett are fabulous characters to offset Sam’s personality. Especially Joana, who has such a big personality herself.

Joana has a rebellious streak. She’s the practical one of the group, who’s great at socializing as well as stealing. Because those things obviously balance each other out. Her sarcasm game is also ridiculously on point, so obviously she was my favorite character. I’m not sure it’s even possible not to love her.

Bennett is a wet blanket a male very much affected by his time (which is where the historical fiction comes in). He tries so hard to protect the “frail” women in his life (*cough* Sam and Joana), since that’s his role as “the man,” even though they frustratingly keep thwarting him at every turn. Bennett isn’t a bad guy, but he’s definitely a product of his time and therefore has some extremely annoying qualities that he needs to work on overcoming.

The sibling vibe between Joan and Bennett is *chef’s kiss* because, as you might imagine, they’re really quite different.

They sometimes forget to see from the other’s perspective, as siblings do. Mostly, they just have fun getting under each other’s skin, more so Joana than Bennett. Watching them interact is always entertaining, though.

Rather than one strong female lead, this book gets two. And yes, these women certainly steal the show.

This is something I especially love seeing in historical fiction, because it’s something that tends to either be lacking or done too heavy-handed. I mean, the point of historical fiction is that the characters do need to still be believable given the setting they’re in, and the sad fact is that setting tended to overlook and constrain women. That doesn’t mean women can’t lead historical and still be badass at the same time, as Sam and Joana more than prove.

Moke does a wonderful job of creating a mysterious, chilling atmosphere for this book in which anything is possible and where the reader should just expect the unexpected.

This isn’t a horror book, so the scaredy-cats among us (and I count myself in that group) should be fine picking it up. That’s not to say that it isn’t creepy, though, and with small amounts of gore. It’s the creepiness of the setting that worked so well, in my opinion, to really enhance the mystery.

About Jenny Elder Moke

Jenny Elder Moke writes young adult fiction in an attempt to recapture the shining infinity of youth. She worked for several years at an independent publisher in Austin, TX before realizing she would rather write the manuscripts than read them. She is a member of the Texas Writer’s League and has studied children’s writing with Liz Garton Scanlon. She was a finalist in the Austin Film Festival Fiction Podcast Competition in 2017 for her podcast script, Target. When she is not writing, she’s gathering story ideas from her daily adventures with her two irredeemable rapscallions and honing her ninja skills as a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Jenny lives in Denver, CO with her husband and two children.

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3 winners will receive a finished copy of CURSE OF THE SPECTER QUEEN, US Only.

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