Marked Servants of Fate Book 1 by Sarah Fine

366 Pages
Publisher: Amazon Publishing, 47North
Release Date: January 1, 2015

Fiction, Sci Fi, Fantasy, Futuristic, Romance

The Ferrys are a special group of people lead by Patrick Ferry, the Charon. They ferry the dead to the Afterlife. Cacy and Declan Ferry work as paramedics. They can “see” which wounded will die. The Kere are the beings hired to mark someone for death. If a person is marked, nothing can save them. Eli and Galena Margolis move from Pittsburg to Boston. Eli is drawn to Cacy and the feeling is mutual. On Eli’s first day of work, Patrick Ferry is marked and dies. Everyone blames Eli for Patrick’s death. Moros is the leader of the Kere but he has a problem. Someone is sanctioning kills.

The book is fast paced, the characters are somewhat developed, and it is written in the third person point of view. I could not tell if this was sci fi or soft porn with all the sexual tension. I love Moros’ sisters. Nice touch.

In a dystopian future, Cacy is a member of the Ferry family, whose responsibility it is to escort newly deceased souls to the afterlife. The Kers are the ones who actually mark people for death.. Being a paramedic fulfills a need Cacy has to be useful, along with her brother Declan, which is where she meets newly transferred fellow paramedic Eli, who we get to know gradually, but who, like Cacy, has a very compelling backstory.

I really liked this book and found the characters likeable and the premise unique. The secondary characters were well fleshed out and added a lot to the story. Admittedly, for the first half of the book I wondered where exactly the story was going, but at the halfway point there was a big twist that drew me right in and sped the pacing up. The ending took me totally by surprise and set the story up nicely for the next book in the series, which I will definitely be reading!

5/5 stars.

I read the novels out of order due to my own mistake (I read Fated first - the third book in the novel, which was by far the best). The Keres of this series are very similar to Death in the Sandman series and the reapers in the tv series Dead Like Me. I found this novel to be fast-paced, and it kept my interest until the very end. For being the first book in a series tasked with setting the tone, I found Marked to be excellent all around. I rate it 4 stars because some of the worldbuilding and character development was a bit on the shallow side. The romance element is just right. Overall I give Marked 4 stars.

Marked had an interesting premise. Cacy and her family have some supernatural power and the job to ferry the recently deceased to the afterlife they deserve. Since they collect Charon's coin (from the Greek mythology) for each person, they have become unnaturally rich doing so. It also aids Cacy in her role as a paramedic, because she can also see when a person is marked for death and will die for sure so it allows her to prioritize her patients well. Eli and his brilliant sister Galena enter the scene as they move to Boston and Eli soon finds himself more than just the work partner of Cacy as he is rapidly pulled into warring supernatural families.

While it didn't always made a hell lot of sense, I quite enjoyed this part of the story. It was exciting enough to keep me going and considering I have copies of the entire series, it was for the best. Unfortunately was added to that a romance. *sigh* It was love on first sight, obviously because they are both so good looking. Personally, I couldn't care less about them. Hope this is not how the story continues, I would much rather see some more ferrying.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

What would you do if you are living in the world after an environmental collapse . If you are Boston paramedic Cacia Ferry you work to save the precious few that need it and ferry the dead to the afterlife . Yes she is a grim reaper and part of the powerful Ferry family . She has a new partner in sexy Eli Margolis . As they work together they find out they are attracted to each other and want to know more . But when he father is taken before his time . Sets Cacy and Eli on a collision course with a rogue element and what will the sacrifice to keep humanity safe.
This is the first novel I have read and I must say the characters are very intriguing and well written . Cacy is one of those characters that is strong and yet sensitive at the same time. She is tough as tough can be as an ex ranger and paramedic . She has to be for what she does she is tough but her family is still treating her like the little sister . I truly liked her as a character the only draw back is that we didn't get to seem much of her back ground . Eli is hot and sexy and just as strong as Cacy there are things about him that we don't know and hope to find out. He is the type of guy who would be there for you when you need it . There are some evil characters that keep coming after them . They are constantly on the run .
The author takes us on a rollercoaster ride of emotions . There are some great twists and turns that will keep you reading , There is romance in the book the author builds on it slowly . At first it is all about jumping each others bones . There is only one little thing that bothers me that we don't get a lot of their back ground on them . Other then the awkwardness of the build up to sex it was a great story . I like the premiss and the story read good . I got sucked in and started caring for Cacy and Eli . So if you want a good story for a winter evening that is a fun read . This is the book for you check it out

I was unable to finish the book, but thank you for the opportunity.

Such a great book and series. Very quick read. Dystopian, but unique.

The cover was definitely an eye catcher for me. It's absolutely beautiful and had all the elements to make me go: oooo whats this about? Then we move onto the blurb and woah. It was so good, I knew I had to request this book from NetGalley. This story is a blend of genres, mixing urban fantasy with mythology, dystopia and pnr romance.

The setting is in a post-apocalyptic world with polluted land and waters, increasing illegal human organs trafficking and therefore decreasing the number of people. There are creatures called Kers who mark people when their time has come and then the Ferries help them travel to the other side. But there is so much more too.

The beginning is a little slow and it takes a few pages to get into the flow and writing of this story. But once you're through that it picks up and turns into a pageturner. There are many sections that give you, as a reader, questions about the setting and the way things work which aren't answered but as this is book one of a series I'm hopeful we will get more information as we go through the series.

The MCs, the paramedics Cacy & Eli were likable, but not enough to not be overshadowed by some of the secondary characters, at least for me. The romance in this book was a little tiresome. I for one, like the almost insta-love that was portrayed in this story, but I know many others don't.

Overall, this was a good book with great potential for the next instalments.

I had been wanting to read this book for forever and I finally got a chance to. I'm like all the others that waited so long to read it, I'm regretting waiting so long. This was a very good book! It was suspenseful, dramatic, funny, and engaging. I loved the mix of the EMTs and reapers and the creatures in the Veil. I was shocked and surprised by the roller coaster of a ride and the curves and loop-de-loops this thing took me on.

Cacy is an amazing character. She is a strong, smart, courageous woman and she has a lot of conflicts in her life. I love her brothers Dec and Rylan, too. They play the protective brother role perfectly, but they don't impinge on her ability to kick butt. She has to balance her EMT job and her reaper job and not let her handsome, intriguing new partner find out about her extracurricular activities.

Eli is a swoon-worthy book boyfriend. He is sensitive and sweet when needed and strong as steel in times of peril. Being an EMT is a tough job but it's made even tougher by being Cacy's partner. Their job brings out the best and worst in some people and in Cacy's case, it showcases her kind, caring side that she doesn't show the rest of the time. Not many get to see that side and Eli is privy to it and it does something to his heart. He doesn't feel like he can ignore the feelings inside but she doesn't seem to reciprocate. She's hot and cold towards him and it's confusing.

I can't wait to read the rest of the series. I already have the next book queued up on my Kindle

I never had a chance to review this before it expired. I'm sorry!