Here's a book that sounded interesting and it was somewhat. The premise is that as a young girl, Stefani, watched her mother die a brutal death and vowed revenge against her killer. Strange things happen to her when she is nearing her 21st birthday.

For more of the review, go to my book blog at: http://angelofmine1974.livejournal.com/38574.html ( )

I love the storyline - forget vampires - instead, bring in the gargoyles! Payne's prose flows and he weaves such an amazing story. There was no way to put this book down!

The characters are fantastic. Stefani is a strong female figure that I adored. Dennis and Greg - you can't help loving the one as much as disliking the other. Brothers who are fighting for the same thing but for different reasons.

Truly a page turner, this book kept me on my toes. An excellent read! ( )

Well, this was certainly not what I expected! Although the book was a bit too violent for my taste, I could not stop reading - the plot is so engaging - it's chock-full of action, suspense, twists...By the end, I was starting to think the author was playing with my mind! I would certainly recommend it, however, as it was quite entertaining (I did, in fact, read it in one sitting). I have a sneaking suspicion the end is not what it seems and I can't wait to read the next one! ( )

I thorougly enjoyed this book, considerably so given that I read it almost non-stop from start to finish in one night. A tale of a young girl, who witnesses her mother being brutally murdered, and left with no one, Stefani grows up a loner, feeling different, no close friends, and not fitting in. The a few days shy of her 21st birthday at work, her life dramatically changes when she meets Dennis, who claims she is special, they haven't found her yet, but she is in danger. Thus starts a whirlwind ride for her, learning she is becoming a Gargoyle, how they live, how violent they can be, and then becomes entwined in a huge power struggle.
Payne has excellent flow, a good writing style, and manages to thoroghly captivate the reader with his tale, drawing them in and keeping them on edge wondering just what is coming next.

I love reading about anything paranormal, so I was excited when I won a copy of The Gargoyle Prophecies from goodreads. But after reading the book, I realized that this book wasn’t entirely what I expected. We know from the premise that Stefani witnesses her mother’s murder and because of this experience, she wants to get revenge and find the killer. Her solitude is very evident, having lost her mother and she doesn’t trust anyone. She only has comfort in her Raggedy Ann doll that she had ever since she was a kid. But as she nears her 21st birthday, she meets Dennis, who she opens up to. But he tells her that he is a gargoyle and so is she. There is a prophecy that is involved and the whole story develops further from here.

I liked that Christopher Payne uses a female as the lead heroine fighting against gargoyles. Even though I admired Stefani for being a strong character, I was never able to fully attach myself or really connect with the characters. The reason being that the whole aura of the book, the style of the writing is such that you question what is reality, or rather that Stefani questions this. I felt this hindered me from really getting to know the characters well since the plot is not straightforward, it’s very perplexing. And I wanted to know where the plot was going and understand it, so reading through this book was a little challenging for me. While the author purposely wrote the book this way because he had a very good reason for this, since it played into the heart of the story, it didn’t make it less confusing to read through style wise. There is a fine line between reality and the possibility that Stefani might be nearing insanity. But with the many twists and turns in the story, you just don’t know for sure. But then the final twist in the ending was so unexpected and powerful, that I had to redigest the book as a whole. This made the whole story much more meaningful. You will definitely be in for a surprise. Even so, I didn’t feel that the strong ending was enough for me to really love the book. I thought the majority of the story was just ok, but the ending was better - it was good. So the ending did help improve my rating for this book just a little.

The book was definitely full of adventure and action, but the gargoyle fight scenes were a little too graphic for me, being too gory for my taste. I also wasn’t very fond of the quality of writing. While this book wasn’t for me, I really do appreciate the author’s bold and unique attempt at a different style of writing. If you like reading clear cut books, this is not the book for you. But if you would like to try something different and dynamic, this might be the book for you, especially if you like reading paranormal books. ( )