Olivia & Hale Paperback – March 31, 2019

I hardly like such topics but this book is written beautifully. It took me very deep into the hold of imagination which were hidden deep down. The way the Author Nicholas Gagnier expressed, depicted and wrote the whole story it took my mind to the next level of imagination. I would highly recommend my fellow readers and authors to read this epic novel.

I am very impressed with the author's ability to capture my imagination and take me into the lives of the characters. This is the culmination of a series that I have missed part of and I intend to fix that immediately! Epic does not even describe it well enough, but what other words can I use to express how great this is. I highly recommend this book and the entire series can only be as awesome.I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

I had no idea this was part of a trilogy initially, so that's my fault. I plan on catching myself up later, but man this was a great, unique read. I wish i had picked it up much sooner! This held my interest.. such imagination. Get it!I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Reading the last novel Olivia & Hale in the trilogy was a challenge for me. I didn’t want it to end but I desperately wanted to know what would happen, how this epic story across time and space could be ended. I simply don’t have the breadth of imagination possible to create that ending in my head. Fortunately, Gagnier has more imagination than most living authors and somehow, against the odds, he completes this series flawlessly.If we haven’t become intensely invested by now in the ‘fate’ of the world via Hale and Olivia then we haven’t been reading. For all the deaths and reincarnations, the shifts in universes (without giving too much away) they have been this warring duo, somewhat at the behest of Reaper and equally, within the characters of other people, lives enfolding lives, creating pain and memories.How then does their story close? And all those who have walked alongside them, usually unwillingly. So many people to care about, their fate linked to this world that is intensely realistic and subject to falling apart and becoming something else. That is exactly what occurs. In the opening scenes, the characters who will stay with us until the end are transported to The Shroud and are subject to a final showdown which encompasses so much of what has happened in the earlier books.Strangely this reminded me of Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin. Not because of subject-matter obviously, this is deep Sci-Fi opera at its best. But the clever way Gagnier must have known prior to writing any of his novels, what would happen at the end and how he chose to get us there. That takes some storyline planning to say the least. Maupin as a writer was able to do this so well that we marveled at his twists and turns. Likewise, I felt Gagnier has that ability to predict every chess move prior to writing and plan in such detail that characters interconnect so well and nothing is ever predictable. If there were one talent all writers wish they had but rarely do, it is this ability to master plan their work and execute accordingly. Gagnier most definitely fits that description.Of this series, I have loved the way Gagnier uses the same scene and writes from different perspectives, I think this works so well throughout the book, allowing us to see the same thing from another vantage point and learn more, as well as permitting a depth to the characters which is challenging given how many there are. It helps to converge an agreed upon perspective as well as build the lead characters especially into people whose fates we intensely care about.I love the lines used especially by Harper in this novel. In many ways while this has always been about Reaper, Hale and Olivia it is also very much Harpers story and so I was very glad Gagnier chose to give her the lead in the last book. Harper is a character of all characters we bond with most, her personality is believable, and it really works when she drifts between intensely realistic and fantastical settings because of how she has been written. When Harper says; “I am the unhinged and I can straighten myself out” and other dramatic statements, they are points at which we clench our jaw and hope against hope she can make it. The suspense is killer and that’s what allows us to drive at breakneck speed through this final novel, desperate to find out what happened to those we have connected with.Gagnier is fantastic at writing women, I have long said this, and no less here than any of his previous works. He is a master when it comes to characterization, plot building and dialogue. He doesn’t fall short in any arena. So, when Nathan says; “It’s like she’s (Harper) trying to save everyone so she won’t have to save herself.” We understand completely, because we’ve been given so much of Harper to understand and this, often through the understanding of her from other characters, which is a very, very clever way of transmitting a characterization in a novel.** Spoiler Alert! **The ‘monsters’ in The Shroud, where our story is set, are a wonderful invention, demonstrating that a life time of reading the leaders and classics in fantasy and Sci-Fi, helps as a writer as much as the raw talent of being able to write. When Hale returns to the battleground, we are both surprised and yet secretly glad, because this is the showdown that the entire series has been leading up to. All our unanswered questions thus far, will be answered in this final book and nothing will be obvious.Gagnier is also incredibly funny as a writer, and this is an essential tool for any apocalyptic style novel. When Hale says to Tim; “I’m grateful we could finally have a chat, without a body count, aren’t you?” I burst out laughing because in the midst of this really intense storyline, those kinds of punchy smart Alek lines really make the dialogue that much richer.In all his novels, Gagnier is quite taken with the motivations behind cruelty and what it takes to avoid self-sabotage or sabotage in general. This is true here, when Olivia through Harper battles Hale through Tim and it becomes a battle of right and wrong, morality and ultimate decisions, once again.The mystery of the Timestream is uncovered, and is an excellent storyline, as are newly introduced concepts such as who The Anchor is and why they are so important. As well as being a final novel in a series, this novel has enough punch and freshness to be anything but an ending. I’m tempted to give a lot more away, and true enough, as I read this, I shouted out when unexpected twists and turns of the plot revealed themselves. Suffice to say, if it ever annoys you when an author doesn’t do due diligence to the integrity and arc of his storyline, you won’t find that here at all.The Shroud is brilliantly conceived in rich detail and the idea of all the characters having some connection with each other is superbly mapped out and entirely realistic. There is horror in some of the storyline that will have you on the edge of your seat, and there is reconciliation and beauty too. As Tim says; “Everything is a risk” That has been true throughout the journey of Hale and Olivia and nowhere truer than during this showdown.Harper’s character really got to me and I loved how vulnerable and courageous she was at once. Nowhere is she described better than by herself; “The surgeons did such a job of putting me back together you can hardly see the scars.” It’s phrases like that I feel make Gagnier such a superb indie author of his generation, and unforgettable as a writer of complex, believable, intense and powerful novels so akin to some of his favorite authors like Stephen King. When Gagnier puts his life blood in a character he does it so deeply we literally inhabit their soul; (Of Harper) “I am the landslide, and life is the mountain that entertains my spirals.”These creations of Gagniers EXIST and they stay with you long after the book is over; “Time is a cruel trick. To some, like me, it is a vast canopy promising nothing but emptiness. To others, however, it is beyond their wildest comprehensions. Lifespans spent accumulating knowledge to pass onto descendants to further explore is, at best, a futile attempt to understand just how vast a distance time can reach within a few short years.” (Olivia). This is because when you live and breathe writing, you have that spellbinding gift of bringing your characters to life and those who read your work aren’t just reading a work of fiction, they are reading an entire universe. If there is a way of ending a series, I loved every chapter of, then Gagnier has once more, pulled it off and given us, a true masterpiece now, in his epic cast of characters and their incredible lives, that come together more powerfully than any series I have ever read.To say more would be to spoil what is as close to perfection as any writer can earn in their craft. It has been a true honor to review these novels because unlike so much modern fiction, they are extreme in their beauty and craftsmanship and will without doubt one day become classics.

This was my first read from Nicholas, but I will be looking for more by him and no doubt watching for more great works over the years. If you enjoy X-files or the duo of Sean Platt and David Wright, then this will be right up your alley.

This is the 2nd book I've read written by Nicholas Gagnier; he has done a great job at writing a good book; I will definitely be reading more of his books.The story line caught my attention at the very beginning and kept me interested throughout the entire book.I loved the characters.I received a free copy of this book via booksprout and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.

“Olivia and Hale” is the last book in a loosely connected series with the first three books being “Mercy Road”, “Founding Fathers”, and “Haven”. The author claims there is no need to have read the previous books before reading “Olivia and Hale”, but I would probably beg to differ on that score.I have read all the books and must admit without prior knowledge of the characters that feature in the previous three books, and without having a solid grounding in their backstories, I would have been hopelessly lost. “Olivia and Hale” is very much a book about motives and intentions. What are the motives behind each of these disparate characters being stranded in a dystopian limbo version of the real world? And, more importantly, what are their intentions?As this unlikely group stumble through a nightmarish landscape, it is only by working together that they can hope to discover the truth and find a way home, but again it is the intentions of their actions that will determine if that can ever happen.As with all his novels, Gagnier’s words are beautifully honed and each one is used to maximum effect. A consummate artist, there is a pared-down simplicity to his writing that strips away all that is unnecessary and wasteful, leaving the reader only with what is essential to tell a gripping story and tell it well.Gagnier has a knack for taking the surreal and the bizarre and making it believable and relatable, carrying the reader with him to a mixed-up world of demons and reapers yet delivering it in a way that draws the reader in.This is an easy five stars for me, my only proviso being that you really should read the previous books in the series first to ensure maximum immersion into the world Gagnier has created.