Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Tyler Maitland has been searching for his sister, Morgan, since she disappeared – seemingly into thin air – a year earlier. Lana Cameron has been searching for meaning since her daughter, Amelia, succumbed to leukemia. They have now both been drafted into the Pantheon, a secretive game that plays out across the world beyond the reach of any law, seemingly a diversion created by a group of rich friends which pits groups of ordinary people against each other in life-like battles. Tyler and Lana have been conscripted by the Valhalla Horde, a group who live in the shadows of the world under Edinburgh’s Old Town, and follow the ways of the ancient Vikings. As Blood Season approaches, Tyler and Lana quickly discover that they have more to worry about than the Horde’s enemy, the Sky-Gods, as there are elements within the Horde who would see them dead by any means necessary.

The Wolf Mile is the first book in a series that introduces us to the mysterious world of the Pantheon. It feels very much like a first book in a series, with plenty of information about this mysterious game for new recruits and readers alike. Barrington attempts to get as much information as he can in, so that all involved have a solid foundation on which he can build. Sometimes, unfortunately, this comes at the expense of pace, leaving the story to drag through the initial training process. I’ll be perfectly honest: there were points where I almost gave up, where I lost interest in our key players amidst the glut of information. I’m very glad I stuck with it though, and would urge anyone in the same position to do the same. The payoff is well worth the effort, and the setup for the second book in the series has left me gasping for more!

There are some holes in the Pantheon’s potted history. There are six Palatinates, corresponding to some of history’s most famous conquering armies, everyone from the Greeks to the Huns, the Romans to the Turks. It’s an excellent concept, and allows Barrington to build a fantasy world that coexists with our own reality, and gives plenty of scope for the series to grow over an extended series of books. My biggest gripe, and one that hasn’t – for me – been satisfactorily explained, is Barrington’s choice of setting. We have a Roman Army based in Rome, Turks based in Istanbul, and Vikings based in… Edinburgh? Why not Oslo, or Stockholm? And why is the Greek army based in the same city? It feels overly-contrived and takes away from what the author has tried to do elsewhere.

That gripe aside – and I’m hoping we’ll get some sort of explanation as the series progresses – The Wolf Mile is a good, fun novel that tries to find the perfect balance between action and exposition. Throw in a dash of mystery – what, exactly, happened to Morgan Maitland? – and you’ve got a winning formula. Once the extended training montage is done, Barrington finds his rhythm and the story really comes into its own. Politics and intrigue, murder and double-cross, set against a competition that could lead to untold riches or to painful death. It’s a simple and elegant conceit: a game whose players take on the identity of ancient warriors and exist outside of society. But from it springs a fully-formed world, peopled with characters who seem equally at home in modern-day Edinburgh, or as ancient Vikings. Striving for as much realism as possible, Barrington touches on how such an endeavour might exist in the modern world: big-stakes gambling, hastily-shot videos uploaded to YouTube, and an entire subculture following the games in the same way that most people follow football.

One of the key reasons why The Wolf Mile works so well – and the main reason I didn’t abandon it early on – is the fascinating characters that we follow. Tyler Maitland is a broken man who suddenly finds a reason to get out of bed in the morning, while Lana Cameron is obviously going through something that the Pantheon takes her mind off. There are others equally as intriguing: the trainers, Halvar and Freyja; King Sveinn; and the Caelestia, who may be the money behind the Pantheon. There’s plenty of scope for exploring this brilliant new world and I, for one, am excited to see where Barrington takes it.

Slow to start, The Wolf Mile really finds its stride around the halfway point. From there, it’s an intense, action-packed ride that you will want to keep reading. There is no neat finale here, only a setup for the next book in the series, which you’ll want to read as soon as possible. This is a thundering debut that should appeal to readers of fantasy, historical and crime fiction equally. Barrington is one to watch. My advice: read this excellent, cinematic novel before Hollywood gets its hands on it.

Thank you to Jade and Head of Zeus for sending me The Wolf Mile and The Blood Isles to read and review, and for inviting me to be a part of the blog tour of The Pantheon Series.

This is a fascinating fantasy series set in an alternative Edinburgh where 2 armies fight to the death in an underground series of Games. Calling upon Ancient Roman and greek history, the Pantheon Games are a lucrative yet gruesome series of trials and a final battle to survive and be victorious.



I love a fantasy novel set in Scotland, I love recognising locations and having fantasy elements meet the mundane is something I love to read. This series makes use of Edinburgh, and further afield in Scotland really well, you get a real sense of the ruggedness of the Highlands. I love being able to recognise places in the series, and try to figure out whether the secret tunnels actually exist or whether the author has created them himself!!

These books are non-stop action from page 1. The pace is breakneck until the very last page. We get a training montage at the beginning of book 1, but from the end of that montage the action is non-stop. The danger seems to increase with every page and it is a breathless rush through the streets of Edinburgh!

This book has definite found family vibes, which is one of my favourite tropes in books! I really liked the box of characters in this series. Tyler and Lana are the main characters, and I loved getting to know them better. We still don’t know everything about either of the characters and their background, which I like. It adds a lot of mystery to the characters, and I enjoy figuring things out as we go! There is also quite a large group of side characters, both friends and enemies of our main characters. These are all very well developed, some are very dislikable, and some I ended up caring for quite a lot!

Overall I really enjoyed this series a lot! It is a very dramatic and violent series, which I couldn’t put down. There is one final book to come in this series, which I cannot wait to get reading!

I was really looking forward to this book as the premise sounded so good.. Unfortunately, it wasn’t for me at all, I am not completely sure why as it’s a great idea and the writing is sound, but I found I just couldn’t get on with it, I am sure others will enjoy it very much just not for me.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

The streets of Edinburgh will be their fighting ground . . . and they will run with the blood of warriors.

The Wolf Mile is the first in an addictive new series. This is a book that's out of my comfort zone but I was drawn to it as the synopsis reminded me of The Hunger Games, which I loved. And while it did take a little time for me to get into the story, I was soon on the edge of my seat, turning the pages furiously as I awaited Tyler and Lana's fate.

Expertly merging fantasy and reality, the author brings the city of Edinburgh to life with his vivid imagery. And with slow, comprehensive world-building he also brings the Pantheon to life, making these brutal games feel real. By the end, I truly believed there was an underground battle raging between these seven groups and was rooting for the Horde to emerge victorious.

Tyler and Lana are great protagonists. They have rich backstories, are likeable and fascinating. I wanted them to succeed in every way and loved the twists and turns the story took us on as the author merged their real lives with that of Vahalla. The story is also filled with some great background characters, both hero and villain, who I'm hoping we learn more about in subsequent installments of the series.

The Wolf Mile is a thrilling and compelling debut that even those who don't usually read the genre, like me, will love. I could have cried in frustration when it ended as I was so immersed in the story and am relieved that the follow up has already been announced for October. I need to know what happens next!

Even if there's a lot of potential and the characters are interesting I found this novel slow and it didn't keep my attention
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A fun read, a kind of Hunger Games Game Of Thrones mash up that is very engaging.

Featuring Edinburgh in a way you probably haven't seen before, The Wolf Mile is highly imaginative and lots of fun with some great characters and a great page turning quality.

Perhaps could do with a more cohesive character approach, it's a little busy in its early parts but overall a great read.

The Wolf Mile was a book that surprised me. For the first 20%, I honestly wondered if I was even going to finish the book, I certainly didn't expect to get thoroughly involved in the story or get frustrated when the book ended on a slight cliffhanger leaving me with more questions than answers. It is a very slow burner, and the first part of the book is a slog through military training and battle terminology which I admit I really don't care for. But once The Wolf Mile got to the point where you started to know the protagonists and started to feel something for the unnamed characters training alongside them I began to get emotionally invested.

At the start of the book is a list of the Pantheon and the Palatinates (in basic terms the teams taking part) alongside the locations of their headquarters. All of the Palatinates are named after great conquerors and their armies, and their geographical headquarters corresponds to their historical record, for example, Caesar Imperator's Legion has its HQ is in Rome and Zheng, Lord of Qin's The Warring States HQ is in Beijing. It's mentioned in the book that Alexander of Macedon and The Titans had previously been located elsewhere before being relocated to Edinburgh, so that explains their HQ not matching historically. What I couldn't work out was why a Viking horde was located in Edinburgh when the Vikings had never conquered Scotland (a fact that is repeated in the book by one of the characters). I found out why when I went fact-checking for this review and couldn't find mention of "Sveinn the Red" the leader of The Horde. I did find mention of Sveinn Ásleifarson who appears in the Orkneyinga Saga, a narrative history of the Orkney and Shetland Islands. I don't know for sure if this is the basis for Sveinn the Red, but that at least makes some sense. It also fits with the high level of research that I noticed throughout The Wolf Mile especially when it came to Viking traditions. 

What really lets this book down, at least for me, is the lack of diversity in it. Right from the start, I was acutely aware that the 'they' mentioned in the synopsis was really a 'he' with Lana taking a distinct back seat to not just Tyler but all the other male characters in the book. Around about 70% of the book is about Tyler and mostly from his point of view. Another 10% was other male characters, and the final 20% was Lana. I have nothing against male protagonists and read them just as much as female ones, however, the book is advertised as being about both of them and then fails to live up to that. It's also worth mentioning that all the Palatinates are named after male conquerors/historical figures. While female conquerors were a minority in comparison to their male counterparts they still existed and since The Wolf Mile is set in the UK, why not Boudica instead of Alexander of Macedon?

I also found Tyler a difficult protagonist to like, whereas Lana was someone I could identify with on many levels. As a disabled woman, I didn't appreciate how Tyler was cast into the position of a disabled and disadvantaged underdog when his injuries were the result of his own stupidity; he was caught selling drugs by the local gang on their turf despite knowing the dangers. Tyler could have quite as easily have just been a disabled person rather than having a highly sensationalized background.

At the same time, while I identified with Lana, she's also an extremely stereotypical female character; the wounded woman who was was dealing with the loss of a child and other trauma. The writer isn't oblivious to this because at one point Lana calls the organises of the games out on it, on how they have chosen a woman like her because she was easy prey for their call to arms.

Other than the gender in balance, there's not just a complete lack of LGBTQ+ characters or relationships; it's as if they don't even exist. A perfect example is when the author reflects on Tyler not noticing how he's seen by the students as a handsome blue-eyed man of mystery; it's only the female students that are mentioned. There's also a tokenistic racial character, Freyja, who at first I silently celebrated. Then no other non-white characters were introduced and points were drawn to her attractive physical features, such as her hazel eyes, repeatedly. While Edinburgh is a predominantly white city and has a smaller ethnic minority community than Glasgow, there still shouldn't be just one non-white character.

Overall The Wolf Mile has an intriguing mystery that will grab your attention, but in my opinion, it needs some polishing up in other areas. There was a sneak peek at the end of the book for book two and it seems as though an important female character will play a prominent part in it. I just hope that she actually gets the screen time she deserves and isn't sidelined like Lana was in this one.

Thank you Netgalley and Aria & Aries for an advanced copy of The wolf mile by C.F. Barrington.

Bankrolled by the world's wealthy elite and followed by thousands online, two teams of warriors vie for dominance ... and the streets of Edinburgh run with blood. Now a small team are being introduced into the game called The Pantheon including Tyler Maitland, seeking his lost sister, and Lana Cameron, grieving her dead child. When they are accosted by figures in black hoodies and each handed a silver amulet, they recognize the Triple Horn of Odin – the talisman of the Valhalla Horde. Now they must risk their lives and join the ranks of seven ancient warrior teams which inhabit this illicit world. The journey will test them to breaking point as they search for loved ones and for the meaning in their lives.
Definitely for fans of Hunger games and Games of thrones. While I enjoyed it, I found The wolf mile spent most of the book on the training aspects rather than the actual game. The last part of the book definitely picked up.

The first installment of the new Pantheon series did not disappoint! In this Hunger Games meets Red Rising novel, main character Tyler is selected to compete to be in an underground secret society of Edinburgh. This society sponsored by the wealthy elite tests each member until their final battle with their opposition. I loved the plot line of this novel—the intrigue of fantasy while still taking place in the modern world. I cannot wait for the next installment!

The Wolf Mile is a fast-paced mashup of The Hunger Games and Game of Thrones!

Tyler is looking for his missing sister, Morgan. Lana is looking to heal after an assault at a college party. Both believe their answer lies within the Pantheon. The Pantheon is a collection of seven houses of people vying for victory by physically battling within the modern-day world. At stake is fame and fortune but also the risk of death. For rich subscribers, no sum is too great to pay to watch the fights—or to bet upon the victors.

In Edinburgh, Tyler and Lana are recruited to the tunnel-dwelling Hordes. First, they must fight their way through a grueling boot camp before participating in fighting the Hordes mortal enemy, the Titans.

I loved the training portion of the book. Who wouldn’t be intrigued by this description?

“It seems we all live in a soulless world. A place of routine and debt. Where every week is the same as the next. We offer the glamour of the unknown. The thrill of the enigma. The blank canvas on which everyone can paint their dreams.“

However, by the end of the book, I was enthralled by the different houses. I am hoping that subsequent books move beyond Edinburgh to visit other houses, especially the enemy free Huns.

If you like fantasy or either of the two series I mentioned in the intro, I believe you will enjoy The Wolf Mile too. 4 stars! I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the books in this series.

Thanks to Head of Zeus, Aries Books, and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Here is the first book in an exciting trilogy, that will be published between now and May 2022, so not a long drawn out wait. If the following two books are anything like this, it could well be a big-screen series, because someone will snap it up!


The story takes place around Edinburgh, where all the action happens. Everyday life is very similar to ours, but with one addition, The Pantheon Games, which occur in the city. A blind eye is turned, with authorities as huge betting is placed on which side will be victorious.

The story follows the life of Tyler Maitland, whose sister had disappeared some years before. When Tyler is abducted along with a group of others, they are told that they have been chosen to train for the games. They can walk away, but if they stay, they will have riches beyond their dreams. They are each given a silver amulet which has the Triple Horn of Odin. If they succeed through training, they will become part of the Valhalla Horde. Another character emerges as a key player through the story, Lana Cameron, she has her reasons for wanting to take part.

The story takes you through training of them before a couple of wild cards in thrown in. Now the story heats up. There is a lot of characters to remember, but believe me, they get thinned out as time goes on. You soon have your love them or hate them lists. Each chapter builds up for the battle that is coming.
There have already been some unexpected shocks at the games, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. Roll on Book 2.

I wish to thank the author for inviting me to read and review his book via a Net Galley link and to the publisher for approving the e-book.

A contest being held by the richest and most powerful people in the world with fights being held in public areas while the world watches on, good premise and nice social commentary on the way entertainment is becoming more and more extreme as the public clamours for more. There's a lot of worldbuilding in here, it's clear that CF knows the area and knows it well, I wouldn't have been surprised if running around Edinburgh wasn't part of the research done for the book.

This book is the first stages of the Pantheon, the training, the landscape of the contest, the people most involved in it, those new to it, and while it sets up for a very interesting story, with a whole bunch of things to look forwards to, we don't get into the midst of things by the end of the book, and there's very much the feeling that there's a lot more to come in the books that will follow.

That in turn is why this only gets four stars, I'm down with the ideas, I like the writing style, but I felt that the story was just getting started when it came to an end, and while it's no bad thing to set up interest, I'd have liked to see more of the larger arc in the first book.

I had high hopes for this book as the premise sounded like something I would enjoy. Unfortunately, I didn’t get on with it at all. Not any fault of the author, because it’s a great idea and the writing is good, I just couldn’t engage with it. Maybe it’s a case of right book, wrong time in this case. Would happily recommend it, just it wasn’t for me.

Through Net Galley, I reviewed an advance copy of The Wolf Mile by C.F. Barrington. Part Hunger Games, part The Running Man, this book introduces us to The Pantheon, an underground game to the death in the streets of Edinburgh. The rich are betting, the masses are following online and the government/police have been paid to turn a blind eye.

Featuring two compelling yet flawed lead characters, an intriguing mystery and unrelenting action, I enjoyed The Wolf Mile immensely. The first of a planned series, I can’t wait to see where Mr. Barrington takes us in the future. 5 big stars from this reader.

My thanks to @Aria_Fiction,@HOZ_Fictio and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review this book.