Forging A Nightmare started strong with a gruesome first scene that immediately hooked me. The plot was layered with breakneck pacing and easy to follow writing style. The author merges myth and religion well and there's plenty of snark and killer one-liners. However, the execution was all over the place and it relied on telling rather than showing. Also, the breakneck pacing was initially its strength but became its downside as it felt that there was a lot going on and the plot started to feel bogged down.

Overall, Forging A Nightmare is an enjoyable and fascinating read. I would definitely read again from this author.

Forging A Nightmare begins with a string of murders that are happening all around NYC. The victims all have one thing in common: they have 12 fingers and 12 toes. All of the bodies were found with weird ritualistic things done to them, and it turns out that the victims also have something else in common: they are all Nephilim, descendants of angels who mated with humans. Seen as abominations, they are being hunted. Enter: FBI agent Michael Childs. Michael gets wrapped up in an unholy war that features Watchers, fallen angels, archangels, Hell, and the Four Horseman. And did I mention that the majority of the characters are Black?? Hell yeah!

I devoured this book. I’ve always loved fiction that employed biblical elements. I’m not religious at all, but you can’t deny that the Bible and Christianity have some truly spooky and cool elements up for grabs. But you know, now that I think of it, this is the first time that most of the major players have been Black, at least that I’ve encountered. The feeling that you get when you can see yourself in a work of fiction, especially within myths that nine times out of ten are filled with white characters, it is a wonderful feeling. It was just so damn cool to see the Horsemen of Death as a Black man. The archangels Raphael, Michael and Gabriel as Black men. Enoch as a Black man. There weren’t a lot of Black women, this is unfortunately true, just two mains, but this is something that I’m willing to overlook for now because I just really loved the story as a whole. And the relationship that is introduced is also between two Black people! This is the type of representation that you get when a Black woman is at the helm of a work of art, and I will forever be grateful to Jackson for providing it.

Another thing that I loved: the pacing. It was breakneck but never felt overwhelming, simply from the sheer talent on display from Jackson. Every single element of the plot was interesting as hell, and all of the characters were nuanced and well-developed. She perfectly married extreme action with superb characters and the result was intoxicating. Jackson not only pulled from Christianity, but a slew of other myths and pantheons, and while this could have caused the story to feel too full, it just…didn’t. It was a perfectly entertaining who’s who, and never have I seen an author pull from so much and not have the plot get muddied and bogged down.

As I said above, I loved this book, and I will now be on the lookout for more from Patricia Jackson!

A fabulous book that grips from start to finish and leaves the reader wanting more. A wonderful compilation of myths, biblical characters, and a police procedural gone fantasy. The horse aspect is beautifully realised and creates a vivid and relatable equine character. A truly excellent novel about finding oneself, overcoming challenges, and figuring out mysteries. Highly recommend

This book starts off feeling like a gritty serial killer thriller with Agent Michael Childs is investigating a series of murders of people who have 12 fingers and toes. Soon he discovers that there are forces at play that are not of this earth and finds himself in a dark battle against angels and fighting in the streets of hell.

Michael finds out he is the son of the archangel and grandson of Enoch. He was also born with 12 fingers and toes though his were surgically removed. However that makes him a target. He enlists his mother's help with the case since she's a brilliant scholar familiar with the sigils written at the crime scene.

While Michael enjoys horses having been raised on a farm and enjoying jousting on the side he's not quite ready to command a nightmare who breaths fire and brimstone. Former marine, Anaba Raines was supposed to be killed in action but instead is still alive in a not quite human form.

Forging a Nightmare took me much longer to read than expected because I had a lot going on and it's so complex it wasn't a book I could just fly through. Which isn't a bad thing. It just takes some time to find it's footing and there's a lot to absorb. I have a very basic understanding of the theology and mythologies that this book was inspired by for it's mythos so there were new things I was learning about different gods and the archangels.

Michael was interesting and we follow him through this journey where he's grappling with his father's abandonment and coming to terms with everything he thought he knew being a lie. However Anaba was my favorite. She is fierce! She's not afraid to fight anyone and she's loyal. I really enjoyed seeing them learn to trust each other and their relationship growing. I didn't see it getting romantic at first because she is technically his horse though she didn't freely choose him, she was forged for that purpose; but I wasn't mad when it happened. I enjoyed their waltz scene at Lucifer's ball.

This is a very action packed tale that felt fast-paced despite the first few chapters feeling a little overly long. After the rocky start it finds it's footing and becomes a book that's hard to put down.

I received an arc from Angry Robot in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a bit torn about this book. I really enjoyed it, but there were elements of it that were a bit distracting for me. It starts of with a lot of action, which got me hooked right away, but the character development seemed rushed or forced, and the book vacillates between fantasy and horror without landing on either or effectively blending them together. On the other hand, the non-stop action is well done and kept me engaged. And the religious war stuff with angels and the four horsemen is right in my wheelhouse. Overall, I liked it enough to give it 3.5 stars (rounded up to 4).

Thanks to NetGalley and Angry Robot for providing an ARC in exchange for this honest review..

I really, really wanted to like this Forging a Nightmare — I mean, the premise and the cover had me hooked and hyped. Sadly, this wasn’t something I enjoyed.

Forging a Nightmare begins with a brutal torture/murder (trigger warning for male-on-female violence), and — even though I’ve got quite a strong stomach — this made me feel quite sick. After that, we are introduced to our protagonist (Michael) and everything started to go downhill for me. I really couldn’t connect with Michael at all, nor our titular Nightmare, Anaba. The dialogue and characterisation feel very stilted and forced, whilst the structure and plot themselves are choppy and full of tropes. Chosen One? Check. Telling rather than showing? Check. Divine parentage revelations? Check. And more.

Then there was a completely unbelievable timeline (mostly everything happens within one day!), and very stereotypical representations of angels, demons, mythical figures and creatures (if you’re going to use these, please make them interesting/different!). How Anaba is treated whilst in her Nightmare form just screamed issues of consent to me, which made me deeply uncomfortable. Yes, the book was fast-paced but this was also too extreme — there were no opportunities for rest, integration, or anything for the characters, so it felt like a constant barrage of revelation after revelation, danger after danger, and so on. There was nowhere to take a breath. I found I really didn’t care about what happens at all. Best skipped.

I received an e-ARC from the publisher, Angry Robot, through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

There's a lot of good stuff in this book. I think Jackson is a great writer! I think that any issues I had with the book are a me problem more than they are problems with the book itself.

I loved that FBI Agent Childs is an academic and a nerdy medieval weapons fanatic, its very unexpected. I love that his mom is a PHD and a renown scholar of pagan and obscure religions. I love that the characters in this book are largely morally gray. I just had a really tough time with Anaba and how she was not really given consent to what she was, and how she was "used" throughout this book and the direction her character took later on. I also got a little lost in the sauce on the religious aspects of the story because I have zero theological background.

This book has non-stop action, some pretty cool concepts of the four horsemen and angels battling out a religious war on modern New York City. If this appeals to you, then get your hands on a copy!

I was very excited to read this trilogy, yet, it was archived prior to my download.
However, I am going to peruse buying a hardcopy, as I have read numerous great feedbacks about it.

This book is a good example of why I don't like DNFing books. The first 30-40% of this book was an awkwardly paced, disjointed mess. The characters felt a bit like caricatures, and the story, while interesting, was presented in a way that was confusing and hard to follow. As the book progressed, however, the pacing, writing, and story improved significantly, and I read the last half of the book mostly in one sitting because I was so captivated by it. The characters acquired much more depth as the story progressed, and I really did end up loving Anaba. I never knew I needed to read about a killer demon horse until picking up this book. The author's love for horses really shone from how she wrote about Anaba and all the horse-related detail included throughout the narrative. I also particularly enjoyed the blending of different mythologies and the world the author created, even if the world-building was a bit clunky and obtuse at times. The action in this book was brutal and fast-paced (sometimes too fast-paced), and it kept me wanting to turn the page to find out the resolution of the conflict. As a whole, I enjoyed the book but only after making it through the first third through sheer will alone. I recommend the book to anyone who likes stories about horses, mythology, and lots of fast-paced action, as long as they are a patient reader. Therefore, I rate the book 3 out of 5 stars.

An entertainingly bizarre book perfect for fans of Supernatural. Jackson's pacing is solid, but she doesn't quite earn some of the character moments. They seem to come out of nowhere, without the necessary emotional journey. Overall, an interesting read.

(This review is based on an Advance Reader Copy.) Patricia A. Jackson's debut novel Forging a Nightmare immerses the reader in a world of menace--fallen angels and demigods whose history of alliances and resentments stretch to the beginning of time. Jackson puts a fresh spin on biblical characters like Gabriel and Lucifer by turning them into FBI agents, a parish priest, a homeless preacher and other seemingly ordinary folks who pursue ancient vendettas in modern day New York City.

On the surface, the story is about a series of grisly murders. But underneath, it is about much more: a son grappling with his father's abandonment, the persecution of "the other" and the revelation that maybe Hell isn't the unremittingly evil place we thought it was.

The book is full of unexpected twists and turns. Even the characters are unexpected. The hero is FBI Agent Michael Childs, a Black man who competes in jousts (at the opening of the book, he shows up at the scene of a grisly murder clad in medieval armor) and who (unbeknownst to him) descends from divinity. His sidekick is another surprise: Anaba Raines, a Black woman, former Marine and the eponymous Nightmare, whose transformation into a fierce and hellish horse makes her a formidable foe to angels seeking to do Michael harm.

This is an original page-turner from a talented new voice.

This had too much going on to follow, and I thought it would be more about the serial killer but it wasn't.alrhough this isn't a bad novel it just wasn't what I had expected when read the synopsis. With Angels, serial killers, a grumpy detective, and dark atmosphere.

I had much higher hopes for this, but the execution was so messy. I really struggled to get through it which was rather surprising because there are so many things going on. The story didn't ultimately end up going where I thought it would. The serial killer storyline was really just the first chapter, the bad guys get revealed very early on, and then it goes all over the place after that. I didn't feel like there was a coherent story arc in place, though I did like the ideas in general with the angels, serial killer, horsemen of the Apocalypse, and how various beings from mythology are involved here. Some of this did feel innovative and fun. However, I did feel like there was too much happening and that it would have been better to spread these things out over multiple books to really explore some of the events and characters in more detail.

I felt like there were issues with telling instead of showing - there were lots of times where characters just lectured for info dumps which was often boring. Knowing who the villains were also led to a serious lack of suspense, and they were also the "oh ho, let me explain my plans in detail" type.

I didn't really like any of the characters. Michael is an Extra Special Chosen One and while I don't mind the chosen one trope in general, this was just one reveal after another in a short span of time. We don't really get to absorb the details of each reveal before yet another reveal is thrown at us. Anaba is ok. She's a Marine, and I did like her abilities as a Nightmare (and thought that this was a cool idea in general). She's often abrasive, though once she decides that someone is ok, she's very protective of them. I absolutely HATED the romance that developed and had serious issues with it: Anaba is not really given a choice to be his Nightmare, so I think there are some possible issues with consent. What really bothered me though was when Anaba's wife dies and Michael and Anaba kiss almost immediately afterwards. I didn't think they had a connection and thought this was really out of place and distasteful. They also jump to saying "I love you" essentially right after that which was too much for me.

We do also have a lot of angels, and I did like that the Horsemen make an appearance here. It's certainly a cool way to weave the story in. There's also some nice diversity here. The main characters are black, and we have a lot of characters of color in general. The author is also quite good at writing about horses, so these sections felt very realistic.

Generally, there were some great ideas here, but I think this could have used some restructuring and more development for me to really connect with it. This was a miss for me, but it seems like others are loving it more, so I'd encourage checking out more reviews if the premise sounds interesting.

My video review can be seen on my booktube channel (around minutes 0:23-5:14 of this video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-apmhzTwm_Q

Forging a Nightmare started out strong, dropping the reader right into the middle of the action. However, it failed to hold my attention, as viewpoints shifted sporadically, character development seemed to happen instantaneously (as the protagonist seems to fairly quickly accept major, world-altering changes without too much difficulty or confusion), and the depiction of the Nightmare was at times too aggressive/forward (picked up tones of sexual assault that felt very brushed over) and very focused on the description of horse-like characteristics (reminding me of horse-people I know who will talk about them for hours on end). Cool premise, but it just wasn't my cup of tea.

I had to give up on this pretty early. I feel bad because I was very excited about the premise, it all seemed awesome, but as I started reading it was less and less so. to sum it up really quick: there was too much academic level religious talk, too many things were revealed extremely early on, there was way too much equestrian lingo, and the one important female character is a woman who turns into a horse and is ridden by the male MC without her consent (more specifically very much against her will) and it just seems a bit iffy to me. Sorry if this specifically is rectified later on, but I could not keep with this story.

FORGING A NIGHTMARE is an interesting blend of religious lore and magic. As someone who grew up on a steady diet of catechism and X-men cartoons, this book hit a sweet spot. I love stories featuring nephilim!

Overall, this book featured tight writing, good sub-plots, and dynamic characters. Anaba was my favorite! Even Lucifer makes an appearance, and he, like all living things, is a mixture of both good and bad. He’s not actually the villain in this book, which was refreshing.

There are a lot of battle scenes, which is to be expected when you’re dealing with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse! I’m not a huge fan of battle scenes, because I have a hard time following the action. But Jackson did a good job fleshing them out, so the sword strikes are easy to follow.

If you like books with biblical references, refreshed good vs. evil tropes and lots of battle-scenes then you will love FORGING A NIGHTMARE!

I received a free e-ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Reading the first few chapters of this novel, you’d be excused for thinking that you were starting a straight and relatively gory (and compelling) serial killer thriller. The switch to urban fantasy is a little clunky, but as this is the author’s debut novel, I’ll be kind. Once the transition is made, Forging a Nightmare develops into a rollicking action-packed read that pulled me along with it until I suddenly found myself running out of book and still wanting more. Fortunately, this is the first in a series, so hopefully I won’t have to wait too long.

The one thing that rankled with me was how quickly and easily certain characters accepted and adapted to vastly major changes in what they previously thought their realities to be. There are two main instances that caught my eye, but as they both involve major spoilers, you’ll have to discover them for yourself. This led to a suspicion that the novel was originally much longer but had lost chunks to the editorial cutting room floor, when maybe it would have been better to expand on the story and lengthen it into two books. However, this is still an enjoyable read, and I can’t wait to meet these characters again.

I received a free reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was the most fun to read. A hunt for a serial killer, an FBI agent whose father is an Archangel, a Marine transformed into a Nightmare, the steed of a Horseman of the Apocalypse.

One of those stories that hooks you in and carries you along. The action is non-stop and you engage with the characters. This is not high-end literature, but if you love a non-stop, roller-coaster journey this is the book you need to pick up.

My thanks to NetGalley and Angry Robot for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was *extremely* excited to read Forging a Nightmare, but alas I DNFed at the 18% mark. Black women writing innovative fantasy is usually my jam. And my inner horse girl was all the more amped. And this cover is GORGEOUS. And c'mon, an FBI agent secretly descended from an angel and being hunted by the same sect of serial murder angels he's been investigating? Yes, please.

The concept was there, but the execution was all over the place. After an excellent, creepy, and terrifying prologue of one of the murder victims being slain, Jackson jumps into the thick of the plot with minimal preamble. Barely into the book and the protagonist has already learned he's an angel and being hunted by another rogue set of angels. Like, really being hunted. By the point I stopped, Michael had already survived 4+ near-death-experience combat scenes. I don't need that many combat scenes. Especially when they all make AMPLE use of specialized equestrian, horse anatomy, medieval, ren-faire terminology. Why? Because it's briefly mentioned that Michael is inexplicably super into jousting as a hobby...

Then there's the religion. Obviously religious mythology was going to be central to the plot and world building, but there's a dearth of explanation for readers without master's degrees in religion, Christianity, Biblical theology, mythology, or at least an upper lever undergrad course. Just because the main character's mom is a famous (lol, that's unrealistic) academic specializing in pagan religions, doesn't mean readers are.

This may be getting too nit-picky as the author may have rectified this impression later on in the book, but I found it pretty off-putting that the main female character turns into a horse that Michael rides around, pretty much without her consent (which he explicitly violates at times). She's branded, some guy in hell thinks she's his property, and everyone acts like it's Michael's right to use her as a helpmate companion and mode of transportation because his Dad's a bigwig angel.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Angry Robot for giving me advance access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review


I'm having trouble finding the right sentence to use in starting this review.
The first line of this book is entrapping. It kept me in a suspension. I began wondering what was happening.

You see what Patricia A Jackson does in this book is that, she takes you by the hand and throws you through the Vestibule road and smiles because she knows you're going to be riding through one Hell (pun intended) of a journey.

When you pick this book, you have to will your imagination to explore questions of what would happen if the creation story went this other way? What happened to this part of the creation story and why did we really never talk about the antagonist in the story. Patricia A Jackson, is willing to help you out in figuring an answer to this questions we sometime find ourselves asking.

The Forging A Nightmare, follows a 28 year old FBI special agent with a thick celestial heritage and history he doesn't really know much about. When he and his partner are called to debunk the mysterious maimed bodies with twelve fingers and twelve toes, popping around the city. Michael J Childs soon begins to uncover deep secrets engulfing his whole existence.

This story takes you back and forth, riling and tempting your imagination to take a leap of faith, to trust the characters, to actually believe in their own stories.

Every scene has its own importance, nothing is ever there without a reason and everything has a role to play regardless of how insignificant it might seem.

The Characters have this thick layer of mystery, you'll find yourself trying to rip apart so you can see that humanity in them. I so much enjoyed the diversity of characters, from a main black man as the protagonist, to an LGBT protagonist, to the Asian and Hispanic hints in other characters.

The diversity definitely made this book special because it's a story told through a black woman for the BIPOC world of readers.