Words have power. Intentions matter.
Most people come to Destiny Park for entertainment. They come to have their cards read to tell them a bit about their future. They come to walk through a beautiful park and to eat at the hotel’s restaurant. They come in the hope of catching a glimpse of the Arcana, the paranormal beings who rule the Isle of Wyrd.
But some people come to make a bargain with the Arcana—to change their fate. And some people come for dark purposes.
When Detective Beth Fahey is sent to Destiny Park to inquire about a “ghost gun,” she will begin a strange journey on which she must learn to navigate the Arcana’s unforgiving laws and dangerous attractions. Her search will draw her into seemingly impossible cases and the secrets of her own past as tensions rise between the Arcana and their human neighbors across the river.
For the Isle of Wyrd is a place where the dead ride trains to their final destinations, predators literally become prey, and seekers’ true natures are revealed in the ripples of destiny unknowingly stirred in their wakes.
Who will live? Who will die? And who will be lost in between?
Turns of Fate by Anne Bishop is uncanny and fascinating in this new series that tackles the idea of fate and choices. I like the cast of characters and the strange fates that entangle the various cast including the Arcana themselves. I like how the police find themselves drawn into the supernatural and how the bargains with the Arcana unfold.
I find the story does feel set up for a series and that the novel itself does not feel like a self contained story, building up the world and how the Arcana exist. The navigation of the secrets and the drama of the choices is engaging but the one piece I struggled with was following along with such a large cast of characters. Although Beth was a focal point for the novel, she was not the only point of view character and that made it harder to follow the entire story as interesting as it was.
If you like Anne Bishop’s other novels or series, I think you will like the investigative feel to the book. Most of her readers will find it uncanny and fascinating, a whole new cast of characters to fall in love with. It does have the benefit of being the first in a new series. I liked it and found Beth a fun character.
Rating: 4 out of 5 ships
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