The Warlocks of Talverdin Bk. 1:
Nightwalker
by K. V. Johansen

    NIGHTWALKER by K. V. Johansen
    Category:  Paranormal
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 6+
    Release Date:  3/07
    Publisher:  Orca Books
    Reviewed by:  Carrie Spellman
    Rating:  5 Stars


    Maurey used to be a student at the grammar school at Fowler College, but that was before his guardian passed
    away.  Suddenly all of his tuition money, paid through college degree level, mysteriously disappeared.  Now
    Maurey is an unpaid servant at the school, and whipping boy for bored students.  In addition to being a charity
    case, he bears a striking physical resemblance to the sorcerers who were driven from the land many years ago.  
    He is insulted, harassed, even assaulted, at virtually every turn.  His only escape is the dark tunnels underneath the
    school.  His extraordinary night vision helps him navigate and elude his captors.  Until tonight.

    Tonight he got away from the bullying students and ran directly into the King, along with the master of the school
    and the King's Chancellor.  As a result of the impact, the chain around his neck bearing rings from his mother, the
    only thing he has that connects him to her, falls out of his shirt.  First accused of theft, closer examination of the rings
    causes a much greater stir.  Maury finds himself locked in a dungeon, waiting to be tried for sorcery.  If his greatest
    fears about his ancestry are true, Maurey will undoubtedly be killed.  His only possibility for help seems to be a
    very unlikely and unwise choice.

    All I can say is WOW!  I've read a fair amount of fantasy/paranormal books, and this is one of the best I've come
    across.  Amazingly well-developed and imagined, both character and story-wise, intelligent, and witty.  It's books
    like this, and the knowledge that it's only book one, that make me love this job!