Review of "Cataclysm" by T.V Holiday

Score: 92+/100 (9.2+ out of 10)

Cataclysm is an action-packed and edgy supernatural novel by T.V. Holiday!
Brace yourself for ultraviolence, sexually suggestive content, and quite a few expletives. This isn't exactly your grandma's Christian fiction. This is more like Bibleman meets Blade.
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Cataclysm is the direct sequel to Slaying Paradise, one of our favorite and best-performing books of the previous contest! In fact, it was an OCA Super Champion and Ultimate Champion! While Cataclysm doesn't hit quite as hard and isn't as emotionally-charged as its predecessor, it's still an entertaining and compelling read in its own right.

First, let's set the scene. Most of this book takes place in Carnage Coast, the same setting as the previous book—a place that bridges the gap between the physical and spiritual realms, sort of like the idea of purgatory. In fact, we get quite a bit more world-building and an expansion/explanation of this fictional universe as we learn that there are seven such cities corrupted by Luc (Lucifer) intended to mimic the seven days of creation. Another such city we're introduced to is Crazy Vault, a former utopia that was ruined by Luc's followers, setting the precedence that the same could happen to Carnage Coast.

Luc intends to send the message that if God created the universe in seven days, he can corrupt each of these seven cities (like Carnage Coast and Crazy Vault) in mockery of the Almighty.

Luc may come across as charming, but he lost all sympathy from us by the end of Slaying Paradise with how he snatched the most beloved character in the last contest from us. Luc is a horrible, terrible, awful person who ruins everything and everyone he touches.

In the previous book, Luc experienced both a triumph (by underhanded means) and a crushing defeat at the hands of God's Iron Warrior, the protagonist of the series, Travis.

Despite his outward pride and overconfidence, he is visibly against the ropes and desperate, recognizing that he's losing control of Carnage Coast and can't defeat God's latest champion, Travis, on his own. Travis, after all, overcame the likes of Abaddon, Luc's personal destroyer and annihilator, as well as the many villains and challenges (like the Diabolical Donnas and Luc himself) in Slaying Paradise.

So, Luc seeks/coaxes the aid of two powerful forces: the Crimson Queen, a vampiric queen with a long rap sheet that includes no one ever surviving her influence, and Monsoon, a undefeated and seemingly unstoppable evil being who seems to be tailor-made to hunt God's champions.

To be perfectly honest, this kind of reminded us of one of those cheesy yet fun villain scenes from Power Rangers, like when Rita, Zedd, Spinster, and Goldar used to argue and discuss how to stop the Power Rangers. It has that same cheesy, goofy, slapstick feel, even though it seems like the author kinda wants us to take it seriously. These are pretty much demons and monsters, after all.

Luc's plan seems to be multifold. In order for Monsoon to have his effect, the Crimson Queen must bring about an event known as the Black Moon (think of it like the Eclipse from Berserk) by ritualistically killing 50 people in consecutive order. To achieve this, she posssesses Leslie Martinez, a tough, passionate Muay Thai fighter who trains relentlessly while trying to balance family expectations. It doesn't seem like her mother approves of her fighting career, being protective of her. Leslie gets so much build as a character that we were half expecting her to become the deuteragonist of the novel, but that role gets taken over by Crystal.

Anyway, Leslie is possessed after she comes into possession of the Crimson Queen's crown, which supposedly fell from the sky, trading her father's bracelet for it in an act that seems to symbolize trading family for fame, fortune, and a brighter future.

The Crimson Queen essentially uses Leslie's body as a vessel to go on a killing spree, getting all the way to 49 kills, which sets the high stakes of this novel. If she gets that 50th kill, all hell will break loose and Monsoon will do to Carnage Coast what he did to Crazy Vault.

Gosh, these names are goofy, cheesy, and funny.

Speaking of funny, there's a lot more humor and lighthearted stuff in this book than in the last one (which was just full of people dying and being torn apart). Yes, there's some gore and violence in this book too, but it's dampened by the comedic stuff.

For example, Travis starts a romance with Crystal Kelly, and a lot of it is goofy and played for laughs. There's a scene in which Crystal puts her panties seductively on Travis's phone, then he scurries to the bedroom with her, apparently naked or half-naked. We imagine his whole body language in this scene is like when the gorillas in the zoo need to use the restroom, so they're half-clenching, half-running.

It's also really funny when Travis suggests that we "do something instead of each other." In fact, that's probably our favorite line from the book. It's hilarious.

However, behind this lighthearted stuff is the pain that Travis buries—the pain of losing Lynda Lynch/Sensation.

It did kind of bother us that Travis seemed to move on from Lynda and pursued Crystal. This didn't endear us to him or to Crystal. It's like when your best friend dies of cancer, then her husband of 20 years goes off with some younger chick months later. It's almost impossible to support him or the chick (sorry) because it almost feels like he's cheating on your dead best friend. Yeah, we would've rather Travis not have a romantic sub-plot in this book, to be honest. But what's done is done.

At least this book remembered Lynda, to an extent. And, hey, perhaps the best thing about it is that it remembered Domino and her daughter, Ashley.

Domino sadly and tragically perished in the previous book, much to the chagrin of our judges who felt it was needless and excessively violent. Domino was not a character who needed to go out like that.

But we digress...

It's so interesting to reunite with her daughter, Ashley, in this book. Ashley is older now, and she resents Travis for what happened to her mother and his broken promises.

Travis promised to look after Ashley and to provide a home for her in Domino's absence. This is as heartbreaking as it sounds. Gosh, that first book was so emotional!

Well, Travis finally gets to keep that promise, which we really, really liked.

This book kind of reads more like a detective or murder mystery than an action-adventure novel (like the previous one). This is interesting because, if we remember correctly, Travis was originally a police officer. So, he's able to use some of that experience to track the Crimson Queen in this book.

Oh, and let's talk about Monsoon for a minute.
Monsoon is an interesting character because he's different from Luc and he's different from Abaddon despite sort of being in the middle of those two in terms of being an antagonist. Like Luc, he carries a certain spice and charisma. Like Abaddon, he's a monstrous destroyer.

Monsoon also isn't 100% on board with Luc, being a bit insubordinate at times and having his own motivations, which keeps him interesting. Monsoon is his own person with his own desires and goals, which are separate from Luc (despite their objectives and enemies overlapping). We liked that about him.

Think of Monsoon as being like Abraxas from Marvel Comics. Abraxas was a powerful cosmic force that hunted and killed versions of Galactus in every universe—it seems to be the one thing he's good at. Similarly, Monsoon is a monstrous, nigh-supernatural being that hunts and kills different champions in each of the seven cities. One of these champions is Rainstorm, the champion from Crazy Vault (the city that fell to Monsoon).

Can Travis, the Iron Warrior, stop the Crimson Queen and Monsoon?

Check it out on Amazon!