THE FALLEN: GENESIS (Deadly Virtues #0.5) by TILLIE COLE

“Welcome to Purgatory….or, as it’s better known…Hell.”

WOW! Where does Tillie Cole go when she creates these dark and disturbing stories? We’re not sure, but we’re really glad she does because she digs deep to feed our dark little hearts with her well thought out, totally messed up and completely riveting stories, and the Deadly Virtues series already promises to be one totally f***ed up journey! This was one difficult and compelling novella!

‘They were his Fallen. His charges. This was his cross to bear.’

From sob your heart out romance to silly and fun-loving rom-coms, and everything in between, Tillie Cole is an author who excels at what she does. A chameleon who seems to come alive when she’s creating her dark romance stories, and she does them so incredibly well!

In The Fallen: Genesis, the prequel to her new Deadly Virtues series, Tillie Cole spends time world building and creating the background for her characters. It’s a bold move considering there is no romance in this novella, of which we’re glad. All too often the first book in a series spends time creating the world sometimes at the detriment of the characters the story is focused on. With The Fallen: Genesis, Tillie Cole’s decision to deliver the prequel in this manner is an absolute winner.

The characters in The Fallen shocked us, saddened us, broke us and made us so utterly desperate to hear each of their stories. This is no easy read. When Tillie Cole warned readers this series was VERY dark, she wasn’t exaggerating. There were times we had to stop and regroup before we could continue. Some aspects of this story are confronting, uncomfortable and harrowing, and will have you questioning exactly what is good and what is the evil.

‘Evil. It was evil.’

We were instantly gripped by this story. There was no easing into it as Tillie Cole immediately seized our attention from the get-go, never letting up until the shocking end! Yes, we were shocked, stunned and taken out of our comfort zone with brutality, evilness and the twists that just kept coming.

The Fallen: Genesis introduces us to Joseph whose teachings and beliefs in the Catholic Church are blown to pieces when he discovers a Brethren of cruel sadistic priests at the Holy Innocents Home and School for Children in Boston Massachusetts where he lives with his brother, James following the death of their mother years earlier. His beliefs are questioned and his protective nature is challenged as the need arises to save his brother and five other boys from torture and abuse at the hands of the priests.

‘Look after your brother. Love him, for both of us.’

The seven boys are baptised by the priests with the names of the fallen angels, Gabriel, Michael, Raphael, Uriel, Selaphiel, Jegudiel, and Barachiel. This is not paranormal, this is a very dark and raw romantic series following each brother ten years in the future, with the first story being Raphael. The wait is going to be excruciating for each story as we want to know each brothers fate now! Each one left their mark on us with every twist and turn making our hearts race and our mouths gaping!

“Please, Jesus, please save him. Redeem him, forgive his sins. Forgive me mine. I just need him to be okay. He is all I have left.”

Tillie Cole has done it again! What an incredibly multilayered storyteller this lady is. Her talent never fails to astonish us. This series promises to deliver everything and more, so dust off the bookshelves because a new dark series is about to take up residence in your hearts, minds, and souls!