Burning Alive: The Sentinel Wars

by Shannon K. Butcher

First in an all-new paranormal romance series Caution - readers may feel the heat coming off the pages. They are the Sentinels... Three races descended from ancient guardians of mankind, each... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451412710
• Release Date: May 2009
• Publisher: Berkley
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 1.0" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

Love every book in this series

Do yourself a favor and read all of the series. They follow a similar pattern but they’re still so good to read! I’ve bought all of the books in the series within a couple of weeks because I couldn’t stop reading them.

The Sentinel Wars is a Series to Watch!

Helen has suffered from nightmares for years...a nightmare about her being burned alive while a sexy stranger watches, smiling. Into her life walks Drake, the sexy stranger from her dreams and she isn't sure if she should fear him (thus fighting the growing attraction that she has for him) or love him (something that will inevitably save his life). While Helen must discover what her dreams really mean, what her true identity and destiny are, Drake must convince her to stay with him forever and ignore her fears. Helen can truly save Drake's life and perhaps his entire race, if only she reaches her full potential. Believed to be a Theronian, Helen must learn how to channel her gift, the one thing she fears, fire and save the Teronian race from vamp-like creatures known as Synestryn. There are tons of characters (like Logan, Sybil, Paul, Zach, Lexi, Gilda and Angus) who have secrets and appear to be critical parts in Sentinel Wars, and I for one would love to follow this series and see how their eventual fates are revealed in future novels. I think Butcher's novel fits will with others in the paranormal romance/suspense genre. Like Kenyon, Banks, Armstrong, Handeland and countless others, she's found just the right combination of romance, action, adventure and suspense. I think this is a wonderful beginning to a great series that I am sure I will continue to enjoy.

Really Good....

I really enjoyed this book...if youre into Freehan, Kenyon or the other paranormal romance/action types give this a try. While it takes a different twist it pretty much youre hot immortal fighter protecting humans and then hooking up with a "human" ect...I like it allot its just different enough from the others of its kind. I will continue on with this series there is action, sensuality, drama ect, but I did not like how there seems to be so many questions left unanswered for book two ;0). Pretty Good Book.

HOT HOT HOT

This paranormal romance is a very promising start to a new series. The premise is that earth is inhabited by several races of beings unknown to humans. The Synestryn are demons, bound on destruction. The Theronai are warriors sworn to control the Synstryn threat. The Sanguinar, a race of vampires, are ever-present but their motives are a mystery. Helen Day is a woman who has nightmares of her own death by fire, being watched as she burns by a mysterious man. Then one day she goes to the local diner for a meal and sees that same man sitting at another table. This starts a series of adventures in which Helen discovers that everyone who 'appears' human may not actually be so, and that apparent allies may have some secret reason for helping her. I should say, as a warning (or as an additional reason to read the book!) that there are very explicit sex scenes. Ms Butcher has developed an interesting premise here and I can't wait to see how it turns out!

Have an EXTINGUISHER handy!

The popularity of paranormal romance has created a lot of competition, and PNR readers are pretty tough to impress, these days. But rest assured, ladies, that Shannon Butcher has paid honor to devoted PNR fans, with the first in her new series. I know, at the end of this book, I was like...'what, no preview into the next book...the future of the Sentinels?' Unfair, I shouted! So, I'm hooked! I'm definitely in, until the last Synestryn is standing. We begin with our primary female protagonist, Helen Day, enjoying her duty of taking a spirited, senior citizen friend (Miss Mabel) out for lunch, at the local diner. When she's not involved in providing outings for Mabel, she is preparing meals for home-bound seniors. Her life is satisfying, but hum-drum, too matronly, and too predictable, for a young woman. But she desires a simple and rewarding existence of reaching out to others. After all, she believes she won't be living long, anyway. While at the diner, she spots a handsome, but ominous face---that of the Theronai Warrior, Drake. She is frightened into a panic state, because she has seen this face before. Many times---in her visions, and her dreams. This is always the last face she remembers, preceding her death, the one who stands helplessly, while watching her burning alive. Drake feels something drawing him to Helen. He will not leave the diner without meeting her. Her life proceeds to go from zero, to sixty, in just as many pages, and the momentum rarely ceases. There is no hum-drum left in Helen Day's life, or those around her. Not even for Miss Mabel. What Helen discovers---a lot of it the hard way, is that Drake is a member of 'The Sentinels,' which is composed of three races. He is Theronai, a powerful but rapidly dying race (I digress, but you'll find the tree of life tattoos, strikingly original). The Sentinels are guardians of mankind. If they do not succeed, they, and the human race will fall victim to the brutal, beasties---the Synestryn and their minions. And, boy is this a stinky, gnarly bunch. One is a giant wolf like, hairy creature, with the wide mouth and teeth of a shark. Ewwww! As the story unfolds, passion ignites (fire, too, unfortunately) between Helen and Drake. While not an unusual male/female PNR construct, I loved the pacing and the originality of the obstacles placed in their way. Their coming together starts off slow, but develops into an explosive crescendo, but not early in the book. So this is not one of those where the protagonists' flop into bed immediately, nor do their physical encounters feel gratuitous, or just thrown in to satisfy the 'romance readers,' without the character development we're now demanding. This book delivers turbo-boost passion, mystery, suspense and magic, within an intimidating world, of utter darkness, where things are not candy-coated. The good guys don't always win; the direction is not always predictable. I think you'll enjoy this world, the characters, and the t

Pleasant and enjoyable surprise (4.5 stars)

I thought I was burnt out on paranormal novels of all kinds. I'd struggled through the last three that I'd read and the last alternate universe novel that I'd read, I couldn't even finish. But I must say that Shannon K. Butcher's Burning Alive: The Sentinel Wars burned away my ambivalence and I got hooked into the story of Helen and Drake from the first page. Actually, Butcher had me at the first sentence which was quick and to the point. Helen Day is a woman who dreams of being burned alive and that there will be a man who will watch her burn. That man is sitting in a diner with two others and Helen feels the dread enclosing. The man she dreads is feeling something else altogether. Drake is feeling relief. Relief after years and years (and even more years) of intense pain. In fact, when he touches Helen, the pain drains away. Being a paranormal action-adventure/romance, Helen and Drake are bound to each other before they even know it. Yes, it is cliche, but cliches work when they are used right and Butcher uses the whole "you-are-my-destined-one" right because while Helen and Drake might be destined for each other in order to save the world (and a couple more races besides humans), nothing is guaranteed. And although I like my heroines of action-adventures to be the kick-butt kind, I do like the change-up that Butcher does with Helen. First, I like Helen's old fashioned name. I like that she's not kick-butt right out of the gate. I like that she screams because all hell is breaking loose in her own house and that is worth screaming over. I like that she's both drawn to Drake and wants to run away from him at the same time. In short, I really liked Helen. Drake is a great hero too because he is not always sure of himself, especially with Helen. I also like that he has to rely on others to help save the day too. He might be the hero but he does share the spotlight too. He has some alpha-male tendencies but those tendencies don't overwhelm him to the point of him being a jerk and that's kind of nice in this type of story. Butcher's secondary cast of characters are interesting too. From Thomas to Miss Mabel to Logan to Zach to Lexi and others, each plays their role in the overall story that it is easy to wonder if there will be more to them. In fact, there is a secondary romance that is nearly as interesting as the primary romance. Perhaps the second book will yield more info. If there is a criticism, I would say that it is that I didn't get enough about who the villains are. I knew that the Theronai (the race that Drake belongs to) and the Sanguinar (the race that Logan belongs to) are reluctant allies in a war against the Synestryn (who are big demon like monsters) but I felt like I could have used more info and appearances from the true foes of the war. Still, this first novel offered a lot in the way of plot. Lots of action (and I did like that Butcher gave tactile descriptions of the carnage instead of the usual "t