Counterpoint by Rachel Haimowitz

7/10

Counterpoint by Rachel Haimowitz, first published July 31, 2010 by Guiltless Pleasure Publishing, is the first book in the Song of the Fallen series. At 386 pages in length and available in print and ebook format, the book contains themes that will appeal to readers who enjoy elements of gay, slash, Yaoi and power games within their fantasy books.

Haimowitz, a freelance writer and editor, writes for websites and magazines as well as ghost writing nonfiction. She is a Contributing Editor to Construction Source Magazine and a political/media blogger at the Huffington Post. She is also a writer of niche erotica who enjoys reading and writing hurt/comfort slashfic, which brings us to her novel Counterpoint.

It is the twilight of mankind. Depleted by generations of war with a dark race, the human kingdoms and their ancient alliance stand on the brink of extinction. The outlands are soaked with the blood of the fallen. The midlands are rotting with decadence and despair. Elfkind, estranged by past crimes, watches and waits for nature to run its course. And then the two collide…

Counterpoint is not at all a bad read - if you can look past the cover. It is a fast paced, character driven story but unfortunately it lacks the sustained sexual tension to be perceived as erotica, and the character focus swamps what fantasy underpins the plot.

Even though it fails to strongly deliver on either of these fronts, their essence is there and the author shows potential to spin a good story. I'm not sure it will ever truly find an audience though.