PRINCE OF CONJURERS – LAURIE L. BOLANOS

After staging his own death, Erik follows Christine to New Orleans. Now as the Prince of Conjurers, he works to procure Christine's soul. But it doesn't work as he plans. As he tries to fix his mistake, Erik accesses a power he never knew he possessed. 
After losing her cheating husband, Juliana decides to start a new life.  With a new house of hidden artefacts and compelling mysteries, Julie takes the ultimate risk to discover who she was... before she was born. 

If a story based on Gaston Leroux's classic, The Phantom of the Opera, wasn’t enough to make me love this book, the exciting plot, brilliant characters and unexpected twists would have done it.  Not at all what I was expecting when I started reading, Prince of Conjurers kept me guessing to the last page.  


The story picks up at The Phantom of the Opera’s end, with Erik, plagued by heartbreak, and not yet ready to let go of his beloved, Christine.  Eric has faked his death and tracked Christine to New Orleans where he hopes to chain her to him forever.  When Erik’s spell to summon Christine’s soul into another body goes amiss and Juliana François finds herself waking up in a different time and body, it becomes clear that other forces are at play.  Powerful forces which are determined to tear them apart.  But as the mysteries unravel, Julie and Erik find their lives forever entwinned – their past, present and future all part of an endless cycle.


While I did find the story a little slow at the beginning, by the end I couldn’t bring myself to put it down.  The plot picks up in the most unexpected way and I spent most of my nights engrossed in its pages.  Some aspects of the time travel and alternating stories were a little confusing but they all fit together in the end and it was beyond satisfying when the puzzle pieces finally fell into place.

Filled with twists that I did not see coming, this is one rollercoaster of a book.  A story of love, revenge, jealousy, passion, fate and sacrifice, Prince of Conjurers seamlessly blends romance, adventure and history.  The world is vibrant and exciting, the plot amazing and the characters perfectly flawed and real.  

Julie was strong and rational but reasonably upset about the fact that she’d been transported into another time.  And she didn’t whine constantly!  Erik was cold and distant but sweet and emotional.  I loved seeing Erik conflicted about his emotions and watching him develop beyond The Phantom of the Opera.  Again, I found myself struggling to figure out how to feel about him and didn’t know whether the fact that he killed and manipulated people could be forgiven.  But, of course, I did forgive him – I am a huge Erik fan and cannot be helped.

An ending to The Phantom of the Opera that I would never have expected but can be happy with, Laurie L. Bolanos takes us on a journey through time and reality.  I would recommend this book to any lover of the classic story (particularly those who don’t love the ending).  This is a spellbinding novel for all.


Rating: 3.5/5


You can pick up this book from Amazon or Book Depository now.