Kat has found some measure of peace in the strange town
of Delai, even if things seem so very strange there. But she can’t remain – she
made a deal with a demon to return and that demon is now using his mark to reel
her in. With no choice she leaves her unusual haven, even though it feels more
like an escape than leaving, and her old life with all its chaos and its pain
rushes back in.
Ethan, in her absence has cemented even stronger ties
with the Luna Cult. Worse, in her absence one of her brother’s murders has been
pinned on her – and a powerful vampire countess has Kat in her sights – just as
she is getting more people she cares about, more people who are vulnerable to
being used and hurt to make her obey.
Then there’s Adrian, the Luna Cult rebels determined to
drag Kat into their plans; the Left Hand of God is back in town, killing
vampires and things remain eternally complicated between Kat and Jonathon. It’s
almost enough to drive her back to Delai – until the demon shows her the truth
about her erstwhile haven.
I think there’s probably one storyline too many in this
book. or possible two or three too many. We have Kat’s ongoing issues with the
demon, we have the revelations of Delai and what Levi is actually up tp. We have
some unresolved issues with Adrian the rebel Luna Cult dragging Kat into her
schemes. And then we have the evil conniving plots of the vampire countess who
is gunning for Kat. We even have another vampire count that Kat pissed off for
shits and giggles. There’s even the human hunters back for more killing and
complications
That’s a lot of issues to deal with. I think part of that is intended as a way of showing how overwhelmed Kat is and to drive home the theme of the book which is Kat being pulled in too many directions with too many people having a hold on her. Still, I’m not sure if the return to Delai couldn’t have been handled in a later book, or Adrian pulled his grand plan in the next book. There’s just so many of these different threads that they distract each other and sometimes feel forgotten – I forgot Adrian was even looking for Kat until near the end of the book.
There wasn’t anything resolved in this book either. Now I
love meta, meta is what keeps me plugged into a story, but it’s rare that a
book can be nothing but meta; you usually have some sub-chapter of the book
being concluded and there wasn’t one here
Still, the stories that are presented are great fun with
lots of devious plotting I enjoy. I love the demon’s manipulations, Delai and
its revelations are definitely intriguing and we all knew there was something
sinister underlying it. I really want to know exactly who and what Adrian is
and what he is plotting – I’d also kind of like to know why Jonathon tolerates
Kat all things considered and if he has his own agenda. The ongoing theme of
Kat becoming more and more beholden to more people, each of them having a lever
against her is really well done as well – and shows how much her friends and
loved ones are a weakness to her and leave her open to this manipulation.
Throw in some excellently well written fight scenes and a
splash of gruesome horror and there’s some very fun moments in this book.
Unfortunately, this is the book on which I finally break
on Kat as a character. I didn’t like her endless melodramatic angst in the
previous 2 books and felt it swamped whatever vestiges of character she may
have had. This book is the same - but even the angst is overwhelmed by Kat’s
constant rage.
Kat is angry, really angry, all the damn time. No, she’s
not angry, she’s rabid. She’s like a savage animal snarling and lashing out at
everyone around her. No-one can speak with her without her snarling, snapping or
advancing on them menacingly and that definitely includes Ethan, the human
house mate she’s supposed to care about and value. I think she actually spends
more time talking to her enemies than her friends, simply because her enemies
have taken more precautions against her constant violent outbursts.
And the writing is still extremely long winded. We have endless monologues about just how very angry Kat is, her rage being sparked again, her fury rising etc etc.
