Author: Lexi BlakeSeries: Hunter #3, Thieves #8
Audience: +18
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: DLZ Entertainment LLC
Release Date: October 17th 2017
My Rating: 5 cups
Source: InkSlinger PR
Blurb (from Goodreads):
When Neil’s past catches up to him, Kelsey must choose between her new family and an old love…
With tensions rising between the Council and demonkind, Kelsey finds herself investigating a series of murders that threaten the fragile truce between them. If she can’t stop these killings soon, they could ignite a fire sure to burn the supernatural world down.
Unfortunately for her, Kelsey’s problems don’t stop with a pile of dead halflings. Her connection with Marcus is frayed at best, and Gray hasn’t been heard from in months. Her only semblance of peace comes from a new man in her life. When Gray storms back into the picture, her love life goes from incredibly complicated to apocalyptic.
Just as Kelsey begins to unravel the mystery, the forces of Heaven decide to take an interest in her actions. Outclassed with these powers in play, Kelsey knows that one misstep could leave the human and supernatural worlds in ashes.
*Disclaimer: I received an eARC from Inkslinger PR in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my rating or the content of my review in any way.
It's no secret I love Lexi Blake's books with all my heart. Usually when that happens I get insanely high expectations for other projects the author in question might have, but I shouldn't have worried. I've been immersed in the world of the Hunter for the past days and let me tell you, if the fourth installment was here already, I'd be reading it right now with the same excitement.
I love Kelsey so much, and I love to see where the story takes her. She's a badass and I love her for it. She's grown so much from when I first met her in Hunter and I feel like she still has so much to discover about herself. I like that she finds those tiny moments when she fights with her nature. I normally don't like that, but Blake does a wonderful job at writing the struggle Kelsey is going through with accepting who she really is and what she really needs and wants. I also love to see how she can be both lying to herself and honest with herself. I love her sarcasm. She's slowly becoming one of my favorite heroines in the genre, to be honest. She's brave and she's reckless, but she's also smart about it. She's selfless without being conceited about it, and while at times this pushes her to be self-destructive, I understand where she's coming from. I really do.
The story revealed certain aspects of the Hunter and Thieves world that I previously hadn't known about, mostly because I haven't read the original series before. It's not that I was lost, but I would have liked to have that extra knowledge. Then again, at the same time I'm kind of happy I'm missing some details, because this way I can have the same experiences as Kelsey when it comes to discovering the vastness of the world Blake has created. I don't think it's necessary to have read the previous series to understand what's going on in this one, but I feel like I'm missing a piece of the puzzle that I, personally, want to have. So I'll definitely be reading that one in the future.
I love the fact that my favorite werewolf a.k.a Trent finally gets more page time. There's an interesting relationship development that I've been hoping for since Addict, the previous book, but at the same time, this also means another relationship is changing. I don't know how to say this without spoiling things for people who haven't yet read the book, so I'll leave it at that.
I'll be honest. Gray isn't my favorite male in the series, but he is growing on me. Must have something to do with what happened to him previously, but he's slowly getting in my good graces, so to speak.
The thing I love about this book and this series actually, is that it's not solely about Kelsey. I feel like this series is about everyone, we just get the story through Kelsey's eyes. Everyone gets affected by what happens in this book, everyone grows as characters, everyone is important. Which just goes to show the mark of a true storyteller, and only serves to prove why Blake is one of my favorite authors. Blake manages to write a wonderful story about a lot of characters, where everyone gets to say their piece, and I felt like I could really connect with those people, way more than I expected in a 1st person POV story.
There's an interesting development in the book and I wonder how that will play out in the future, how it will affect certain characters. The plot is fast paced and I read the book really fast. Which makes me sad because I need Outcast, the next book in the series, out now. And I need to read the original series, to find out more about the world and get to have more time with my favorite characters.
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“Your Highness, please back away. In fact, it would be best if you left the room altogether.” Felix put himself between me and Roberts. “Kelsey, I need you to push her down. Push her back down for a few moments. Marcus will be back soon and he’s going to take care of you. Being around those angels unsettled you. I don’t know if you noticed, but at the end of the meeting, your ward fell off. You didn’t have it on when Oliver shook your hand. He’s unbalanced and now you are, too. It’s like a contagion for someone like you. Oliver’s illness has called up your inner wolf and she’s angry.”
“Perhaps if I touch her,” Henri began. “I’m an academic. I don’t have the same connection she has with Marcus, but I might be able to help.”
“I’m not unbalanced.” It didn’t matter that my hands were shaking and they had been ever since I’d left the angels behind. “I’m going to talk to the wolf whether you like it or not. He’s been handling silver. It’s the only reason his hands wouldn’t have healed. Even then, a couple of hours would have done it. Unless the freaking silver he held came straight from Heaven. What about it, Roberts? How did you spend last night?”
The wolf was shaking his head. “I don’t know.”
That wasn’t an answer I was willing to accept. I was about to explain that to everyone when Chad stepped up and got in my face.
“I’m taking him out of here now,” Chad explained. “You’ll let me or we’re going to have trouble.”
I was ready for trouble. I was fairly sure I grinned, the idea of fighting a vamp lifting my spirits high. For the first time in what felt like hours, I went still. “You’re not going anywhere.”
Chad turned, his shoulders squaring, and I felt the world begin to bend around me. Chad belongs to one of the rarest classes of vampire—the magicians. As far as I knew, he was the only one walking the night at this time. He could form illusions so real you could taste food, feel imaginary rain on your skin, utterly believe whatever he wanted you to believe. I’d come up against him before. I might be one of the only people in the world who could see through him.
“It won’t work,” I said calmly as reality seemed to go dark and I heard the hissing of snakes all around me. “Do you not remember what happened the last time you pulled this shit on me? It took three tranqs to take me down. I don’t think you have those on you today.”
“I won’t need them.” Chad lifted his hand and the world shifted.
“Holy shit,” Casey said, climbing up on his desk. “What the fuck is happening?”
Snakes were happening. They were crawling from the woodwork, twitching and hissing my way. The fibers of the carpet beneath my feet lengthened and formed more snakes until they were a menacing mass, threatening everyone in the room.
Well, except for Chad, who had lifted his husband into his arms and prepared to take him away.
I let my wolf loose a bit. She knew this was all an illusion. That primitive part of my brain that Chad was accessing, the lizard brain that merely wanted to survive, was taken over by the wolf inside me. The alpha wolf didn’t want mere survival. She wanted to dominate, and that meant seeing past fear, trusting her instincts over what her eyes perceived.
The minute I opened the door, I felt her surge through me.
“I’m not letting you go. I can’t. I’m conducting a murder investigation, and I believe your boy here just became my prime suspect.” My hands twitched, eager for a fight, and I realized how long it had been since Marcus and I had thrown down.
Too long. Remember that whole thing about needing sex or violence to feed my inner wolf? Well, she was hungry and there was a whole lot of violence in Chad’s eyes.
I welcomed it. I could feel the need rise like a wave threatening to engulf me. This was why I had a trainer in the first place.
I gritted my teeth because Chad turned on his power. I could feel those fucking snakes climbing my legs and sinking their fangs into me. I refused to pay any attention to them despite the fact that I ached to rip the fuckers off me and toss them aside. To do that would have given the magician more power. If I bought into it, if I took my eyes off the only thing in the room that was real, I would end up like Casey, who was screaming like a girl.
“Let me pass, Hunter,” Chad said.
I stood my ground like the good Gandalf I was. Except I kind of wanted to shove my nonexistent staff right up old Chad’s ass, and then we would see if he sent snakes my way again.
The anger rose, rapid and quick, a flash fire coursing through me. I didn’t even realize when I had reached for the fireplace poker. All I knew was it was suddenly in my hands and I was going to use it. I could see myself shoving that piece of wrought iron right through his heart. It wouldn’t kill him. I would need wood for that, but then again, I didn’t want the fight over so quickly.
I raised the poker, ready to start.
“Stop it, both of you.” Donovan stepped in between us, but I didn’t care at that moment. I hadn’t felt this way in forever, not since Marcus had taken me in. I hadn’t been so out of control that I didn’t care who I hurt as long as I got to hurt someone. I would fuck up Donovan, too. All that mattered was seeing blood, feeling bones crush.
“You see, I told you she’s far gone and I can’t fix her anymore. I’ve called Gray and he has an idea of what to do,” Marcus was saying.
I wasn’t listening.
I started to bring the poker down Donovan’s way, but I was stopped in mid swing. A hand held my wrist, an arm going around my middle and hauling me back against muscled flesh.
“Stop it,” Trent growled in my ear. “You stand down right this second.”
