This series keeps delivering great books. I really loved the redemption theme in this one. It gives me hope to think that people can change. Would be nice to do that while living though. ( )

I still enjoy this series. ( )

Lots of great new characters introduced in this one: I really like what’s happening with Drummond, and I hope to see more of Tony, Jasper, and Alycithin in future books. I liked the business with the fae hostage code too.
I’m frustrated with one of the running plotlines, that Friar keeps getting away, but that doesn’t keep me from being super invested in the world and loving the series. One of my favorite parts was when Rule found out Lily’s grandmother was coming to help. It was a sweet moment as he thought of her simply as Grandmother, and his relief that she was coming to help made me love him even more. ( )

88 points/100 (4.5 stars/5)

After an attack at Packhome, Lily and Rule have to go meet the man who stole a magical item from Cullen that was taken for Robert Friar. That is right, Friar and the Great Bitch are back again.

Overall, this was a good book. Since Friar, and by extension the Great Bitch, are back, this doesn't feel like a throwaway book in the series, it feels like it fully moves the story along. Sometimes, when you have series this long, they start to get sidetracked to keep the story going, but Wilks appears to have gotten that out of the way in the beginning of the series instead. The plot at times contained a lot of things Wilks herself has done before, let alone other authors in the genre - it did not feel very unique, and at times a bit thin.

The characters continue to be extremely competent people that mostly feel like real people. The relationships between them - family, friends, and lovers - all function amazingly. There are new ties in this book, too, and I really like how it forces some characters to take a harder look at themselves and the way they are acting. This one line by Rule shows just how close these ties bind these characters together, and make me love it: “It’s okay. It’s good. Grandmother is coming.”

I love this book (and series) because the characters make it worth the read. The plots, especially in this book, aren't always perfect. This book had some repetition. I'm looking forward to more from these characters. ( )

Cullen Seaborn, the Nokolai werewolf and sorcerer has created a prototype that could change so much for the world – helping reduce the ongoing problem of the magical turn which is so destructive for technology. Albeit with a few side effects that still need ironing out

Those side effects make it all the more important to track it down when it is stolen. Made even more of a problem when the very existence of that prototype was supposed to be a carefully kept secret only known to Nokolai loyalists.

It becomes even more complicated when the thief gets in it – and it’s Rule’s unknown half-brother with additional problem of both Robert Friar’s evil manipulations and two different factions of sidhe.

I love Lily. I don’t think I’ve stressed this enough about how utterly awesome this character is. Because above everything else she is professional and she is sensible – and my gods that is so very rare in this genre

Lily is a cop and it permeates her character. I love to see that professionalism in everything –how she looks at every scene as a crime scene, how she sums up every person as a witness or suspect. Her logical, sensible way of summing up every situation she’s in with intelligence and logic. This is, more than anything, Lily’s super power. Not her abilities, not her immunity to magic, not any kind of fighting skill – but her intelligence and her professionalism. The way she approaches every mystery and investigation with keen intellect and steady progress is so excellent. Especially in this genre where most protagonists decide to “solve” crimes by hanging around until the bad guy tries to kill them (often with no apparent reason). Lily is a dedicated and capable investigator.

I also like the conflict of her development, especially how she needs rules to ensure she doesn’t step outside the law, I like the way she recognises what she is actually capable of rather than, again, so many protagonists who are happy to decide they are the ultimate authority and don’t need any pesky rules.

She’s also a woman of deep passion who cares desperately for those around her but makes decisions without emotion. All her decisions are rational. She cares about Beth, her sister and Rule, her fiancé but she doesn’t let caring for them make ridiculous decisions. She doesn’t have massive over-dramatic reactions to things like Rule not telling her everything or them having a disagreement. When Rule is going through difficult times Lily is so perfect, she’s there for him while giving

In fact that’s something else I love about this book – the relationships between the characters is so sensible without being emotionless. Beth, Lily’s little sister, is obviously a very different woman from Lily – but their relationship was meaningful and deep, their disagreements present but handled in a sensible manner without either side doing something ridiculous or turning against each other. I love the dramatic emotional moments of Beth, the complexities of her dealing with things like killing someone, even in self defence and what that does to someone.

Lily’s relationship with her friends and colleagues doesn’t feature as massively in this book but part of that is how awesomely those characters are presented – because Cyna, Ruben, Sam etc all have their own lives, their own issues and their own battles. They’re not all their for Rule and Cullen and Lily to call upon whenever they want – because every character is so very heavily involved in the meta plot of this world

Which, again, I say is amazing and I would head this review with that because it’s awesome – but Lily is definitely one of my top 10 favourite protagonists in the genre and has to take first billing

I love this world. I love the epic, I love the building of the ever more epic conflict. I love the development of the differing factions and societies: honestly, I would gladly read a textbook on sidhe culture in this world because the development is so excellent. Including differing factions – yes differing factions and complicated politics and beings that are not so much good or evil but just alien. This is what I really like is how we realise that the Sidhe just have radically values and culture to humanity – as they should. Even with their goal being for reasons completely beyond anything Cullen and Lily had imagined because the Sidhe goals and values are society is so different from anything they knew.

Which brings me back to relationships – because so often Lily can be in opposition to someone yet still have a lot of respect for them which we see here again. She can build a rapport even with her kidnapper because she respects them and can see their point and because they’re actually characters and not just demonised evil. This applies to the odd twist of Beth’s love interest as well.

That political and cultural development also is expanded excellently with the werewolves, the different lupi packs, the different relationships between their packs and what it means for Rule to be both second in command of one pack and Alpha of a different pack as well as relationships between the

This world building continues not just from cultures and magic and also mechanics. Again, I would read an entire book of Cullen exploring the possibilities of magic and how it works. I love how they don’t have all the answers, that they do have theories and a lot of exploration and experimentation and thinking which is very real.

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