In SHADOW RITES, Jane experiences a magic attack. The witches and vampires are considering uniting. The European vampires are coming to town… but they’re not here yet (not much progression as far as plot in this book.) Things I LOVED: scenes with Evan and Alex and Jane. When these three are together in any combination, I love it. I also loved the scenes with Little Evan and Angie baby. That scene where she drew the evil thing out of Jane and was like, you have something evil inside you—WOW! What witchy power in a little kid! Things that didn’t work for me this time around: What I really love about this series is reading Jane being this amazing hunter who solves paranormal mysteries and is awesome. That piece was missing here. There was a whole lot of page time taken up by sitting around with Leo’s coven talking about who’s a Primo and who’s this and that in the vampire house hierarchy and while I found that sort of interesting in the first few books when it was just Jane and Leo (a dynamic that’s sorely missing now)… here it really seemed to drag. In the first books of the series, Jane was a cat shifter. Now on the 10th book, we’ve also worked in her position in the vampire house, her ability to manipulate space/time, and now the eye things on her hands. This could work fine if the new powers were carefully explained but for me the whole thing just feels convoluted to the point that I now have trouble following the story… something that doesn’t happen when I read other UF series. I’m going to keep reading because I really have loved this series and perhaps this was just an off book, but I struggled somewhat with this one. ( )

Faith Hunter continues her Jane Yellowrock series with the 10th book, Shadow Rites, in which Jane and her entire crew get caught up in some extreme magical attacks enacted by two angry witches out for revenge. The witches and vampires have hated each other for centuries and have enacted wars to rid the earth of each other’s species. In previous books, the ruling councils of witches and vampires in the U.S. have grown closer to a détente, and in this novel they are scheduled for a formal meeting to adopt new rules for dealing fairly with one another. There are some witches, with powerful magical abilities, who refuse to accept the easing of tensions and proceed to magically attack Jane and her crew throughout this book.

It’s always a good day when I get to spend time in this excellent urban fantasy world that Faith Hunter has created. Jane has grown and allowed herself to become attached to her unusual slew of friends, which in this book now include a vampire Primo, a werewolf and a Grindylow. My only negative comment about this latest title in the series has to do with something I’ve noticed over the past couple of books. The descriptions of the magical workings and other paranormal situations are very complicated and, at times, difficult to follow. I found myself skimming some of it because it was doing my head in! The denouement also feels a little rushed, and I would have liked to have seen a final image of how Jane’s home is settling in with the new characters and a preview of the status of the upcoming visit from the European Council of Vampires, which has been alluded to in the past several books. Other than that, as always, I enjoyed spending time in Ms. Hunter’s unique world.
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When I read "Dark Heir", the previous book in the Jane Yellowrock series, my only disappointment was that some of the elements that made the earlier books enjoyable were being over-shadowed by Vamp politics and that Jane, in her new Enforcer role, was becoming harder to like.

I started "Shadow Rites" in the hope that I'd get more Jane and more Beast (the Puma soul that she accidentally used black magic to steal when she was a child). I got all that and more.

As usual, Faith Hunter delivers a labyrinthine plot, vivid action scenes, new sets of magical practices and a must-read-the-next-chapter-before-I-sleep momentum. From the opening page, Jane is under attack and the pressure keeps on build as she wades through battle, betrayal and blood.

In addition, Beast finally gets the air-time she deserves, playing a significant role in the plot and also working directly with Jane, even when Beast is Alpha. Angie-babie, Jane's young niece, shows how scarily powerful her witchcraft already is and chooses to take a blood vow that is bound to have consequences later in the series.

Although the plot is about a conflict between witches and vampires, this time the focus is on the emerging "Jane Yellowrock Clan" and extended family that includes the Younger brothers, a family of witches, a werewolf. an indentured vampire and perhaps even an Honorio.

"Shadow Rites" was an entertaining read all the way through.Now I'm looking forward to book 11 of which only the title "Cold Reign" has been announced. I'm hoping it will see the arrival of the European Vamps.

If y0u'd like to hear an extract of "Shadow Rites", click on the SoundCloud link below.

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Way too many editing problems made me drop rating a point. Jane and her crew take on the security for the Mithran/Witch conclave and it's a nightmare. Tension ratches up throughout the whole story, with Jane and the people she cares about getting targeted attacks by unknown witches. Everyone gets involved and lots of hints about the upcoming European Vamp visitation.
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Yellowrock Clan. Glitter hearts all over that. ( )