Series: Kate Daniels Book 4
Author(s): Ilona Andrews
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal
Publisher/Year: Ace/2010
-Webpage: Ilona Andrews
-Blog: One Crazy Dame
-Book 3: Magic Strikes review
Synopsis: Kate Daniels cleans up the paranormal problems no one else wants to deal with-especially if they involve Atlanta's shapeshifting community.
And now there's a new player in town-a foe that may be too much for even Kate and Curran, the Lord of the Beasts, to handle.
Review: By necessity its required to keep the synopsis pretty short. Actually I cut out a line from the synopsis because it gives away a detail that is more of a punch if you don't know beforehand. Basically Kate gets into trouble again, though its fair to say that it may have been wrapped up quicker if people didn't keep getting in the way of her fighting.
A routine barfight turns out to be something much, much worse. A mysterious cloaked stranger, overly aggressive behaviors, three weres in hiding and one very dead and very infected were makes Kate's day implode. And it only gets worse for her.
Truthfully, as much as this book was focused on the action and Kate fighting the new threat, a whole lot of the subplots and background machinations were focused on the romance between Kate and Curran. For any urban fantasy fan out there who has encountered any serious length series where the romance seems to go back to Zero with each subsequent book, this will be a novel change. Andrews resolves the issues of Kate and Curran, all the dancing around customs, mixed signals and misread intentions are focused and brought to bear.
This could be either a godsend or a complete injustice depending on your viewpoint. I certainly enjoyed watching the two of them run around trying to get the other's goat, trying to see how far they can push the other before something snaps. Kate pulls a wonderful trick on Curran, but he pulls an equally hilarious one himself. Saiman, the ever so helpful, stirs up the pot quite a bit with his own brand of 'humor'. Not all of Curran's followers are...receptive to Kate as a potential candidate for Alpha Queendom, but that maniac Aunt B sees the benefits real quick and starts a campaign to win over Kate's goodwill.
Our villain for this piece is...or was...considered a God at one point. Considering the immense power she wields, her tremendous age and strength, Erra is...horrifying. In the same way that Kate's father, in the abstract since Roland hasn't shown up yet, is. She plays on a different playing field--to her it means nothing to kill dozens just to ensure she hits the right target. She's ruthless, merciless and shrewd. Erra was exciting to read about. Her banter with Kate is priceless and despite all appearances to the contrary she hunted Kate because she got in the way and had to be dealt with. Her original mission in Atlanta had nothing to do with Kate.
I want to say that Kate could have easily taken her, but she couldn't. Where Kate could make up for in speed and new tricks Erra didn't know, Erra had brute force and a furious power that Kate knew quite well. Several times Kate gets her to a standstill, but every time she is stopped. An enemy from book 3, Magic Strikes makes his presence known in the most frustrating manner (though he apparently isn't as clever as he would wish).
The ending is...heart breaking a little bit. The world is changed, secrets are out and neither Kate nor Curran will ever have the same life they led. This won't let down fans of the Kate Daniels series. There is no simple rescue, no wham bam thank you ma'am explanation. If Erra is any indication, Kate's life is going to be hell from now on.
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