“What you did today was self-defense. That man’s death might provide short-term protection for my brother, my master, and me. And so I thank you for the sacrifice of a small piece of your soul.”

Jane is still up to here in Vampire politics–with the complications of Witches and Weres for good measure. But at least now, she’s back home in North Carolina. That’s got to be worth something… right?

It’s a nice change of scenery, while still digging deep into the politics and worldbuilding Faith Hunter has been putting together for us. We get less Vampire history (which I miss from the previous books), but a good bit more Were and Witch drama. Plus the introduction of a few more powerful new factions that have all sorts of interesting potential…

Everything is complicated and likely to explode at any moment, which is great.

Jane is getting herself into a love… tangle (no shape really fits) and I’m surprisingly invested in the whole mess. I am hoping though the series stays more Urban Fantasy than going off into Paranormal Romance / straight up Erotica as some do.

The best part of these books (by far) remains the split nature of Jane/Beast and their constant internal banter.

And there I was, in the middle of the French Broad River. Naked and exposed. And no way back to shore without a river-swim rock-crawl. Beast thought it was funny, her hacking laughter clear in the back of my mind. I’m not sure if her sense of humor is peculiar to her or is shared by all cats. I have a feeling that it’s a little bit of both and that my own sense of justice and making the punishment fit the crime had altered her cat-humor.

It’s just so delightful.

Onward!