I’m Krystin Blackwood, and one week ago my father’s murderer courted me with dark magik.
I’m still dealing with the effects of Giyano’s power and no amount of demon hunting seems to get rid of it. Never mind that I’ve been tasked with training Shawn, the newest member of our team of Hunters and the other half to the Alzan prophecy.
But Boston has bigger problems. After an attack at Hunter’s Guild, a place of neutrality and peace in this war, leaves countless dead on both sides, no place in the city is safe. And the only clue to the perpetrator points directly at the Fire Circle’s most-wanted and most powerful criminal.
If my team can’t track them down, the demon might destroy the Fire Circle… and the entirety of Boston with it.
This book picks up right where the last one in the series left off, and proceeds pretty much immediately to jump into demon fighting and other such pursuits. Once again, the Hunter Team made up of Ben, Krystin, Nate, Rachel, and now Shawn, find themselves in the midst of situations way above their pay grade, and party to plans that they don't fully comprehend or even know anything at all about. These five relative new-comers are pitted against some of the most notorious bad guys in any realm. It's only their extreme raw magick power and dedication to one another that keeps them alive in many instances.
Once more, although the promo blurb makes you believe the voice of the story comes just from Krystin, it is actually a dual-perspective novel, shifting focus between her and Ben. I don't especially like this style as a writing tactic, but it works pretty good here. At least each switch is noted; you don't have to guess who is talking. And the plot continues to advance proprely, not rehashing the same scene over again from a different angle.
There is still a lot of political intrigue swirling around them, that no one seems willing to make them privy to. This leaves things somewhat confusing for the readers as well. Not to mention that I am stilling have a hard time figuring out all the different players and factions and what are their intentions. But as more and more information is revealed, things are becoming a bit clearer, and I hope that will continue as the story progreses through the remaining volumes of the series.
The characters are really developing themselves as individuals, as well as working to increase their individual talents throughout the narrative. There's not much down time for them to grow personally, because they are so busy fighting demons all the time, fending off one attack after another from various dark outside forces. But this book does include a bit of interaction between Krystin and Ben that proves quite enticing, although it is kind of blown out of the water by later events.
The author has done a fine job of drawing me into the story and making me want to continue on with it. Her writing style somehow remains true to the original atmosphere of the prequel, and yet has definitely improved with each volume. I can hardly wait to read the next installment. Even though I found the ending extremely depressing and disheartening, and I'm kind of worried about where things will go from here.
I received a free eBook copy of this novel from the author,
and have willingly provided an honest review.
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Book #3 in The Hunter Circles series, The Changed, releases Monday, July 31st, 2017!
It is available during it's release week for just $2.99 on Amazon Kindle!
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Read my review of the prequel novella,
"(The Hunter Circles, #0.5) The Hunter"
