Guest Review: Reckoning (Strange Angels #5)

Reckoning (Strange Angels #5)
- Lili Saint-Crow

Publisher: Razor Bill 

Nobody expected Dru Anderson to survive this long. Not Graves. Not Christophe. Not even Dru. She's battled killer zombies, jealous djamphirs, and bloodthirsty suckers straight out of her worst nightmares. But now that Dru has bloomed into a full-fledged svetocha - rare, beautiful, and toxic to all vampires - the worst is yet to come.
Because getting out alive is going to cost more than she's ever imagined. And in the end, is survival really worth the sacrifice?
DRU ANDERSON'S NOT AFRAID OF THE DARK.
BUT SHE SHOULD BE...

Any of Mel’s regular readers will know that I love Lili St Crow’s Strange Angel books, and I was devastated to learn that Reckoning is the last in the series, Ok, so we’re not talking Booker Prize winners here, but they are just so damn readable! Look up ‘unputdownable’ in the dictionary and there’ll be a picture of these books. Honestly, I not only walked whilst reading Reckoning, I even DROVE whilst reading it (ok, ok, I was in a very slow moving queue, but still!) I didn’t want the series to end, but end it has, and in style.

Strange Angels stars Dru, an uber-vampire slaying svetocha, and her protectors/friends/lovers(?) dangerously beautiful djamphir Christophe, and Asian geek loup-garou Graves. They, and a host of side characters so likeable that I want them to be my friends (sorry Mel!) <Mel: Humph!>  must battle not only the vampires and their ancient, evil and ruthless leader Sergej, but also the hex-flinging Maharaj who can’t decide where their loyalties lie.

Dru may now have fully come into her powers, but she is most definitely still mortal, and most definitely still a teenager in a love triangle. Throughout this series you have not known which way she will turn, and when she does decide I can guarantee that at least half of all readers will go ‘Noooooooo!!!’. St Crow made her choice truly difficult, and you feel for Dru at every turn.

The action is fast-paced, descriptive and very real, and to my delight, unlike the previous couple of books politics takes a definite back seat. Give me swords, blood and rolling heads over governmental double-deals any day!

All in all a superb series ending in a superb way. If you love YA/fantasy/action/romance then read these books, you won’t be disappointed. One for fans of Richelle Mead, 9 out of 10.