2023 paranormal fantasy, third of a nine-book series. Lorelei
Clay's efforts to keep a low profile are going to be in vain.
Well, clearly they always were, really. But with the hints at
Lorelei's divine nature now replaced by blatant statement, I confess
I'm less enthused for the rest of the series now. And it all feels
very clunky; yeah, your friend's sister got herself into trouble and
now has to find a medical test subject for a vampire mobster. Can you
really not think of anything to do but offer yourself up in that
place? Like, maybe, taking on the vampire mobster's operation, the way
you took on a much larger organisation last book? Given that an
analysis of your blood will give away your divine nature, didn't you
think that a blood sample might perhaps be a part of the procedure?
(And shouldn't that be harder to get out of than saying "no, I don't
wanna" given that they're already conducting blatantly illegal
experiments on you?)
And then the thing the test programme is being done in aid of is so
silly that… OK, the elixir temporarily gives you the powers of a god.
A specific god, though you don't know which one until you're given it.
And what you are expected to do with these powers is… a cage fight
with another sucker similarly afflicted. I was laughing, and I don't
think I was supposed to be.
It's a real shame because I had enjoyed the series up to this point,
particularly the characters and Lorelei's low-level use of her powers.
But if it's all going to be upping the stakes and god vs god, well,
it's the human angle that I liked, not the anything-goes mythology.
This may just be my mood of course. But this really felt like a turn
for the worse in the series; I'll try one more to see whether it's
sustained.