Review: Scattered plotshots
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 09 18, 2013
I've read all of Connie Suttle's books and followed the trials and tribulations endured by the heroes and heroines in her books. Breanne continues her battle, against the General and Acrimus, to save the universe from chaos and the destruction of everything good. No pressure there. One of my complaints about Ms. Suttle's stories is that her heroines are consistently put through enough abuse and betrayal to turn Mother Teresa into a paranoid misanthrope. Throughout everything, the heroines manage to forgive the unforgivable over and over and survive horrors that would crush most people. I keep thinking of the old song "Hit me with your best shot". Of course in my case the next line would be "And then it's my turn". These books are a guilty pleasure like watching videos of a shark killing a seal or a lion running down a gazelle. You don't really want to look but you can't turn away.I gave this book 3 stars because it felt scattered to me. The story unfolds through a least four different viewpoints and two distinct time periods. Sometimes the shift takes place after a few paragraphs, not allowing the reader time to invest in the action sequences. Since the author appears to be heading toward the end of this particular storyline within her universe (book 5, Blood Finale is due in December), all four protagonists from the four series are in play and since the women have a least ten husbands/lovers each, that's a lot of characters to track. People pop in from earlier series and they pull you away from the flow as you try to remember all of their connections and just how they fit into the plot. I would have enjoyed this book more had the focus been on Breanne and her many (did I say many?) men. I do think that in order to cover the areas brought up in this book, the novel would have been at least twice as long.This is definitely part of a series and should not be read alone. If you have the time, reread the other three books first and refresh your memory on who are all the men in Breanne's life (and Lissa's) and how the relationships evolved.Overall, it did keep my interest enough that I will read the next book.