Holy. Crap. If you read my review of Book 4 - Raven Cursed - you will know I felt it went a little too "all over the place" towards the end and suffered from "Book 4 problems." All has been forgiven in Faith Hunter's fifth book in the Jane Yellowrock series, Death's Rival. This is such a tightly written action novel without a single wasted bit of space or neglected story line. Reading this felt like watching a great movie and I had several stretches of not being able to detach myself from my e-reader. We're pretty used to, at this point, Jane getting into some vicious fights early on in the book but this might be a new record since it happens as soon as she steps off the plane in the first two chapters. A plague is attacking multiple vampire clans and a ruthless new Vampire Master is essentially stealing clans for himself by infecting Masters, and letting them suffer until he offers up a cure in the form of a treatment (not an antidote) and the surrender of power to him. Who this vampire is lands up being very important not just for the survival of the vampire power structure in the continental US, but also for Jane on a personal level. Death's Rival pulled together all the elements of this series that have been carefully tended to for the past four books and put them into an amazing package. This was definitely the most brutal and vicious of the series to date. Big-Cat is definitely becoming less and less shy. As she walks the line of people on all sides getting closer and closer to discovering what she really is, she is desperately trying to find inner peace while she continues to try and discover more about her forgotten past. Aggie One-Feather is back, and Molly is there only by mention due to the events of the last book. Rick LeFleur is a minor character this time around, and, personally, the more time he stays arm length from Jane the better for me - I'll say it again, I DON'T TRUST HIM. Leo Pellisier & Bruiser (George Dumas) are back of course, as well as two new characters. Seems that Jane may have something of a partnership in future books. The ending of this book was a MASSIVE cliffhanger that had a lot of foreshadowing and build up and the feeling that Jane might ALMOST escape consequences but at the last moment gets hit ten-times harder. It's still a little unclear all the ways Beast might have changed from her encounter in the last book, and I know there is still a lot she's keeping from Jane that I have a feeling we'll discover soon. Needless to say, I'll be reading the next book, Blood Trade. I had a hard time getting started with this book for some reason. Kept picking it up & putting it down. I think it was about page 50 that it finally really caught my interest & then I couldn't put it down. Jane gets some more of her memories back from when she was a child & her father was killed. It's interesting to see what has shaped Jane into the woman that she is becoming & the way she is growing. Packed with lots of action. Looking forward to the next book in series Blood Trade.
What do You think about Death's Rival (2012)?
Probably my favorite in the series so far, besides the first. 4.5 stars.
—Jayebabe
