Friday 22 March 2013

URBAN FANTASY REVIEW: Black Swan Rising Trilogy 3: The Shape Stealer - Lee Carroll

Release Date: 14/03/13
Publisher:  Bantam

SYNOPSIS:

Garet James and Will Hughes find themselves back in 21st century Paris, each with an unusual romantic quandary. The 400 year-old remorseful vampire that Garet still loves remains trapped in time, in 1602, as is Marguerite, the young Will's love, who might reconsider her decision to reject him now that he has become an unvampire. Their time reversing prospects include guidance from the Institut Chronologique and from another time-traveller, the astronomer Johannes Kepler who Will encounters on one of the bridges across the Seine. It is by no means an easy task. And complicating things further is the fact that they appear to have brought with them a monster from the past: the shape-shifting, blood-drinking Marduk. They set out to find Marduk, but it's not easy to find a creature who can change shape at will. When they realize that Marduk has not only stolen Will Hughes' face, but also his identity, they fear that he has teamed up with their old nemeses John Dee and Cosimo Ruggieri to gain control of - and destroy - the world's financial markets. And when they learn that Marduk is on his way to New York, Garet fears that her family and friends will be his next target. Will and Garet leave Paris for New York, where they also hope to resolve their own romantic dilemmas. Which Will does Garet really love? The innocent young man - or the man wracked with remorse for his history of violence and bloodshed? And does Will still love Marguerite? Or has he fallen in love with her time-travelling descendant?


REVIEW:

The concluding part of the trilogy and to be honest its one that has felt forever in arriving. It’s a book that I’ve been demanding for ages and to be honest counting down the day has really been a hardship. So was it worth my time, have I been right in counting down?

In short, yes I was, its hard hitting and with so many threads to tie up its going to be a book that is not only high octane but one that will keep the reader guessing to the end. It has great prose, some wonderful turns of phrase and for me the real triumph is the authors utilisation of the characters that we’ve come to care about in the previous two instalments. All round a cracking end and one that will leave many fans worn out wondering what the two authors are going to hit back with.




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