Lily Yu and Rule Turner’s engagement announcement is stirring up ugly passions in the Humans First camp. There’s hate mail. Death threats. Lily’s car is vandalized.
But professionally, things are running smoothly…until a lupis in Tennessee goes on a killing spree. Then Rule’s brother, Benedict catches a lovely intruder—twice. The first time, she’s sneaking around the home of the leader of Humans First. The second time, she’s sneaking around the Nokolai Clanhome.
It may not be possible to deal with the rapidly escalating situation the way Lily always has: through the law. Especially when she’s pulled off the case due to an alleged conflict of interest. Lily’s loyalties will be stretched to the breaking point when she discovers that the deaths in Tennessee were only the opening skirmish in an all-out war…
This is the seventh book in Eileen Wilks’s Lupi series and my first experience in this amazingly complex world. Sometimes, it’s really hard to come into a series this far along and sometimes it’s super-easy (especially when an author recaps what happened in the previous books). While I was dropped deep into the action with this book and I struggled initially with figuring out the language and who everyone was, it didn’t take me too long to become completely immersed.
The world of the Lupi is a harsh one. After finally coming out to the humans, the lupi have done their best to put a tame face on their wilder instincts. That tame face is the gorgeous Rule, nadia (mate) of FBI agent Lily, Rho (leader) of the Leidolf clan and heir of the Nokolai clan. It is he who deals with the public, who does the interviews, and who calms the public when one of his clan goes insane and kills people. He and Lily are some of the Lady’s chosen (the Lady is the Lupi’s deity) and they, along with the other chosen, are part of her long-term plan to both protect her people, the Lupi, and defeat her enemy. This book introduces a new character, Arjenie who’s part-Fae and part-human, to the mix—another Chosen, one necessary to the Lady’s plan. I was very happy to see her. Since she is not overly-knowledgeable about the world of the Lupi besides what she could research, I received a bit more insight into their rules and the way things are run. I’m interested to see what her roles will be in the coming battle between the Lady and her ancient enemy (I don’t think I’d better say more for fear of spoiler, especially since I’m not well-versed in this series. I don’t want to ruin anything for anyone!).
I know that, coming into this world in the seventh book, I’m at a serious disadvantage. I’ve read enough fantasy, science fiction and werewolf-centric books that I was able to jump on board and enjoy the ride. However, I recognize that I’m missing out on the subtle layers of the relationships that were developed in the previous six novels, something I will remedy as soon as I get a spare moment. The world of the Lupi is one I want to know as much as possible about. I want to know how Rule and Lily got together and the battles they faced. I’m dying to read more about Cullen and Cynna—they weren’t in #7 nearly long enough and the taste I got of their relationship and Cullen’s wicked humor merely whet my appetite for more.
There’s just so much going on in this novel: lupi in love, multiple attacks, old rivalries and new partnerships, betrayals, ancient enemies, and plans of attack. This story is fascinating and the world-building is so richly layered and intricate. I can’t wait to read #1-6 and re-reading #7 with new insight—and then breathlessly anticipating #8.
Rating: 4.0/5.0 (though, I’m thinking that if I’d read even some of the previous six novels, I would have rated it higher)
The series:
This book is available from Berkley. You can buy it here