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The Reckoning
by
Kelley Armstrong
urban fantasy in a paperback edition that was published by Orbit on April 6, 2010 and has 391 pages.
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Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Broken, Personal Demon , Living with the Dead, Men of the Otherworld, Tales of the Otherworld, Frostbitten, Dates from Hell, Exit Strategy, Made to Be Broken, Spell Bound, The Gathering, The Awakening, "Hidden", The Calling, Aftertaste, Kisses from Hell, The Rising, Omens, Wild Justice, Enthralled: Paranormal Diversions, Visions, Deceptions, The Masked Truth, City of the Lost, Empire of Night, Forest of Ruin, Betrayals, A Darkness Absolute, Indigo, Rituals, The Unquiet Past, This Fallen Prey, Stolen, Rough Justice, Dime Store Magic, Industrial Magic, Haunted, Broken, Waking the Witch, Portents, Missing, Alone in the Wild, Watcher in the Woods, Otherworld Secrets, Wherever She Goes, "The Case of the Half-Demon Spy", "Escape", Otherworld Chills, A Stranger in Town, "Bargain", Hex on the Beach, "Recruit", "Checkmate", "Framed", Cursed Luck, High Jinx, Bitten, Driven, "Forsaken", The Deepest of Secrets, "Dead Letter Days", Men of the Otherworld, The Boy Who Cried Bear
Third in the Darkest Powers urban fantasy for Young Adult readers.
My Take
I am so enjoying this series. While aimed at Young Adults, Armstrong does not talk down to her audience, although I did find in this installment that there is less attention paid to the fact that the kids are teens with all their issues and angst. Quite possibly because their current issues are so far removed from the norm!
We open with Chloe, Simon, Derek, and Tori arriving with Andrew at a safe house having escaped an earlier attack where Chloe learns something startling about Tori. We also discover that Armstrong is tying this series in with her Women of the Otherworld series by pulling in the Cabals, which play such a nasty part there.
Hmmm, if we’re in New York and there’s a Pack trying to acquire Derek, what are the chances it’s Jeremy’s Pack? They could be good allies in this fight, especially if they bring in the Interracial Council with Paige and Lucas, which would then involve the Cortez Cabal. Ooh, the possibilities!
Armstrong also sets up a new antagonist: in trying to escape, yet again, Chloe makes a deal with the demi-demon we met in Awakening only to discover why it is never a good idea to deal with one when her master comes through. The master who takes a very strong liking to Chloe . . . ewwww . . .
The Story
Shortly after their arrival, Andrew’s fellows show up to meet the kids and hear their story. Only one of them actually believes them, and she’s too young to have much influence to push for the teens’ deepest desire — an assault upon the Edison Group to rescue Rae and Aunt Lauren.
More disappointments arise with Chloe and Simon’s first date, the night of Derek’s Change, a major betrayal, and a nasty ghost with some terrible secrets about the Edison Group and the disastrous consequences of being a modified supernatural.
The Characters
Genetically modified, Chloe is fifteen and is a necromancer while Tori is a witch capable of casting spells without speaking. Derek and Simon are foster brothers; Derek is a werewolf, the only one of four whom the Edison Group has allowed to survive while Simon is a sorcerer. Both were placed in the foster care system when their father went on the run.
Liz is the ghost of one of the teens the Edison Group killed; she just wasn’t working out the way they wanted.
Andrew is one of Simon and Derek’s dad’s best friends and a former member of the Edison Group. He now works with a splinter group to modify or stop what they are doing . . . we/he thinks.
Aunt Lauren, Dr. Fellows to you and I, had a change of heart in the last book, Awakening, helped the kids escape the trap and was captured.
Dr. Davidoff heads up the Edison Group, which is run by the St. Clouds.
The Cover
The cover is appropriate in a subtle way. It’s a lower face and upper chest shot of a girl wearing a large purple jewel. It’s the purple that is the an error. Supposedly, it protects Chloe from ghosts but it was red like a ruby when she first received it and it turns blue by this story.
