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drey72's review against another edition
4.0
Wow. Charlie sure has her hands full in this fourth installment of Kelly Gay’s fab urban fantasy series! At the conclusion of The Hour of Dust and Ashes, Hank’s apprehended and taken back to Fiallan for the crime of leaving the Circe’s towers. Now in Shadows Before the Sun, Charlie’s told that Hank was executed…
She doesn’t believe it. So she does the only thing she can – take a trip to Fiallan to find Hank. Armed with her magic sword and trademark sass, Charlie’s surprised when the Oracle herself shows up to accompany her on the journey, and even more surprised to find out she might actually like her.
Meeting with the Circe is a mite hairier than Charlie expects, and before you know it, it’s a race against time – to save Hank, AND to get out of Fiallan. Because a rescue mission always comes with danger…
I love this series, and Kelly Gay doesn’t disappoint. Charlie’s a fabulously kick-ass heroine – if anything, she gets even more kick-ass here. The only thing I’d say is, if you’re squeamish, you’ll want to skip the prologue and the italicized paragraphs – they’ll more likely be about Hank’s torture, and they’re pretty high on the ick factor. *shudder*
drey’s rating: Excellent! I can’t wait for more!
She doesn’t believe it. So she does the only thing she can – take a trip to Fiallan to find Hank. Armed with her magic sword and trademark sass, Charlie’s surprised when the Oracle herself shows up to accompany her on the journey, and even more surprised to find out she might actually like her.
Meeting with the Circe is a mite hairier than Charlie expects, and before you know it, it’s a race against time – to save Hank, AND to get out of Fiallan. Because a rescue mission always comes with danger…
I love this series, and Kelly Gay doesn’t disappoint. Charlie’s a fabulously kick-ass heroine – if anything, she gets even more kick-ass here. The only thing I’d say is, if you’re squeamish, you’ll want to skip the prologue and the italicized paragraphs – they’ll more likely be about Hank’s torture, and they’re pretty high on the ick factor. *shudder*
drey’s rating: Excellent! I can’t wait for more!
nhiguera's review against another edition
5.0
I love this series! Charlie kicks ass and Hank is awesome. So happy they are FINALLY together!
thenia's review against another edition
5.0
A great addition to an awesome series!
Charlie continues to be pretty kick-ass and fiercely loyal and in this part of her story she is on a mission to save her partner. She gets to see Elysia, the opposite of Charbydon and the equivalent of paradise, but her determination to find and rescue Hank makes it less enjoyable for Charlie than it would be otherwise.
A lot of things get resolved, enemies vanquished and mysteries uncovered and there has been some foreshadowing that makes me hopeful for a sequel, despite hearing that this is probably the end of the series.
For now, there is a short story starring Rex, Emma and hellhound puppies in "Hell’s Menagerie", Kelly Gay's short story in [b:Carniepunk|16130371|Carniepunk|Rob Thurman|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1355158246s/16130371.jpg|21940472].
Charlie continues to be pretty kick-ass and fiercely loyal and in this part of her story she is on a mission to save her partner. She gets to see Elysia, the opposite of Charbydon and the equivalent of paradise, but her determination to find and rescue Hank makes it less enjoyable for Charlie than it would be otherwise.
A lot of things get resolved,
Spoiler
the shadow creature appearing whenever Charlie uses her power and the darkness above the city among them,For now, there is a short story starring Rex, Emma and hellhound puppies in "Hell’s Menagerie", Kelly Gay's short story in [b:Carniepunk|16130371|Carniepunk|Rob Thurman|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1355158246s/16130371.jpg|21940472].
veronica87's review against another edition
4.0
Book four continues to cement my enjoyment of this series. I had a concern in the first book that Charlie maybe came into too much power too soon and I think that has largely played out BUT it doesn't really bother me here whereas in another series it might. The main reason is because of Charlie herself. She doesn't take her powers for granted and she never just assumes that she's going to win or, hell, even survive.
Book three took us to the world of Charbydon and in this installment we head to Elysia with Charlie as she sets out to rescue Hank. This translated into not as much page time for some of the other secondary characters that I've come to love *cough*Rex*cough, but in exchange we get to meet some new characters and that proved to be worth the trip. We meet Alessandra, Atlanta's 2000 year old Oracle who was briefly mentioned way back on page one of book one, and we also meet Leander. I'm not sure who or what he is yet but I'm certain we haven't seen the last of him.
We learn more about Hank, his past, and his present and it's truly heartbreaking. While this series has always been told in Charlie's first person POV, this book deviates just a bit by giving us Hank's thoughts in third person every once in awhile. I'm not sure there would have been any other way to adequately understand what he endures in this book otherwise so I think the author made a good decision in taking this route.
I hear from the author that a decision has yet to made about any future books. I'll be very sad if there are no more books to come but I will say that this book, while leaving some avenues open for future storylines, did at least wrap up one major story arc from book one. Additionally, every character ends in such a place that I can easily see a positive outcome for them in the future. In the meantime, while I wait for news on the fifth book I'll be sure to read [b:Carniepunk|16130371|Carniepunk|Rachel Caine|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1355158246s/16130371.jpg|21940472]. Kelly Gay has included a short story involving Rex (yay!), Emma, and Brimstone (the family hellhound) on an adventure that takes place during the events of this book while Charlie is away saving Hank. So, while I will keep hope alive that this won't be the end of the series, I'm grateful that the characters ended on an upbeat note and I'm glad for having had the chance to meet them.
Book three took us to the world of Charbydon and in this installment we head to Elysia with Charlie as she sets out to rescue Hank. This translated into not as much page time for some of the other secondary characters that I've come to love *cough*Rex*cough, but in exchange we get to meet some new characters and that proved to be worth the trip. We meet Alessandra, Atlanta's 2000 year old Oracle who was briefly mentioned way back on page one of book one, and we also meet Leander. I'm not sure who or what he is yet but I'm certain we haven't seen the last of him.
We learn more about Hank, his past, and his present and it's truly heartbreaking. While this series has always been told in Charlie's first person POV, this book deviates just a bit by giving us Hank's thoughts in third person every once in awhile. I'm not sure there would have been any other way to adequately understand what he endures in this book otherwise so I think the author made a good decision in taking this route.
I hear from the author that a decision has yet to made about any future books. I'll be very sad if there are no more books to come but I will say that this book, while leaving some avenues open for future storylines, did at least wrap up one major story arc from book one. Additionally, every character ends in such a place that I can easily see a positive outcome for them in the future. In the meantime, while I wait for news on the fifth book I'll be sure to read [b:Carniepunk|16130371|Carniepunk|Rachel Caine|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1355158246s/16130371.jpg|21940472]. Kelly Gay has included a short story involving Rex (yay!), Emma, and Brimstone (the family hellhound) on an adventure that takes place during the events of this book while Charlie is away saving Hank. So, while I will keep hope alive that this won't be the end of the series, I'm grateful that the characters ended on an upbeat note and I'm glad for having had the chance to meet them.
mcummings's review
5.0
Update to my review:
Apparently this is not the conclusion of the series, but there is no information yet on future releases. My review still stands, but I thought I should clarify!
I loved this conclusion to the Charlie Madigan series, an interesting foray in the urban fantasy world. If you have read the first three you should jump on this right now. I will give one caveat though, if you have been reading the books as they are published, I would highly recommend a re-read. Book 4 continues pretty soon after book 3 ends, and I think I would have enjoyed this even more if I had done that, because alot of the things that have happened in the past are important here.
I really hate rehashing plot lines, but the heroine Charlie lives in Atlanta where she is a police detective, on a special task force that deals with the interaction between earth and 2 off-world species Elysians and Charbydons. Charlie's partner Hank (a siren) was abducted at the end of the 3rd book and taken to Elysia, and Charlie is on a mission to rescue him.
I can't go into any greater detail without huge spoilers, so I won't. What I really did like though, is the special power of sirens is their voice (gives talking during sex a whole new meaning!)
Apparently this is not the conclusion of the series, but there is no information yet on future releases. My review still stands, but I thought I should clarify!
I loved this conclusion to the Charlie Madigan series, an interesting foray in the urban fantasy world. If you have read the first three you should jump on this right now. I will give one caveat though, if you have been reading the books as they are published, I would highly recommend a re-read. Book 4 continues pretty soon after book 3 ends, and I think I would have enjoyed this even more if I had done that, because alot of the things that have happened in the past are important here.
I really hate rehashing plot lines, but the heroine Charlie lives in Atlanta where she is a police detective, on a special task force that deals with the interaction between earth and 2 off-world species Elysians and Charbydons. Charlie's partner Hank (a siren) was abducted at the end of the 3rd book and taken to Elysia, and Charlie is on a mission to rescue him.
I can't go into any greater detail without huge spoilers, so I won't. What I really did like though, is the special power of sirens is their voice (gives talking during sex a whole new meaning!)
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