A review by waclements7
Mocker of Ravens by Jordan L. Hawk

4.0

I really enjoyed finding out what happens to John and Caleb/Gray after the fallout of what occurred with Forsythe. It's not exactly pretty. I feel so badly for them, because what they did was heroic, yet certainly isn't seen so by SPECTR, and Caleb/Gray are really seen as something to be feared. Barillo made me want to beat my head against a wall. I really like Zahira Norrzai as the new Agent, but now I'm suspicious of new people, and while I love her enthusiasm and the fact that she's fascinated by Gray and not afraid, I worry that it's all a set up, especially when Barillo said she's the only one that would take the assignment, and she graduated at the top of her class. She's so nice and accepting, I _want_ it to be genuine, for John and Caleb/Gray's sake, just because it would be so great for them to have someone on their side. I know this review is all about the feels I had when reading the book. I think the continuing development of Gray as someone who views humans as somewhat non-sensical creatures but who is now in love with one of them is really progressing in a very cool fashion. I love his and Caleb's internal dialogues. In some ways Gray is so childlike, yet in others he _is_ the monster (or is capable of being) the other agents are afraid of. But he chooses not to be. I think that's one of the more intriguing aspects to me--the agents hunt NHEs yet they really have no more than a superficial understanding of them, which leads to a superficial understanding of their motivations, and in turn leads to their superficial understanding of Gray. They don't understand why John is concerned about things like a more humane exorcism, etc.. IMHO, this is why they don't understand why what John and Caleb/Gray did was such a huge, important thing, and why it was so important that they stopped Forsythe. I'm using words like important and understanding a lot. I guess it's because I've seen real organizations do the same sort of things to people who try to do the right thing, against the status quo of the organization, and are punished for it. To me, this was sort of a "re-grouping" novel, adding in Zahira and establishing how the office is running without Kaniyar. (I miss Kaniyar). I really liked the raven mocker as an NHE, and enjoyed that whole storyline. I liked as well that it was centered around a nursing home, another population that often isn't listened to, and absolutely loved that it was Caleb/Gray who got the information that was needed out of Miss Amy about Dr. McStubbins. The conversation between Caleb and Gray at the nursing home is hysterical as well. This is an awesome next novel in the adventures of John and Caleb/Gray.