Karen Marie Moning is the internationally bestselling author of the Highlander and Fever novels. Her books have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today,and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists, and have one numerous awards, including the prestigious Rita. She lives in Georgia and Florida with her husband Neil and the world-traveling cat, Moonshadow.
Connect with Karen on her website, on Twitter, and on Facebook.
“Evil is a completely different creature, Mac. Evil is bad that believes it’s good.”
MacKayla Lane was just a child when she and her sister, Alina, were given up for adoption and banished from Ireland forever.
Twenty years later, Alina is dead and Mac has returned to the country that expelled them to hunt her sister’s murderer. But after discovering that she descends from a bloodline both gifted and cursed, Mac is plunged into a secret history: an ancient conflict between humans and immortals who have lived concealed among us for thousands of years.
What follows is a shocking chain of events with devastating consequences, and now Mac struggles to cope with grief while continuing her mission to acquire and control the Sinsar Dubh—a book of dark, forbidden magic scribed by the mythical Unseelie King, containing the power to create and destroy worlds.
In an epic battle between humans and Fae, the hunter becomes the hunted when the Sinsar Dubh turns on Mac and begins mowing a deadly path through those she loves.
Who can she turn to? Who can she trust? Who is the woman haunting her dreams? More important, who is Mac herself and what is the destiny she glimpses in the black and crimson designs of an ancient tarot card?
From the luxury of the Lord Master’s penthouse to the sordid depths of an Unseelie nightclub, from the erotic bed of her lover to the terrifying bed of the Unseelie King, Mac’s journey will force her to face the truth of her exile, and to make a choice that will either save the world... or destroy it.
Title: Shadowfever (Fever #5)
Author: Karen Marie Moning
ISBN-13: 9780385341677
Hardcover: 608 pages
Publisher: Random House Publishing, 2011
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository
Source: Random House Publishing
drey's thoughts:
Well. I just got back from vacation, picked up the book, and didn't stop reading till almost 2am in the morning... Part of it was because I've been antsily waiting for Shadowfever, part of it was because I hardly got any reading done while I was away (hence, you're probably not going to see a lot of reviews here in the next week or so...). BUT. We're not here to chat about my vacation. So.
Character: Shadowfever starts up with a Mac I didn't like, at first. She's lost in grief, sure, and trying to make the best of her circumstances, but does she really have to collude with the bad guy? Seriously? And talking about the bad guy, he kinda lames out at the end. That was just way too easy! I am a full member of the bad-guys-should-expire-worthy-of-their-bad-assedness club, i.e. he should've had to suffer first. So yeah, lame-o. Even if he did truly love Alina.
Anyway. Back to Mac. She's sure done a lot of growing since Darkfever, where she was a pretty-in-pink Rainbow Girl (as Barrons liked to call her). She's stronger, more aware, and has been through hell in a handbasket. I honestly don't know how she's intact. But she's got a job to do, and come hell or high water, she's going to take care of Dublin. Partly because she's one of the few who can, partly because she feels responsible for some of the mess. There are a lot of if-onlys here, but we all know hindsight is 20/20...
Some of the supporting cast haven't changed their spots at all: Rowena's still a bees-wax, Dani's still a trouble-maker (love The Dani Daily she publishes and posts all over Dublin!), V'Lane's still a shiny-show-off, and the Sinsar-Dubh is still causing chaos all over. And there are others too, others I so want to talk about, but I'm writing a spoiler-free review here, so there. Oh, the price of principles... *sigh*
Pace & Plot: I have absolutely no complaints about the pace of Shadowfever - it moves! The plot, however, can get convoluted. But, this being the last in the series, there are lots of threads to wrap up. Like, do they get a hold of the Sinsar-Dubh? And who "gets" it once they do? After all, everyone has their reasons for going after it, right?
In addition to the chasing-down-of-the-book, there's also a who-is-Mac,-exactly? plotline that gets page time in Shadowfever, and I'll admit to being a bit confused on the way to the big reveal... But oh what a reveal it is! I'm sorry to see this series end, and I'm already hoping to re-read 'em.
drey's rating: 4/5 Excellent: Some of the stuff isn't quite what I'd expected, but this was a very good wrap-up to a must-read series for urban fantasy fans.
Have you read Shadowfever? What did you think?
Giveaway!!
This is soooo cool!!! Thanks to Random House Publishing and TLC Book Tours, I have one copy of Shadowfever for you, if you live in the US or Canada. To enter, comment below and tell us who your favorite Fever character(s) is (are), and why. Please remember to include your email address, and do it before 6pm CST March 6th! Good luck!
