Reviewed by Annika
TITLE: Breaker of Chains
SERIES: SPECTR Series 2, #4
AUTHOR: Jordan L. Hawk
NARRATOR: Brad Langer
PUBLISHER: Widdershins Press
LENGTH: 5 hours, 4 minutes
RELEASE DATE: March 23, 2018
BLURB:
Big changes are afoot at SPECTR. John Starkweather, once a hotshot field agent, is now benched. Instead of chasing down demons during Charleston’s biggest outbreak, he’s stuck interviewing exorcists about a previous case. But what at first seems like a busywork assignment takes a darker turn, as John begins to suspect the increase in possessions might not be coincidence but part of an unseen conspiracy.
The vampire spirit, Gray, was made to hunt demons and drink their blood. He and his human host, Caleb Jansen, ought to be at the forefront of SPECTR’s field team. But their new partners refuse to let Gray use any of his abilities, let alone actually hunt and fight.
Fortunately, Caleb and Gray have allies outside of SPECTR: the only other living drakul, Drugoy, and his host, Yuri Azarov. Yuri and Dru live by no mortal’s rules, and they can show Caleb and Gray how to do the same…depending on how far they’re willing to go.
Because breaking the rules comes with a cost, and the price of Caleb and Gray’s freedom may be the life of the man they love.
REVIEW:
You know, sometimes it’s good to come (way) late to a party – or series. This way I don’t have to wait for books to be published, and that mother of all cliffhangers didn’t bother me as much as I can just go right for the next story. But boy was it a doozy. So do your sanity a favour, make sure you have the time to go directly for Shaker of Earth, don’t pass go, no waiting, go right for the book.
Things are definitely getting complicated in Breaker of Chains. There are many players and agendas that clashes, and if things were tense before it’s been nothing compared to the tension in this book. The demon outbreak is still going strong in town and the agents in SPECTR are overworked and overwhelmed trying to stop them all. Caleb and Gray are frustrated with being side-lined, watching the mayhem when they could have helped. John too have been benched from fieldwork. Once a dedicated agent, now a pariah at the office, and to add insult to injury he’s no longer partnered with his lovers. Then there was Yuri and Drugoy, the only other living drakul and host. They’ve been bonded much longer than Gray and Caleb, and understandably they are curious and have many, many questions…
Breaker of Chains was by far the most intense book in the series so far. The stakes have never been higher and there were a lot of twists and turns, strings that tied together into one horrible picture. This is a book that will have your imagination run wild, your heart pounding and you might even shed a tear or two. And it’s all worth it.
This is the kind of narration that we’ve come to expect and love from Brad Langer. The voices, the intensity, the feelings. It was great! Caleb’s sadness of having lost his friends was so palpable in Langer voice and he made you feel that despair. And also John’s feeling of being left out, from work, from all things Yuri. I just realised something when trying to find moments that stood out. They were all emotional and negative emotions at that; sadness, loneliness, longing, fear. Rarely, if ever, are these happy books, it’s one disaster after the other, one blow following the next. There is love here, definitely, but it’s not at the forefront. I don’t love the series any less for it, because this is one rollercoaster of a series.
Things are building towards a final show down and judging by the events in this book, the world might want to take cover.
RATING:
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