Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Flame and Ash
SERIES: Witchbane
AUTHOR: Morgan Brice
NARRATOR: Kale Williams
PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio
LENGTH: 6 hrs and 6 min
RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021
BLURB:
One hundred years ago, a sheriff’s posse killed dark warlock Rhyfel Gremory, but his witch-disciples escaped, and their magic made them nearly immortal. To keep their power, each year one of the witch-disciples kills a descendant of one of the men in the posse, a 12-year cycle that has cost dozens of lives, including that of Seth Tanner’s brother, Jesse.
Seth rescued Evan Malone from one of the witches, and they’ve fallen in love despite the danger and chaos, going on the road to complete the quest and bring an end to the ritual murders. Their relationship is new, their emotions are raw, and the danger is real. It’s a challenge to find their way as a couple while they’re on the road together in the close quarters of Seth’s RV, training in magic and combat skills to fight off a supernatural killer.
Their quest to stop a century-long killing spree takes them to a small town in the Blue Ridge Mountains. They’re ahead of the sacrifice cycle, with plans to stop the murders and kill the dark witch. Only this time, the hunters become the hunted when the witch knows they’re coming to get him, and has deadly plans of his own.
Contains mature themes.
REVIEW:
Note: This is the fourth book in this series and it builds on the events of the previous books. There are major spoilers for all of those books and it is recommended to read this series in order.
Evan and Seth are leaving Pittsburgh after ridding the world of yet another of the witch-disciples there. They head to North Carolina to meet up with Toby and Milo, fellow hunters who have acted as surrogate parents for Seth, training him in the finer arts of hunting 🙂 They have been together for years and are very good at their jobs and are connected to other hunters and resources. Even though it’s early in the cycle, they are on a mission to save the next sacrifice – a young man named Kyle Henshaw.
Working with Toby and Milo, the begin their research and recon. They meet surreptitiously Kyle and his boyfriend so they have an idea of how to keep him safe. Turns out his boyfriend Steve is the son of an old acquaintance of Milo and Toby’s who has some idea of what they might be up against. There are some suspicious townspeople though and Evan feels like they are being watched. And of course they are. But when the boys go missing, everyone is worried that the cycle has been moved up and the witch-disciple has already grabbed them right out from under their noses.
Scott, Toby and Milo’s old friend is a huge help in getting everyone to safety where they can work on a plan to neutralize the threat. But then things go horrible wrong and Even is left to come up with a plan with the rest of the team to save Seth and to rid the world of one more witch-disciple. Thankfully the team is able to work together to save the day, although there are some casualties 😉
I think this might be my favorite so far of these books. The creepy factor is off the charts at some points. I loved the historic setting and the teamwork with Toby and Milo. The pacing of this book was the best yet. I could have done with so much of the recounting of previous installments, but maybe other people like that. Evan really comes into his own in this book, which I really appreciated as I felt the power dynamic in their relationship wasn’t great in the previous books. Seth respects the heck out of Evan, but Evan really needed this win to bolster his confidence. Toby and Milo are great characters and I loved hearing their perspectives on their love story 😉 There were some nice twists and turns in this one that kept me listening to see how things were going to turn out. Kale Williams does a fabulous job voicing these characters. He is such a talented narrator and I always look forward to listening to the books he narrates. There are a lot of characters and a few regional accents in this one and I though he nailed them. Definitely recommend as a strong addition to this series. I’m looking forward to Book 5!
RATING: 
BUY LINK:
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