As if poor Jill Kismet, the only Hunter in Santa Luz, doesn't have
enough on her plate, things only get worse when the Cirque de
Charnu comes to town. Demonspawn and Traders delight, but it's up
to Jill to keep her city safe. Although she has no choice but to
let them set up shop, an uneasy treaty between the Ringmaster,
Perry, Santa Luz's resident hellbreed in power, and Jill is struck
and the Ringmaster must give up a hostage against his and his
minions promise of good behaviour. As long as they obey the rules,
no one gets hurt. Too bad members of the circus start showing up
dead, and the hostage's life is threatened. When zombies start
turning up all over the city and there seems to be a sinister link
back to the circus, Jill really isn't surprised. She must get to
the bottom of the mystery and put a stop to it before the pact with
the circus is broken and all hell (literally) breaks loose.
As usual, Saintcrow has provided an action packed, page turning
story. Poor Jill is run ragged with this one. To make matters
worse, something is up with Saul. He hasn't been the same since
coming back to town after the death of his mother. Not known to be
one to walk on eggshells, Jill doesn't have a clue what to do about
the situation with Saul, but it may come to a head before she's
ready, forcing her to deal with her relationship whether she wants
to or not.
While not my favourite in the series, it was still a great read.
The main reason I didn't like this book as much is because of the
whole Saul/relationship subplot. Jill is such a kickass heroine yet
she undervalues herself and seems to have such low self esteem. She
has this great relationship with Saul but for her there is always
an undercurrent of doubt, like she's just waiting for him to come
to his senses and dump her. I was also disappointed that Perry had
such a small role. I've been waiting for his 'revenge' on Jill for
losing out on the bargain with her, but so far he seems to be
biding his time, although maybe less than patiently.
I read in a recent interview with Saintcrow that there are two more
books left in Jill's story. I can't wait! Book 5, Heaven's Spite,
is due out in 2010.