h o l l i s 's Reviews > Lost Souls

"I bring you the gift of murder and mayhem, a puzzle to be solved, a mystery to be cracked."

I will forever be here for Gabriel POV. For. ever.

I hate to say this but I think I liked LOST SOULS more than BETRAYALS.. not that it should come as a surprise, really. The main factor being that there was hardly any Ricky to suffer through for this read. I know, I'm awful, poor guy, what did he ever do to me. He's such a nice dude. And that's mainly the problem. Gabriel might be frustrating as all get-out but he has legitimate reasons for being so. His character growth is slow as molasses but it's still there. We are seeing that evolution. And while LOST SOULS, a transitory story between books three and four of the Cainsville series, didn't offer much more of that, and gave us familiar bits of Gabriel's history, I still found it really relevant and worth reading. Patrick's involvement was a nice bonus, too, as he played a large role in this novella.

"On the stoop, he found the usual suspects : a cat and a boggart, actively ignoring one another. The boggart was Grace, the building owner, wearing her cranky old lady glamour. Well, the 'old lady' part was a glamour. The 'cranky' part was just Grace."

I'd also like to mention how much I love the mystery in this one. Over the course of this series the 'murder mystery' of the week/book hasn't always drawn me in. I've definitely been more caught up with the interpersonal drama and developments. But Armstrong really crafted a perfectly executed plot in this short story. Urban legends, fae, mystery, mistaken identity, thrills and chills and plays on words.. and, oh, banter. Little bit of that, too.

"..the folklore for ghosts is very clear that if you summon them at their graveside--"
"The folklore is also clear that to stop a ghost you have to dig it up and burn the bones."
"Uh, no. You've been watching Supernatural haven't you?"
".. my point is that the lore is full of crap."

As much as there is a lot to recommend this series, can I just say how happy I'll be to get the final book? I need my ending, people. I need it. I've earned it. We have earned it.

4 "again with the sarcasm" stars


** I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **