Fate’s Edge
The Edge, Book #3
By Ilona Andrews
ISBN# 9780441020867
Author’s Website: http://www.ilona-andrews.com/
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi
Fate’s Edge is the third installment of The Edge series written by the husband and wife writing team that is Ilona Andrews. This is the first series that I’ve read from them and so far I’ve liked the books, but didn’t love them. There was always one thing or other that made it impossible for me to get over that hump. Well what can I say, with Fate’s Edge I have finally made it over that hurdle!
We were introduced to Kaldar in the previous installment, Bayou Moon, and he was a pain in William’s derriere, but I found myself loving him! In fact, I was loving him more than the main characters of the story, which could be why I only liked that book. I enjoy his humor and the whole betting thing is a lot of fun as well. So I was ecstatic to learn that Fate’s Edge was all about my favorite swamp rat!
It’s been a couple of years since the Mars and William faced off against the Hand, which severally decimated the numbers of the Mar family. William traded 10 years of service to the Mirror in exchange for asylum for Cherise’s family. But Kaldar wasn’t satisfied with somebody else paying his debt so he took a job with the Mirror as well.
Now Kaldar is on a new assignment. Somebody broke into the Pyramid of Ptah, a place that was considered impossible to penetrate, and stole a valuable artifact that could allow powerful magic users to pass into the realm of the Broken. The burglary appears to have been contracted by the Hand, but they were somehow thwarted in receiving the goods. Now it’s up to Kaldar to find out who stole the relic and to return it to its rightful place before the Hand can release their monsters into the unaware world of the Broken.
Audrey was born into a family of grifters, but has decided to break away from the family ‘business’ and live life on the straight and narrow. And, right when everything seems to be falling into place her father shows up asking for her to help with one last heist to fund her addict brother’s next stint in rehab. She decides to do it this one last time to get rid of her family once and for all. But her new life comes crashing down around her when Kaldar shows up and knows that she had a hand in the thievery.
Kaldar and Audrey must work together to fix the mess that was created by unleashing this powerful relic on the world. And, did I mention they have to do it with two stowaways? George and Jack snuck onto Kaldar’s transport to avoid problems at home and are faced with life and death situations right along with Kaldar and Audrey.
Audrey’s grandmother always warned her never to fall in love with a con man because you can never tell when they’re being sincere. But in the battle between her head and her heart, which will win out? And, how can Kaldar prove that there is more to him than meets the eye and that he’s not just using her like all the other men in her life?
I can’t say it enough, I really enjoyed this book. I ran the battery out on my ereader hoping that it would last long enough for me to finish. Thankfully it did!
As I mentioned above, we got a glimpse of Kaldar in the previous installment in the series, but it was nothing like diving in the deep end with him in this book. I would be such an easy mark for him, he could say just about anything and I’d follow right along with any scheme. He is just so charismatic and fun; I just loved him to pieces! And, I think Audrey was an awesome female lead. She was the perfect mate for Kaldar! She is just as fierce and cunning as him. And, I loved the banter between the duo especially the scenes where Audrey caught Kaldar checking out her assets!
“Audrey kept moving with practiced quickness, stepping over roots protruding over the trail and pushing ferns and branches out of her way. She kept a brisk pace, but Kaldar didn’t mind. From his vantage point, he had an excellent view of her shapely butt. It was a butt that deserved some scrutiny.
“If you’re waiting for my behind to do a trick, you’re out of luck,” Audrey called over her shoulder.
“How the hell did you even know?” Did she have eyes on the back of her head?
“Woman’s intuition,” she told him.
“Aha, so it wouldn’t be the fact that I stumbled twice in the last minute?”
“Not at all.”
They were just too much fun and you can’t help, but wonder if Andrew and Ilona had similar conflicts when they started out. It felt so real. I loved Kaldar and Audrey and hope that we get to see more of them in the future of this series!
I thought that Jack and George brought a lot to the table in this book as well. It was fun to see them coming into their talents and honing their acting skills as well. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing them infiltrate the operation with the runaways at the church.
This was by far my favorite book in this series to date. And, I have an ARC (advanced reader copy) of the next installment, Steel’s Edge, sitting next to me giving me the evil eye chanting ‘open me’….’start reading me… NOW’….’you know you want to’. And, the book is right!! I must go and delve into it this very moment!! But while I’m lost to everybody in the real world, you should definitely give Fate’s Edge a chance, you won’t be disappointed!
