Musings and Ramblings

Elysian Fields

Sentinels of New Orleans, #3

Suzanne Johnson

Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Tor Books
Date of Publication: August 13, 2013
Number of pages: 386

An undead serial killer comes for DJ in this thrilling third installment of Suzanne Johnson’s Sentinels of New Orleans series

The mer feud has been settled, but life in South Louisiana still has more twists and turns than the muddy Mississippi.

New Orleanians are under attack from a copycat killer mimicking the crimes of a 1918 serial murderer known as the Axeman of New Orleans. Thanks to a tip from the undead pirate Jean Lafitte, DJ Jaco knows the attacks aren’t random—an unknown necromancer has resurrected the original Axeman of New Orleans, and his ultimate target is a certain blonde wizard. Namely, DJ.

Combatting an undead serial killer as troubles pile up around her isn’t easy. Jake Warin’s loup-garou nature is spiraling downward, enigmatic neighbor Quince Randolph is acting weirder than ever, the Elders are insisting on lessons in elven magic from the world’s most annoying wizard, and former partner Alex Warin just turned up on DJ’s to-do list. Not to mention big maneuvers are afoot in the halls of preternatural power.

Suddenly, moving to the Beyond as Jean Lafitte’s pirate wench could be DJ’s best option.

After a very, very bad previous 24 hours, DJ is fresh out of a shower in Jean Lafitte's hotel room. Alex has just shown up to make sure she is okay.

Quote: 
Alex stepped back and placed a finger across my lips. “It’s gonna be complicated. It’s gonna give me a headache. Probably acid reflux too. And I’ll end up doing something illegal. So don’t tell me. Not yet.” He leaned down and kissed me, then traced his fingers across the cuts on my face, following his fingers with his lips.

This was a bad idea. We had too much unresolved. We had too much... damn. He slipped his hands inside the robe.

His voice was low and husky against my ear. “Were you wearing that lace-up thing I found on the floor out there?”

I struggled to breathe as he worked his way down my neck. “Corset. Yeah. Wearing.”

He growled against that sensitive spot where neck meets shoulder and nudged the robe aside till it slipped off and puddled at my feet. “Take it home with you. I want to see you in it.”

Uh-huh. I could do that. As soon as I finished unbuttoning his stupid shirt. How many buttons did one shirt need?

By some stroke of divine providence, I opened my eyes while Alex’s back was to the door to the outer suite and I was camouflaged by his body. So my “holy crap” was muffled by my dive for the floor and the abandoned robe.

Jean lounged in the doorway, grinning. “Do not mind me, Jolie. I would enjoy the sight more without le petit chien in the way, but”—he shrugged—“Je prends du plaisir où je peux en trouver.”

I think that translated roughly as taking pleasure where one found it, and I hoped he wasn’t suggesting a threesome because as intriguing as that sounded in theory, it was a horrible idea.

I’d like to say I was woman enough, but I really, really wasn’t.

Review: 

I quite liked the first two books in this series, Royal Street & River Road, though apparently I only remembered the broadest strokes of their plots, luckily the recaps were simply and efficiently done only where really necessary. It's hard to believe that it's been 10 years since Hurricane Katrina, the event that launched the series.  In the book it's been a little over 3 years and the city is still in the rebuilding and readjusting to a new normal phase.

While reading this book, I was reminded about why I liked DJ so much.  She's not a TSTL herione, nor is she one that takes careless chances and has to be bailed out by someone else every time she turns around. Here is a heroine that most of the time gets advice and assistance in planning and executing any plans that could be dangerous. She knows her limitations and isn't afraid to ask for help. Shocking right? Add in the variety of characters, everything from the Historic undead, to vampire, to elf, to were, some with shockingly outrageous personalities and it's a wild ride.

Even at over 350 pages, it seemed like a very quick read, keeping me glued to my screen and flipping pages quickly to find out what was going to happen next. I can't believe it took me this long to come back. I won't let it be that long again before I read the next book, Pirate's Alley.  I gave this book 4 stars.