chez_jae

Final Heir by Faith Hunter

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I stayed up late last night to finish reading Final Heir by Faith Hunter, which is the 15th book in her "Jane Yellowrock" series. The main character is skinwalker and Dark Queen, Jane Yellowrock, and the story is in her first-person pov.

As the queen of vampires, it's up to Jane to keep the peace not just in her chosen city of New Orleans, but all over the world. She and her entourage are preparing for the coronation of Jane's primo, Edmund, as the Emperor of Europe when a new threat emerges. Jane learns that Mainet Pellissier is alive, and as the Heir of the Pellissier line, he is old and powerful and has aspirations. He wants to steal Jane's crown, along with the Heart of Darkness, and use the artifacts to bind both an angel and a demon, which would give him unlimited power in multiple dimensions. Jane will die before she lets that happen, but her people are intent on keeping her safe, rather than allowing her to fight. Jane will have to rely on her people--the humans, vampires, witches, and others to aid her in this battle. Because if she loses, they all lose.

This was a monster of a book at nearly 450 pages, but I flew through it. The narrative was engrossing and captivating and kept me on the edge of my seat. I am ashamed to admit a sneaked a peek at the back to see who survived. Oops? I couldn't take it; the tension was killing me! That being said, the author wove some down-time in there for Jane, giving her and the reader a bit of a breather now and again. Characterizations were top-notch, and the plot proceeded smoothly whether it was pelting along or slowing before the next heart pounding battle. Fight scenes were amazing and appropriately violent.

Favorite lines:
♦ I was better at busting heads than I was at diplomacy.
♦ Wild guesses were both my forte and my undoing.
♦ She knew I hated pink. If I reminded her I hated pink, would she shoot me?
♦ "If I die, she'll slap me alive, kill me all over again, and you all too."
♦ "Now he has a glass of wine and half the guys in here need a cigarette."
♦ She flipped down a night vision occular and looked ready to shoot anything that moved. So did all the team. Jittery. Tense. I hoped no one let their little yapper dog out to pee or it might end up blasted to pieces.
♦ I was tripping over my protective detail. If we were attacked, I would as likely die from being trampled by my own people as from enemy weapons.
♦ "It is always a child, or a young woman, with the greatest power. This is why men fear us so."

I do love me a bad-ass heroine, and Jane is one of the baddest asses out there. I love her as a character, and I love these books! Five stars.

jane