Talon of Scorpio (Shadowstorm #3) by G.T. Almasi

I love love love Alix Nico and her hilariously idiosyncratic voice and the crazy alternate universe she lives in (well, I love the rampant violence less, but it’s a nice reminder that our own world could always be worse, so.) She’s witty and damaged and reckless and loyal, and she’s a great person to hang an action-packed series like this on. I do rather wish that there hadn’t been four years between the pub dates of this and the preceding novel, as I feel like I forgot a lot more than in the two-year gap between the first two books in the series, but I did love so much how getting back into Alix’s first-person narrative was like slipping into a dress that still manages to be comfy despite being sexy as hell.

What I didn’t love was how prolonged some of the fighting got. I really do appreciate that G. T. Almasi is doing different styles of thriller with each novel in this series, but war chronicles, as this one was, can often drag as we race from battle to battle. While Alix’s personality and resilience are enough to keep you going, things start to feel a little repetitive even with the myriad inventive ways Mr Almasi dreams up to spatter gore across the page. On the plus side, he’ll be doing something different with Book 4! Which I assume is coming given the ending of Talon Of Scorpio? I’m really looking forward to it.

Oh, and kudos also to the way Mr Almasi deals with Alix’s ongoing PTSD, as well as to the adorable relationship she has with Patrick. I haaaaaaaate how crappy and superfluous love triangles are thrown into popular fiction for fake emotional tension, so the strength of the bond between Alix and Patrick feels refreshing even as it convinces. More more more please!