I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review. But ended up buying (and reading) my own copy.
4.5 Stars!
I feel like I just stepped off a roller coaster that was equal parts thrilling and terrifying. Dead Man's Trigger was a TRIP! We find out two lovers much like we left them in Raven's Tears- apart and angry at each other. Angelique initially is hoping that she can mend fences with Vincent. But he is too deeply wounded and angry. Their first encounter since their explosive confrontation at the end of the first book ends disastorously and with them farther apart from each other than ever.
And apart, they descend into equally wretched patterns of self destructive behavior. Vincent become a drunk manwhore who tried to numb his pain by drowning in liquor and women. While he is busy drowning his sorrows, the city he is charged with protecting is in the midst of a crime wave that is being fueled by warring traps ( I understood these to be warring criminal organizations). The stolen artifact is still missing and as far as the public knows the police sabotaged the case against their only suspect and so are no closer to finding it.
,
In Raven's Tears we know that Angelique is living a double life. She is impersonating a Barronness that is the creation of Louis Arnot while she is really the bastard daughter of a duke named Angela. What is revealed in this book is that is not impersonating anything...she is actually 5 separate personalities in one body. And the stress of her separation from Raven has brought two of them to life - and while they seem to be aware of each other, Angelique the Barronness is not fully aware of the acts committed by these personalities when they take over her body. Iris (the namesake of the book) is a badass, trained elite fighter, who is basically a one woman army involved in the trap wars that are raging the streets at night. She dons a black wig and moves like a ninja at night. Angel seems to be the personality closest to Angelique's original personality and is the calming glue that seems to bind them all together. We are also introduced to Cricket (a child) and Angela (the one who actually loves Louis). I was really surprised by this turn in the story. And honestly for the first half of the book I didn't understand it. I am not sure that I do now, actually. But when Raven and Iris/Angel/Angelique reunite I am relieved that Raven, at least, seems to not be freaked out by these split personalities. In fact, he seems to like having these different women all in the body of the woman he loves--it might actually be what keeps him faithful in the end (I hope!) His initial encounter with the core trio is with Iris and he doesn't recognize her initially. It is not just the wig and the clothes, it is the way she moves and speaks-- it is starkly different from Angelique. To him, she is Angelique in disguise and he doesn't really truly understand what she is until he encounters Angelique the morning after.
These two are SO good together. I almost wept tears of relief when they were finally back together and when Angelique FINALLY tells him all about her and Louis and her past. I thought it took too long, really because while the whole crime/suspense part of the story was interesting, I want to see my couple together! Though- their reunion, the sheer joy they feel and radiate from it. nearly makes the wait worth it. They don't waste anytime getting things back in order. Angelique and Vincent resume their betrothal. Iris and Raven plan to take Louis Arnot down and Angel just tries to keep everyone from killing each other.
Speaking of Louis, we get to see the workings of his unhinged mind. He is the ultimate criminal mastermind. But I feel good about the chances of his defeat. He is TOO confident. As they say, pride goes before the fall. But, at the moment he is desperate to re-exert control over Angela and he clearly feels he has nothing to lose. That makes him a very dangerous opponent. Raven and Iris need to stay on high alert and we see them take a hard hit when they lose their focus. The concept of the Multiple Personality Disorder (i think) is novel. I am curious to see what it is in aid of.
And this installments ends in a cliffhanger that made me need listen to some music and bake banana bread as soon as I finished the story - for real. I had to step away because I just couldn't believe that I have to wait almost 9 months for the next installment. The authors do a nice job of assuaging some of the angst with a nice post script.
Main impressions: The writing is great, the story highly entertaining and FASCINATING! This in terms of character development and the quality of the relationship between Raven and Iris was a step up from book 1 and so I hoping that trajectory continues in book 3. I am looking forward to more romance, a faithful Raven and a mentally intact Iris in the next installment!
