Vague plot but sets us up for a good final book!

With his father’s NY empire under attack from crazed strigois, vampire Cristian Slava and his human bodyguard, ex-marine Atlas Kincaid, flee to their ancestral home of Romania where they find it hard to know who to trust. Hot on the trail of Cristian’s missing cousin, the pair hear rumours of local strigoi attacks but are confused about who is suppressing the news. When the pair are betrayed, Atlas will have to confront the deep fears that have caused the PTSD he acquired when his platoon was decimated by strigois while he served in the military.

The 2nd in a trilogy can suffer from middle book syndrome—they aren’t the exciting first book and they aren’t the exciting conclusion—and Crooked Shadows suffers more than most. You definitely need to read the first book to know what’s going on, there’s no definitive conclusion, and there isn’t a clearly defined plot, it’s more of a vague mystery. Cristian and Atlas engage with a series of Romanian locals and stumble around trying to figure out what’s going on and who to trust. Along the way, they figure a bit more of their relationship out, so I suppose that’s something. There’s another abrupt cliffhanger, which sets up the third and final book—hopefully the plot will be tighter there. Looking forward to it! 🎧 US veteran voice actor John Solo provides his always-excellent audio narration, I love how much he can soften or strengthen his voice to convey all the emotions!

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