It was a really nice surprise to find out this fourth installment of the magically fascinating series around ‘The Warlock Brothers of Havenbridge’ is told from Drake’s point of view. Drake is human, for some unknown reason immune to all magic except Mason’s, and he is Mason’s boyfriend. As a relative outsider who has been pulled into a magical world full of dangers and evil beings, Drake’s perspective made everything even more exciting for me. As it turns out, his role in the battle for supremacy in the magical world is pretty substantial. The revelations about the real nature of the threat, old and new enemies attempting to gain power for their nefarious purposes, political turmoil inside the secretive Conclave, and Drake and Mason’s continuing trials and tribulations had me glued to the pages.

Drake feels pretty overwhelmed right from the start. All they know about the threat is that the being they got to know as Ica in the previous story is part of it, that it involves a powerful curse that can cause a Spell Fall, whatever that may be, and that Drake is somehow the one on whose shoulders everyone’s fate rests. Then Drake begins to have strange dreams about Mason, whose power over shadows is known to be pretty corruptive. Drake has to learn how to distinguish truth from fiction, how to regain trust in Mason, and how to answer all the questions around the mystery of what is happening in the magical world. A tall order indeed for anyone – not to mention a “mere” human!

But this personal battle isn’t all that kept me turning the pages. The Conclave, which rules all warlocks, wizards, and witches and was never my most favorite group in this series, is clearly up to something. But they are so secretive that it’s hard to figure out their agenda – or indeed, which of its members may not have the magical world’s best interests at heart. Then there is the impending Spell Fall, and the more details I found out about it, the scarier it sounded. And as for some of the other wizards, witches and warlocks? Despicable, the lot of them! Power politics and greed at its finest, is all I will say. All of these subplots involving many layers each are managed very well, the suspense doesn’t let up, and betrayal is added to betrayal on all fronts. What a ride!

If you like the world of the Warlock Brothers of Havenbridge, if you enjoy stories where characters are confronted with seemingly impossible challenges to overcome and mysteries to solve, if you want nonstop action and adventure, and if you’re looking for a read full of mysterious dangers, suspenseful situations, surprising revelations that only lead to more questions, and fascinating characters, then you will probably like this novel as much as I do. I can’t wait for the next one – but I guess I have no choice. Please hurry up and write it, Jacob!


NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. ( )