True Dead by Faith Hunter

Jane Yellowrock goes back to the city where it all began in the newest installment of this thrilling New York Times bestselling series.

Jane used to hunt vampires, but now she’s their queen. She’s holed up in the mountains with the Yellowrock Clan, enjoying a little peace, when a surprise attack on her people proves that trouble is brewing. Someone is using very old magic to launch a bid for power, and it’s all tied to the place where Jane was first drawn into the world of Leo Pellissier—the city of New Orleans.

Jane is compelled to return to NOLA because someone is trying to destabilize the paranormal world order. And because she now sits near the top of the vampire world, the assault is her problem. She will do what she must to protect what’s hers. Her city. Her people. Her power. Her crown.

Don’t miss our reviews of other books in the Jane Yellowrock series!
For book #11, Cold Reign, click HERE.
For book #12, Dark Queen, click HERE.
For book #13, Shattered Bonds, click HERE.

 

 

Book 14
Buy Links

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Paperback (US)
Ace (PRH)

 

 

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆☆
True Dead is the 14th installment in the Jane Yellowrock series. It absolutely cannot be read as a standalone or out of series order. Not only is the world building complex, crafted from Skinwalker (Jane Yellowrock book one) onward but it's a continuing story arc throughout all the novels. Extreme confusion would be had for new readers. Start at Skinwalker.

Eagerly anticipated and well worth the wait, I savored True Dead, thrilled to move forward in Jane Yellowrock's universe.

Healed from a form of magical cancer, heavy is the head that wears the crown. Our Dark Queen, Jane is used to being the first to run into battle, used to being the cannon fodder for political monsters, a pawn maneuvered on the Southeast territory's game board. With Leo's death, with the crown choosing to rest upon Jane's head, she is the Dark Queen, and it's beyond difficult to switch gears from the underling to one of the most powerful, wealthy, and influential beings on the planet.

Based in North Carolina, Jane and company are prepared to journey back to NOLA for Wrassler and Jodi's upcoming nuptials. A large portion of the beginning, around the first third, the reader joins Jane as she tries to get her footing in North Carolina. Make no mistake, those pages are filled with action and the gamut of the human condition as Jane struggles. Not only is she having trouble adapting, her human form is a cost paid via the healing of the magical cancer. Jane's half form is becoming the natural skin she wears, taking a toll for her to try to maintain a human form for more than a few hours.

Where Faith Hunter shines is the connections she's created for Jane. The orphan has constructed a large, extended family of chosen confidantes who accept Jane for who she is, people willing to lay their lives down for her. They're frustrated with her, because Jane is the ultimate alpha predator, believing she needs to be between her loved ones and danger, when with her death it will bring destruction to all they know and hold dear. They're the fodder now, but they're too valuable emotionally for Jane to lose.

The familial connection, the romantic entanglement Jane has with her mate/consort, the camaraderie and laughter between them all, especially the uncanny thought process of Beast, this brings levity to a very deep and heavy novel, lessens the stress felt on every page, as the reader empathizes with Jane's plight.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. No matter where Jane and company reside, the target is firmly resting upon her head. Greed and lust for power, the European vamps are in cahoots with a surprising faction of supes, which I will not name as that would spoil the reader's journey. Both factions seeking Jane's magical artifacts for their own gain.

Set to the backdrop of a NOLA wedding, Jane is in danger on every page. The title – True Dead – had fear in my heart for the entire time, many of Jane's nearest and dearest in peril. There are hard hitting deaths, surprisingly fitting twists, new positions created and held, and a slight cliffhanger as readers ravenously await what this new connection made means for Jane and another.

As always, the best parts of the novel feature Beast-speak. Beast is a separate entity in her own right, with her own emotions, desires, needs, and drive, and she pushes Jane sometimes for Jane's benefit and sometimes to her detriment.

I won't lie, I got majorly choked up when Jane stepped foot into the foyer at HQ. I won't explain, as I hope readers have a similar, shocked emotional reaction.

The twist... holy crap, Batman!

Have some tissues handy, tears from shock, grief, and emotional overload will undoubtedly fall.

On the negative side. I spent a large portion of the novel just rolling with it. Bear in mind, I just reread all 14 novels back-to-back in two weeks' time, the world building and events firmly in my mind. Some of the world building, the jumps in logic, the actions of enemies, I was totally lost on what was occurring. Maybe I'm head-blind after reading nonstop, but it felt as if Hunter managed to connect A to G, without leaving breadcrumbs from B to F for readers to follow. This left me confused, where I just had to take it as face-value and roll with it. Too much information dumped, where Hunter tried to explain a simple plot with a very complicated explanation, featuring hundreds of years’ worth of political maneuverings.

Now the wait begins anew, where I eagerly await what will happen next for Jane and Beast, along with all they call their own, targeted by their enemies both near and far.

 

 

New York Times bestselling author FAITH HUNTER writes three series: the Jane Yellowrock series, dark urban fantasy novels featuring Jane, a Cherokee Skinwalker; the Rogue Mage novels, a dark, urban fantasy/post-apocalyptic series and role playing game featuring Thorn St. Croix; and the Soulwood Series featuring Nell Nicholson Ingram.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of True Dead (Jane Yellowrock #14) by Faith Hunter to read and review.