Review and Giveaway: The Reckoning by Alma Katsu
Author: Alma Katsu
Tittle: The Reckoning
Release: June 19, 2012
Series: The Taker Trilogy 2
Reviewer: Steph (Eowyn)
Source: Personal Library
Purchase: | Book DepositorySECOND IN ALMA KATSU’S GRIPPING SUPERNATURAL TRILOGY THAT BEGAN WITH THE TAKER
Lanore McIlvrae is the kind of woman who will do anything for love. Including imprisoning the man who loves her behind a wall of brick and stone.
She had no choice but to entomb Adair, her nemesis, to save Jonathan, the boy she grew up with in a remote Maine town in the early 1800s and the man she thought she would be with forever. But Adair had other plans for her. He used his mysterious, otherworldly powers to give her eternal life, but Lanore learned too late that there was a price for this gift: to spend eternity with him. And though he is handsome and charming, behind Adair’s seductive façade is the stuff of nightmares. He is a monster in the flesh, and he wants Lanore to love him for all of time.
Now, two hundred years after imprisoning Adair, Lanore is trying to atone for her sins. She has given away the treasures she’s collected over her many lifetimes in order to purge her past and clear the way for a future with her new lover, Luke Findley. But, while viewing these items at an exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Lanore suddenly is aware that the thing she’s been dreading for two hundred years has caught up to her: Adair has escaped from his prison. He’s free— and he will come looking for her. And she has no idea how she will save herself.
The Taker left off with everything calm and peaceful in Lanny’s world yet there is foreshadowing that the peace is about to be shattered. After waiting a year to find out what danger that I had feared would befall Lanny in Alma Katsu’s second novel in the series The Reckoning I must admit I was pleasantly surprised to find that my wild imagination had not produced any of the scenarios Katsu has come up with.
Suddenly Adair is free and his only thought is to find Lanore (Lanny) and make her pay for her transgression. The time has come for Lanny to pay the price for what she has done and her reckoning is upon her. We can feel the fear and anxiety she is feeling over the inevitability of this reunion as she races across the world trying to keep ahead of Adair. Katsu’s exquisite writing takes us on twists and turns as Lanny has a few startling revelations about what she had thought love was and begins to confront emotions she did not realize she felt. Much like The Taker we are drawn between past and present as Lanny and Adair both remember events from their lives. This effectively helps us to see the person Lanny has been becoming over the past two hundred years as well as how Adair became the tyrant we have come to know him as.
One thing that I immediately enjoyed is the new perspective we gain on Adair. As you can imagine he has been entombed for 200 years and quite a few advances in technology have taken place. It is almost humorous to watch him learn about computers and debit cards. I found myself laughing out loud more than once at his thoughts on modern life. Adair has had two hundred years to think about his life choices and he too has come out a changed man. Many of the profound moments in the book revolve around Adair’s battle between his nature and the new person he would like to be. The changes in him are intriguing and with the stories from his past a different more complex picture of him begins to emerge.
Love actually becomes a bigger theme in The Reckoning and we begin to see a little more about love lasting an eternity. Some of the characters from the previous book are revisited as well as a few new ones. Nothing is as it appears to be and Katsu continues to shake up your understanding of what has happened. Sometimes we believe what we have been told because we want to believe the story rather than face the truth.
The Reckoning will leave you wondering what new revelations will be unearthed about the main characters in the final installment. Can love last an eternity? Are some things beyond redemption? What makes Adair immortal? The character growth is so complex and so rich in this installment I personally can’t wait to see what lies in store for Lanny and Adair.
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Great Review. Im glad to see it has more insight to Adair. i cant wait to read it and see how he did take being out for 200 years and all the new gadgets.
Pam you will love the changes in Adair and the way we get more story from his perspective as well. Can’t wait to find out what you think about it.
Honestly I haven’t read the first book yet and I don’t want to know any spoilers because I am going to read this series to I skimmed this review.
I am sure it is fantastic though!
The Taker has been on my TBR pile. Need to bump it up because Reckoning looks good!
Yipes! Being trapped for 200 years….I imagine that would affect one’s personality, wouldn’t it? Haven’t read the first book yet, but this looks like a fresh take on the supernatural/immortal genre :)
Lauren this is a refreshingly new take on the immortal/supernatural genre. When I read The Taker that was one of the things I loved about it.
Truth is I haven’t read The Taker yet, I do own it. The thing is I want to wait until the whole series is written to read them all at once. I have read nothing but rave reviews on both books and I can’t wait to read them!!!
My question what do you feel makes this series different than other paranormal books?
Laura,
One of the things that makes this different is that it’s more in depth. Immediatly it’s not your traditional immortality story. There are no vampires, werewolves etc. We aren’t sure what makes them immortal yet and the alchemy interest is quite intriguing. You will be captivated by the story and the character development as they grow over time.
Great review, great article i would love to be considered for the UK version
Alma in an other interview I read that this series is the work over many years. How did you keep it all together for so long.
Thanks for the give a way
btw, I loved both novels and for those of you asking you need to put this one high on your TBR pile it’s amazing
deb
Thanks for a great review! I just got the Taker so I’m very excited to start reading! I’m so behind :)
Erin, we can’t wait to hear what you think of The Taker.
Great review – it makes me want to read this book right away. I love how it seems to captivate the reader and you can find yourself caring about the characters and what they’re going through.
Mare, Alma does such a superb job writing her characters that you find yourself caring for the ones you swore you were going to hate forever. That’s amazing talent.
I really enjoy books that have a humorous side to balance the serious details. I can’t wait to read this.
I would love to read this series. It sounds very good.
Thank you Stephanie & the Dolls, for the lovely review and for running the giveaway. I do hope folks who haven’t read the books yet will give it a try. The reviews have all been quite good & from all quarters: horror, romance, fantasy, mainstream fiction reviewers. Very gratifying. B&N just compared it to early Anne Rice–can’t ask for more than that!
best, Alma
It looks like a great story with excitement and humor in it.
Nice review, especially about the characters. The book sounds good.
[...] With the stunningly imaginative storytelling and rich characterizations that fascinated readers worldwide and made The Taker a singular and memorable literary debut and an international sensation, Alma Katsu once again delivers “a powerful evocation of the dark side of romantic love” (Publishers Weekly) in her breathtaking new novel. READ HER REVIEW. [...]