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Something Deadly This Way Comes is the latest in Kim Harrison’s Madison Avery series. Now as you guys know Kim is one of my favorite authors and I do like this series but I do not think this was the best book in the series. It starts out a little slow and I did put it down, granted when it came out I was dealing with my father’s health issues so that could have a little to do with it but I finished two other books before going back and finishing this book. I’m glad I did though because Kim answered a lot of questions and we can imagine where the series might go from here.
So what we know besides that this is Kim Harrison’s young adult series. Madison’s story actually starts in the anthology Prom Night from Hell. This is where Madison dies and meets Barnabas for the first time. He’s her protector and a light reaper. Madison is the dark timekeeper, we know this from book one Once Dead, Twice Shy when Madison dies because the then current dark timekeeper wants to live forever. Madison takes his amulet so she is able to stay alive by keeping her soul without her body. The amulet makes it seem as though she has a body and it allows her to the job of a dark timekeeper.
What is a dark timekeeper you may ask? A dark timekeeper is the seraphs human bounty hunter more or less. The dark timekeeper sends out a dark reaper to server out fate to souls that are lost to the world before they are truly lost. There is also a light timekeeper that sends out light reapers to try and save the life of a person. The light reaper places a guardian angle on the person to protect it from dark reapers. These are stories about fate verse choice and what is the correct course of action. Madison has always believed in choice and she is the dark timekeeper who is supposed to dishes out a scything (killing) for fate. This has her wanting to change the way things in heaven are done and in book two, Early to Death, Early to Rise she tries to show the seraphs that the soul and life is important.
This brings us to book three, Something Deadly This Way Comes; Madison is still trying to change the way heaven does business, granted I haven’t given you a lot on the first two books, but in book three Madison gets into trouble in a big way. In Something Deadly This Way Comes Madison is starting to come into her abilities yet she still wants what she’s always wanted her body. So while Madison is trying to save a life and a soul she also pisses off the seraphs as she changes things. Madison has already changed Nakia, her dark reaper, and Barnabas her light reaper but she still has work to do and this is her toughest job yet. Why is this Madison’s toughest job? Because the seraphs put more pressure on Madison and they give her more insight. But they don’t give her any answers. We meet a new dark reaper, and a new light reaper that Madison may or may not help in later books. Grace, Madison’s guardian angel, makes an appearance and of course she has to create some poetry while she is around causing mischief as always to keep Madison out of trouble. Madison teams up with the future light timekeeper again on the down low so Ron the present light timekeeper doesn’t find out, which causes issues and gets Madison in trouble and could kill her is she’s not careful.
I can’t tell you more without giving away spoilers. But here are questions to think about… How does Madison piss off the seraphs that one you really have to read for yourself because she is a seventeen year old and believe me what teenager can’t piss off someone even a heavenly being? Does Madison finally find her body? Does it have anything to do with her powers and how she’s learning to use them? Do the seraphs have faith in Madison? Does Heaven want a change? Is there an ending that is sad? Now this is a question I can answer I did tear up while reading Something Deadly This Way Comes I can’t tell you why because it’s big and it is sad.
