#1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Charlaine Harris is at her best in this alternate history of the United States where magic is an acknowledged but despised power in this third installment of the Gunnie Rose series.

Picking up right where A Longer Fall left off, this thrilling third installment follows Lizbeth Rose as she takes on one of her most dangerous missions yet: rescuing her estranged partner, Prince Eli, from the Holy Russian Empire. Once in San Diego, Lizbeth is going to have to rely upon her sister Felicia, and her growing Grigori powers to navigate her way through this strange new world of royalty and deception in order to get Eli freed from jail where he’s being held for murder.

Russian Cage continues to ramp up the momentum with more of everything Harris’ readers adore her for with romance, intrigue, and a deep dive into the mysterious Holy Russian Empire.

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Fly girl’s Review

This was an interesting read. While I love the Aurora Teagarden mysteries on Hallmark, I’m not in love with the True Blood series. Granted this is the first book by Charlaine Harris I’ve read, so I probably should infer I don’t like the books those series are based on. We all know how TV goes and the changes they make to our favorite books.

When I got The Russian Cage, I didn’t realize it was part of a series. One that you can read on its own, but starting from the beginning gives it a greater depth and meaning. So when I realized it was part of a series, I found I had An Easy Death on Audible so I thought I’d listen to that one while I read The Russian Cage. It has been an enlightening journey. Not the way I usually do a series I come in at the middle on, but it actually worked in my favor.

Before I go on, this is a Dystopian mystery/light romance. Book one and Easy Death just pretty much introduces the characters, while the following books see them into a relationship. The Russian cage however, is more about what Lizbeth Rose will do for the man she loves. She is a hard woman who’s made hard choices and lived a hard life in the near desolate Texoma area of the North America. She works as a Gunnie, which in plain English means shooter, security guard. She’s very good at what she does, but isn’t one to wear her heart on her sleeve. While Eli her love is more open and less reserved, he does things without letting others know which seems to cause more trouble for everyone.

These characters if I based them on just this last book would have been misunderstood and with no depth. But when you factor in the first book along the way, you realized why Lizbeth and Eli are the way they are. The characters grow exponentially for the reader through the books. So I highly recommend you read the whole series before passing judgement on her characters and the environment they live in by just one book. She tells a story slowly so it takes a bit to feel like you know whole story. BTW, you can not assume you know how it is going to end either because when you think one thing is going to happen, something else entirely does.

I will say this made me reflect on a few of my own relationships. It made me wonder, would I race into the middle of a situation I knew nothing about except I was risking my life to help and save the ones I loved.  Lizbeth sure does. She also trusts (I use that liberally) a few people along the way she doesn’t know because it is the only way she can get to the bottom of things. I’m not sure I could do that part. I believe I would muddle around a situation until I got the lay of the land and devised a plan, but trusting outsiders…Not sure I could go that far.

I’m giving this book a 4.5 of 5 because if I hadn’t started listening to An Easy Death, I probably would have only given it a 3. There is a good ending to this book, however there is no way without book one that you get the depth of the characters she is writing about. Certainly you wouldn’t get why Lizbeth is doing what she is doing, but grudgingly and not very ladylike. A few things she needs in this trial for true love.

I will continue listening to and probably review An Easy Death. This series is definitely good for the soul with a kick a$$ heroine and hero who needs her help. Can’t discredit how much we need more of those types of heroines.  I highly recommend this series for that reason alone, but it’s also a fascinating look at what could become of America also.

4.5 of 5 Propellers

To catch up on the rest of the series:

An Easy Death | A Longer Fall

Connect with Charlaine Harris

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