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I only happened to read the first book in this series, The Casquette Girls, because it was an ARC basically handed to me. After I emerged from its magical world of vampires and witches on the supernatural streets of a Katrina-ravaged New Orleans, I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was. I had to re-read it when the second book finally came out, having forgotten many of the important details. Even though only two years, rather than four, passed between the publication of The Romeo Catchers and this third installment, I still had to re-read the second because I just didn’t want to miss out on important context I had forgotten as I read The Cities of Dead.
At the start of this book, Adele has lost her mother, and in her anger at her boyfriend Isaac, she had asked vampire Nicco to not only erase her father’s memories of the supernatural events he learned about, but to erase her father’s memories of Isaac’s presence in their lives. So she has isolated herself for a couple of months, holing up inside her house, grieving over her mother’s death and the loss of her Fire magic. But she has to emerge sometime, and she slowly manages to get back into life, connecting again with fellow witches Dee and Codi. Isaac is a much trickier matter.
But the danger posed by the spirit-sucking coven of centuries-old witches is growing, affecting more and more citizens of New Orleans, and Nicco and his fellow vampires are in a race with the coven to find important magical possessions of the Medici family. Adele finds herself torn between Isaac and Nicco, whose past she is learning more about through dreams.
Adele and her own coven are trying to do all they can to protect the city, including calling upon mischievous and dangerous voodoo spirits. As the danger ramps up, they get desperate, and they may end up attempting the impossible.
I was thinking this would be the conclusion of the series, but as the many pages went on and on, and the story became more complex, it became clear it wasn’t! There’s one more book coming to conclude. I’m very curious to see where it’s going to lead; I didn’t expect much of what happened in this book, so I’m sure the fourth will be an intense and surprising road. I’ve really enjoyed the books and am eager to read the conclusion. I just wish the series wasn’t getting as strong on content as it is.
Rated: High. This book had probably 35 to 40 instances of strong language, and there was a fair amount of violence and blood. Sexual content is higher, with sex happening, several instances of nudity, and a number of crude references. Trigger warning: There’s an attempted rape. Voodoo magic plays a much bigger part in this story than in the previous books.
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