Moon Shades: Crack the ice (The Greatest Sin Book 3) by Lee French & Erik Kort
A Fantasy Novel published by Tangled Sky Press (05/16/15)
Summary:
Chavali is back. The greater evil is still out there, but Moon Shades focusses on Chavali’s conflict with a fellow Fallen who is intent on learning her clan secrets. Chavali is so upset with him, Sean, that she starts a fight in the cafeteria. Within hours she is sent on a mission with him and Eliot so they can learn to get along. Nobody is happy with this arrangement, especially Eliot. The Courier Circuit is their mission, just making the rounds, but it is not surprising that what they find is a thickening plot surrounded in death and mystery that they must solve. The small village of Eagle Falls needs their help and it would be a routine investigation if not for the unwanted character that shows up, bringing the greater plot to their front doors yet again.
Keywords:
Fantasy, Clan, Family, Loyalty, Prophesy, Seer, Close-Knit, Sacrifice, Strength, Evil, Friendship, Mystery, Thriller, werewolves, small town, hiding in plain sight, healing, leadership
My Review:
The opening scenes with the muffin is hilarious. Chavali is in no way a humorous character, but her situation is entirely laughable, even while you sympathize with what is going on. Who hasn’t been so angry that every little bad thing makes you fume even more, yet everybody she bumps into is willing to give her a hand (or a muffin). Despite being only close knit with her clan, Chavali has been accepted into the Fallen and their community and slowly has been accepting them back. She even wants to induct new members into her Blaukenev clan. This was surprising. I didn’t know Chavali would be willing to open up her clan to outsiders. I thought she meant for the clan to die with her and the three children she rescued in the previous books.
Chavali is shown, again and again, to be wondrously wise and extremely logical in the way she works through problems and solves mysteries. She has that Sherlock Holmes utterly unreal sense of logic and people-reading skills of using what’s in front of her from slight changes to human behavior (subtle posture shifts/facial tics) to figure out the truth.
Chavali’s take on life is fascinating. She’s logical and wise, but she still loves and grieves. She is a mystery to me and I want to figure her out. I want to understand her.
I liked how more was revealed about Eliot’s character. His story is becoming more and more complex, just like Chavali’s.
I’m a bit reticent to read books involving mages, magic, teleportation-like transportation, werewolves, etc., because I like books grounded in reality. However, Lee French’s fantasy elements are a part of her books and not the reason for them. I like this type of fantasy, where the book’s plot is not all about the fantastical elements, but more about the story and the characters.
Disclaimer: I was given a free copy of this story in exchange for my honest review.
This novel was published by Tangled Sky Press on May 16th, 20145 and is available on Amazon here.
TL;DR Star Rating: 4.50
Links for more information:
Rachel Author Barnard 