Title: On the Wings of War
Series: Soulbound: Book Five
Author: Hailey Turner
Publisher: Amazon/Kindle Unlimited
Length: 395 Pages
Category: Urban Fantasy, Folklore/Mythology
At a Glance: Never, ever let it be said that Hailey Turner under-writes an action scene; this author is so proficient at escalating the danger and drama to pulse-pounding levels that she could teach a master class in how to bait readers into fits of anxiety.
Reviewed By: Lisa
Blurb: Remembering the dead will always give them life.
The coveted Morrígan’s staff is up for sale on the black market to the highest bidder, and SOA Special Agent Patrick Collins will do whatever it takes to ensure the Dominion Sect doesn’t get their hands on it. Returning the weapon to its rightful owner is another step on the long road toward clearing Patrick’s soul debt, but he won’t walk it alone. Jonothon de Vere won’t let him.
Obeying the gods means Patrick must travel to London. For Jono, it means facing a past he thought he’d left behind forever. His return to England isn’t welcome, and neither is their pack, but Jono and Patrick will face the antagonism together. Politics aside, their priority must be the mission, but the bone-chilling secret they uncover in the London god pack will have far-reaching repercussions no one can ignore.
A race against time takes Patrick and Jono from the streets of London to the bright lights of Paris, where hospitality is thin on the ground, the air is filled with whispered prayers for the missing, and the Morrígan’s staff will end up in the one place it should never have gone—a graveyard.
For beneath Paris lie the long-forgotten dead, and when they rise to walk again, the living can only hope to die.
Review: Just when I thought there couldn’t possibly be any more lore, legend, or mythology left for Hailey Turner to tap into, along comes On the Wings of War to prove me unequivocally wrong. Special Agent Patrick Collins continues to be a tool of Fate and a plaything of the gods, and this installment of the Soulbound series takes him to the absolute brink before Turner pulls him back. Back to what, however, remains to be seen, because that ending. Wow.
This series has been, and continues to be, expansive in its exploration of world mythologies, many I was unfamiliar with and am loving to learn about, and remains exceptional in the way Turner uses every god, goddess, and supernatural being at her disposal to complicate Patrick’s life—apart from those that make up his pack and friends and allies, of course, some of whom provide their own set of issues, but he could not prevail without. The damage to Patrick’s soul, the soul debt to the goddess Persephone that dictates his life, and his illicit soulbond with Jonothon de Vere each continue to factor into the journey the Fates are directing at every turn. The pursuit of the Morrígan’s staff, and the utter imperative to keep the staff out of the hands of Patrick’s father, Ethan Green, and return it to its rightful owner remains the key to the survival of every living, and undead, being on earth.
The concept of the soul and it being the absolute essence of who we are, how we exchange thoughts and feelings, it being the moral center of actions and interactions and how we engage, continues to make up and influence Patrick’s experiences and the way he’s learning to relate to and trust in the bond he shares with Jono, and the way he feels about his pack and his friends, not to mention how he’s confronting all the horrors that continue to emerge and impact his mission while often seeming as though he’s feeling his way blind through it all. Patrick gets the signs and signals but frequently doesn’t know their significance, which adds to so much of the tension and suspense. And never, ever let it be said that Hailey Turner under-writes an action scene; this author is so proficient at escalating the danger and drama to pulse-pounding levels that she could teach a master class in how to bait readers into fits of anxiety.
On the Wings of War is exactly what the title of the book suggests, literally and figuratively, not only in this stage of the story but for what is yet to come. A central figure in Patrick’s journey is returned, and for better or worse, he will be forced to deal with what that means in relationship to his soul debt, and in addition to the connection he still has to his twin sister, Hannah, and the horrors she has been subjected to at the hands of their father. Readers are left with confirmation that Patrick will be asked to endure further demands from the gods and goddesses and the Fates, more than he could possibly guess at or prepare for, but we also know he won’t do it alone. Wade, resident teenage dragon and bottomless pit of delight; Sage, badass weretiger and dire of the pack; Marek, powerful oracle and benefactor of the pack; and Jono, alpha of the New York god pack and the love of Patrick’s life; along with the new members of the New York pack as well as the Fae, the Valkyrie, the albeit grudging assistance of the Night Court, and a host of other packs across the US and abroad, play significantly into what is now, and what is yet to come.
The Soulbound series is superior Urban Fantasy, no two ways about it.
You can buy On the Wings of War here:
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