Review: As Lie the Dead by Kelly Meding

As Lie the Dead
(Dreg City #2)
Kelly Meding
Release: July 27, 2010
Goodreads   Amazon

Evangeline Stone, a rogue bounty hunter, never asked for a world divided between darkness and light . . .

. . . or the power to die and live again in someone else’s borrowed body. After a murder plot meant to take her out leaves an entire race of shapeshifters nearly extinct, Evy is gnawed by guilt. So when one of the few survivors of the slaughter enlists her aid, she feels duty-bound to help—even though protecting a frail, pregnant shifter is the last thing Evy needs, especially with the world going to hell around her.

Amid weres, Halfies, gremlins, vamps—and increasingly outgunned humans—a war for supremacy is brewing. With shifters demanding justice, her superiors desperate to control her, and an assassin on her trail, Evy discovers a horrifying conspiracy. And she may be the only person in the world who can stop it—unless, of course, her own side gets her first.

Review:

Evy and Wyatt are back in As Lie the Dead, the gritty and bloody sequel to Three Days to Dead. If you liked the first in the series you will most likely enjoy this one, as the general plot and tone are similar - Evy bloody, Wyatt bloody, enter Dregs, hunt ensues, mystery solved.

All the delicious action is back in this one as well and I do love the action scenes that author Meding writes. They're smart and realistic, with no crazy and unbelievable feats, which is really saying something considering that just about every character good and bad has some sort of paranormal or superhuman ability. Evy continues learning how to control her new "Gift" of teleportation but I was disappointed not to see Wyatt use his ability more often.

Speaking of Wyatt...I just love him. Evy and Wyatt are both some messed up characters and although this series doesn't make a lot of time for romance, when it does its a deep love between two completely broken people and I love watching them try to figure out what they are to each other. They continue this growth from where the first book left off.

Evy alternates between a maddening level of independence (you don't have to do everything by yourself Evy!) and drawing my pity. She's a really interesting character and certainly one of those imperfect and screwed up heroines that I love. Nobody in this series is all good or all bad and I love that about Meding's characters.

A new character, Phin, is introduced in As Lie the Dead and I really loved him and hope to see him in future installments. Phin is an Owlkin with the ability to partially shift (wings!) and he is a really cool new addition.

This is urban fantasy, pure and simple. Readers be warned, though, this is dark and gritty with not a lot of room for cracking jokes. That doesn't mean there aren't moments of romance and happy endings, but the tone is usually a dark one. If this is your thing, I highly recommend checking out this series!

Recommended for fans of: urban fantasy, characters not afraid to get bloody, paranormal creatures, and anti-heroes.

   

  4 / 5 stars

My reviews of other books in this series:

Three Days to Dead (Dreg City #1)