Ghost Market – Angela Roquet

Ghost Market is book six of the Reapers Inc. Series. To see my reviews on the preceding books, click the links below.

Book 1. Book 2. Book 3. Book 4. Book 5. 

This post contains spoilers.

Lana Harvey has survived the war intact. She has her faithful hellhounds, her delicious Lord of the Flies, and her apprentice, Kevin, has been off of hellfire for six months. We don’t see Gabriel quite as much, but we can attribute that to his distaste for Bub and his work. 

Lana’s ability to see the potency of souls has been disclosed to the council, and they are furious. Jenni spends this entire novel trying to make sure they all aren’t executed, essentially. Naledi removes Lana’s special ability toward the beginning of the book, since Jenni is hoping it will give the council one less reason to want Lana dead. Lana struggles with some identity issues after this, which is understandable. 

Jenni also creates a new Special Ops unit, headed up by Lana, to track down souls that are being stolen from the Three Fates Factory. The council makes it clear that Lana finding these souls and taking down the trafficking ring will be a big factor in their decision on whether or not she lives or dies.

Lana is under a lot of stress in this book. Not that she hasn’t been in the previous books, but this is the only time her existence has come under direct threat from the council. She manages to take down the trafficking ring and recover twenty of the souls that were taken, and her existence is put up for a vote. One vote saved her life. 

Like the five books before it, Ghost Market is imaginative and wondrous. Roquet has kept my attention throughout six books (which is much harder than you think), and has me eagerly awaiting the release of the final book in the series, Hellfire and Brimstone, which will be released this coming October. I think I can safely say that I speak for every fan of this series when I say that October cannot come fast enough.

Death Wish – Angela Roquet

Death Wish is book five in the Reapers Inc. Series. To see my reviews on the preceding books, see the links at the bottom of the page.

This post contains spoilers.

The emotional rollercoaster continued right on through book five. Starting off the book with the revelation that Kevin has been doping up with hellfire in the wake of Josie’s death is a shocker, but it also gives us something quite relatable in this otherwise fantastical series. Subtract the hellfire and add any sort of vice – heroin, pills, alcohol… Everyone deals with grief differently. Some people just walk around angrily snapping at everyone. Others feel the compulsion to help everyone else instead of helping themselves. Others just want to forget the pain. I think Roquet does an amazing job of showing how addiction can affect personal relationships and the frustration that ensues.

Jenni is as badass as ever, and it’s good to see her seriously question Grim’s methods aloud. Speaking of Grim, I’m relieved he’s been displaced. I think that Reapers Inc. will be much better off in the capable hands of Jenni Fang, and I think things will calm down in that arena.

Bub showing up in the state he did tugged at my heartstrings. I’m a little bit in love with his character. Winston sacrificing himself to the rebels to find Naledi and to get Bub back was heartbreaking, but seeing him die was gut-wrenching.

Roquet is one of those rare authors that has the ability to make the story flow between books without missing a beat. The five of six books I’ve read thus far could have easily just been stitched together and sold as is. Lana Harvey a phenomenal female lead, which is refreshing, to say the least. I have one book left in this series, and I will miss it when it’s over.

On to book six: Ghost Market.

Review Links
Book One
Book Two
Book Three
Book Four

Psychopomp – Angela Roquet

Psychopomp is book four of the Reapers Inc. Series. To see my reviews for the first three in the series, follow the links at the bottom of the page.

If you haven’t read the preceding books, read this at your own risk. This is your SPOILER ALERT.

Psychopomp has been the emotional rollercoaster of the series thus far. I just finished it, and I’m still trying to gather my thoughts. I am pleased that Gabriel had a resurgence in this book. Another character I’ve become even more fascinated with in this book is Jenni. The dynamic between Jenni and Grim is interesting to say the least, and that reflects in the way she interacts with those around her.

Psychopomp is the first book in which we see Grim physically enter a battle. Not long before said battle, Gabriel reveals to Lana that the minor god that they are trying to locate, Hypnos, is Grim’s brother. When we first learn that Hypnos is missing, Grim kind of starts losing it a little, which is extremely out of character. Then when Kevin decides to infiltrate a group of rebels on their way to Summerland to get some information, the intel he gets leads them into a sloppily-planned sea battle. Grim isn’t the type to leave anything to chance, but he let the rebels get the better of him on this one. Grim and his band of misfit soldiers may have won the battle, but the rebels now know exactly how frantically he will try to recover family.

Beelzebub, unfortunately, gets the job of posing as a rebel. Lana doesn’t find out he’s not really with them until the end, but it still leaves her compromised in several aspects of this nightmare situation she’s found herself in.

And, last but not least, I must mention the death of Josie. I wasn’t expecting all members of this little group to make it out alive, but I wasn’t expecting Josie to die. However, the more I think about it, the more I realize that it had to happen for Lana’s character to move forward and make progress in any real way. Lana relied to heavily on Josie, and took advantage of her. Now, Lana will have to assume complete responsibility for training her apprentice, Kevin, and captain the Posy Unit herself. She won’t be able to delegate so many of her responsibilities anymore, which will be good for everyone involved.

Next is book five: Death Wish.

To see my review for…
Book one, click here.
Book two, click here.
Book three, click here.

For The Birds – Angela Roquet

This book review is for book three of the Reapers Inc. Series. For book one, click here. For book two, click here.

This book had what I was waiting for! Oddly enough, the character I can’t get out of my head right now is Grim. If you’ve read this book, you probably know which particular part I’m referring to when I say ‘encounter with Loki’. Although it didn’t exactly surprise me to find Grim in that situation, I think Roquet managed to add a lot of depth to his character in those few paragraphs.

We also see much more of Bub in this book, which I hope keeps up. Bub has evolved from the somewhat-playboy into a real boyfriend, a transformation which he has pulled off *almost* flawlessly. Roquet shows him off in this book. I’m not saying I blame her, either. I would, too.

Kevin has a much bigger role in this book as far as actions go, but we don’t really see any character development. Josie is scaled back a bit, but her and Lana’s friendship being repaired toward the end was great to see. Speaking of friendships being repaired, I have to mention Gabriel. He was a very enjoyable character for me at first, then through this book, he disappeared almost entirely. The reasoning is understandable, and his explanation at the end just makes you love him even more. I’m sincerely hoping that since Roquet took him away for an entire book, he will have a much more prominent role in one of the next ones.

Overall, this book was a great read, just like it’s predecessors. Following Lana on this unwanted journey of attempting to prevent war in Eternity is proving to be a thrilling ride, indeed.

On to Book Four: Psychopomp.

Pocket Full of Posies – Angela Roquet

Yes, I’ve already made it through book two. You can read my review of book one, Graveyard Shift, here.

Pocket Full of Posies gives a much more in depth look at Lana Harvey. She even gets a little action, which is always nice. Roquet spent a lot of time expanding Lana’s character and giving us a complete picture of her personality and motives. However, while she focused so intensely on the protagonist, a few of the other key players, such as Josie and Kevin, were scaled back. Given the ending, I certainly feel that Bub is going to be one of the major players in the books to come. I certainly hope so, anyway!

All of this being said, I think this book is a stepping stone to something bigger. The events in it are important, but you can tell it’s not all quite there yet. It’s like the rumblings of a volcano before the explosion. You know it’s going to happen, it’s just a matter of when. So, on to book three… For The Birds.