Books4Tomorrow: REVIEW: "FLESH AND BLOOD" (Hayle Coven Series, Book 7)

“FLESH AND BLOOD”

(Hayle Coven Series, Book 7)

by Patti Larsen

REVIEWED BY: Ellen Fritz

OVERVIEW

Demon Boy

The smoke began to clear, the bubble of family magic collapsing to let it out. I choked on the taint of it, terror rising as I understood why it tasted so foul, felt like death. Blood magic. Dad lay across the pentagram, one outstretched hand marked with a thick line of red, a pool of it spreading around his flesh. No. Way. My brain would not process though my heart died a little at the sight.

A flicker of motion caught my eye, distracted me. A stranger stood there, a guy about my age, amber gaze glowing, black hair shaggy around his cheeks. “Syd,” he whispered, looking at his hands, touching his face, the demon fire fading from his eyes.

“Sassafras?”

When Syd’s father chooses to use blood magic in an attempt to return to Demonicon, he not only seals his own fate, a death sentence, he somehow transfers all of his remaining power into the demon cat, Sassafras. Transformed by Harry’s magic, Sassafras is suddenly back to his human form. Faced with a sullen and angry teen demon who refuses to help, Syd must somehow find a way to reach the other plane before Harry’s depleted body destroys itself or he is burned at the stake for his crime.

REVIEW

“Flesh and Blood”, the seventh book in the Hayle Coven series is a decidedly grimmer read than the previous six books. When Syd's dad performs blood magic in a desperate effort to get back to Demonicon, he just about writes his own death warrant, turns Sassafras from a sassy cat into an angry demon boy and brings down the wrath of not only the Hayle Coven but also the High Council, for performing blood magic. With Syd and her family at their weakest, predators like the Dumonts, their werewolves and the remnants of the Chosen of the Light, close in for the kill.

Again Patti Larsen succeeded in keeping me in my reading seat until I had devoured the very last page of this marvelous book. It baffles and delights me that she is able to take the same characters, add a few, or even let a few go perhaps, and still come up with a fresh and utterly unique story every time. In each new book the characters grow; their relationships with one another shifting and changing while new ones get a foothold in the supernatural community.

Syd, understandably, is not quite her normal smart-mouthed, snarky self in this book which is just natural with her father dying, her boyfriend still missing and her mother cracking under the strain. Fortunately she has Galleytrot, hound of the wild hunt and her latest friend, Liam, to support her, and Sassafras - once he gets over himself - also gives a hand. This is the first book in which Syd is required, and even encouraged, to explore and use her considerable power. Combine witch power, sidhe power and demon power and you get butt-kickingly awesome!

Readers, red alert Kleenex warning! I bawled my eyes out several times while reading “Flesh and Blood”. As usual I highly recommend this book as an absolute must-read for readers of fantasy with all the usual elements: vampires, witches, werewolves, sidhe, demons and some other weird and wonderful things. While you're considering getting “Flesh and Blood”, why not also get the previous six books in this series and find out how all this started? A loud cheer for Ms Larsen and this wonderful 5 star book!