Reckoning

Level: Adult
Genre: SciFi/Fantasy-Vampires
Obtained: Online Bookseller
Reviewed by: Maggie W.  

About the Book:
This book is a prequel to the main Night Huntress series. It's the introduction to one of the main characters in the series, Bones. Although the events in the book happen before the rest of the series this short novella was published in an anthology after a few books had been published. 

Rating: 8/10

I'd already read many of the books in the Night Huntress series before I read this one. Bones is actually one of my favorite characters from the series so I love that she wrote about his time before he met Cat. 

The book opens with a man named Eric, who's visiting New Orleans during Mardi Gras, going on a haunted tour of the city. Another girl that happens to be in the tour group with him happens to catch his eye. During the tour they've passed many bars (such a shock in the French Quarter in NO) so by the end of the tour Eric is pretty drunk. The girl he's been eyeing all night asks him back to her place for the night since she lives in a house near by. After they get there they start to fool around a bit when then as yet unnamed women starts getting really aggressive and eventually bites off the tip of Eric's tongue. Understandably upset, Eric tries to push her off and leave, but she basically throws him down the stairs. Lying dazed and in pain at the bottom the lights suddenly come on, and Eric sees they're not alone in the house. As the woman comes downstairs to where Eric and another other man are, she tells Eric she's going to eat him.

The next chapter begins with the first introduction to Bones. He's been invited to New Orleans to help the ghoul queen of New Orleans Marie, or Majestic as she's know by her followers, to track down the person(s) responsible for people going missing only to have their bodies turn up a few days later, minus a few limbs. He's met by Marie's right hand man, Jelani, who instead of leading him to Marie's official seat takes him to a nearby bar instead. 

Jelani explains how the current serial murders are like the ones that happened in the city 50 years before, as well as just after the Civil War, before he was turned into a ghoul. It's the same people that have committed the murders both times but they managed to escape. Jelani's explains that his wife was one of the original victims of the LaLaurie's in the 1800's and that Marie wants them hunted down and killed for daring to go against her wishes in her own city. 

Jelani tells the story of how his wife served in the LaLaurie household while he was off fighting in the Civil War. After being horribly injured during a battle Jelani was shipped home after they had to amputate both his arms and legs. He arrived home in time to hear that he was to late because the LaLauries, who both are ghouls, killed and ate his wife. Since then he's wanted them dead but is unable to do so himself. 

The majority of the rest of the book is spent with the LaLauries staying one step ahead of Bones until he finally corners them. It's after this point that the truth of why Bones was asked to New Orleans, and Jelani's real past are revealed.

Though this novella is sort of a prequel to the Night Huntress series I actually didn't read it for the first time until I was 3 or 4 books into the series. I really enjoyed this book because Bones is one of my favorite characters from the series so him getting his own short book was a nice treat. Though it takes place a few years before the start of the series it isn't really necessary to read it before you start the main series. 

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