"The Descent" More Than Rises To The Challange of Great Adult Fiction

The Descent (The Taker, #3) Title:  The Descent
(The Taker #1)
Author:  Alma Katsu
Format:  ERC
Length:  352 pages
Publisher:  Gallery Books
Rating:  4 Stars

The final installment in the “mesmerizing” (Booklist, starred review) and addictive trilogy—find out who truly holds the key to Lanny’s heart and whether she’ll ever be reunited with her beloved in this gripping supernatural tale of magic, lust, and longing.

Lanore McIlvrae has been on the run from Adair for hundreds of years, dismayed by his mysterious powers and afraid of his temper. She betrayed Adair’s trust and imprisoned him behind a stone wall to save Jonathan, the love of her life. When Adair was freed 200 years later, she was sure that he would find her and make her existence a living hell. But things turned out far different than she’d imagined.

Four years later, Lanore has tracked Adair to his mystical island home, where he has been living in self-imposed exile, to ask for a favor. She wants Adair to send her to the hereafter so she may beg the Queen of the Underworld to release Jonathan, whom she has been keeping as her consort. Will Lanore honor her promise to Adair to return? Or is her intention to reunite with Jonathan at any cost?

Of all the forces of the universe, the most mysterious, confounding, and humbling is the power of love. The epic story of love and loss, magic and destiny that began with The Taker and sparked a chase around the world in The Reckoning comes to a surprising conclusion with The Descent.   -Goodreads


 My Thoughts
Alma Katsu's The Descent, is a glorious amalgamation of historical fiction, fantasy, and mythology.
This third and final installment of The Taker trilogy, finds Lanore grieving the loss of Luke, while trying locate Adair in order to save Jonathan.
Confused yet?
You're not alone.
Adding to the confusion is the fact that dearest Jonathan just happens to be dead.
Yes...I said dead.
Lanore is being haunted by Dante-esque dreams of his torture and demons in the Underworld, and Adair is on an island with reincarnations of two conniving witches from his past.
If all of that is not reason enough to start you turning pages; the end of this book surely will be.

Alma pulls no punches story-wise with The Descent. Be forewarned however, there is a great deal of senseless pining on Lanore's part concerning her long lost Jonathan. It can get rather trite.
The last 30% of the book is where the reader's treasure lies. This is where all of Adair's secrets come to bare in a most fantastic and unbelievable way.

As usual, a good portion of Adair's part of the story is told in historical flashback. In fact, his is the only portion of the story told this way.
This is important because this is the portion of the the book concerning his experiences with alchemy.
Yay!
Finally!
Why bring that into play now...you ask?
Well, it is said alchemy which brings about the amazing ending that was alluded to earlier in this review.
This is a book that is full of surprises and complex situations. The rather slow start is more than made up for by an awesome ending.

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