A Review for Elysian Fields (Sentinels of New Orleans #3) by Suzanne Johnson

Posted by Melanie 
Release Date: August 13th, 2013
Finished Date: July 17th, 2013

Publishers: Tor Books 
Source: For Review

Format: ARC 
Pages: 352

Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

An undead serial killer comes for DJ in this thrilling third installment of Suzanne Johnson’s Sentinels of New Orleans series

The mer feud has been settled, but life in South Louisiana still has more twists and turns than the muddy Mississippi. 

New Orleanians are under attack from a copycat killer mimicking the crimes of a 1918 serial murderer known as the Axeman of New Orleans. Thanks to a tip from the undead pirate Jean Lafitte, DJ Jaco knows the attacks aren’t random—an unknown necromancer has resurrected the original Axeman of New Orleans, and his ultimate target is a certain blonde wizard. Namely, DJ.

Combatting an undead serial killer as troubles pile up around her isn’t easy. Jake Warin’s loup-garou nature is spiraling downward, enigmatic neighbor Quince Randolph is acting weirder than ever, the Elders are insisting on lessons in elven magic from the world’s most annoying wizard, and former partner Alex Warin just turned up on DJ’s to-do list. Not to mention big maneuvers are afoot in the halls of preternatural power.

Suddenly, moving to the Beyond as Jean Lafitte’s pirate wench could be DJ’s best option.

The Review: Wow! This was AWESOME! I think this book blew the other two out of the water and this series has definitely become a firm favourite of mine.

I can’t add anything to the synopsis because it outlines the story perfectly as we join DJ for her third and most dangerous adventure yet. I think DJ is a great character that has grown so much over the course of 3 books, really coming into her own as a Sentinel & wizard but with room to grow & progress more. I like that there was an attempt to bring her Elven powers to the forefront in this and feel like there is a lot of untapped potential there so I’m hoping for more along those lines. I loved where her love life went in this, but, felt like it was 2 steps forward and one step back and yet another complication was added to the mix which I have mixed feelings about, I’ve always liked the banter between DJ and the men in her life but I need to state that I’m definitely team Alex!

The storyline was just great, there was SO much going on that I just couldn’t put the book down – it was action all the way and seriously took my breath away. I read the first 75% of the book in one go and only didn’t finish it in one sitting because I fell asleep with kindle in hand – so yeah, it’s that good! In this series there always seems to be two threads going on at once in each book and this felt like it had even more but not in a complicated way, everything blended together seamlessly for one hell of a ride. I have always enjoyed the idea of the border between the two realms that is policed by Sentinels like DJ & I love how New Orleans & Old Orleans come together, how our world exists with the supernatural world and of course, collide, which has tons of possibilities for future books. I really liked the undead serial killer angle and that got even better when he started to target our MC which is a good enough plot by itself but then when everything else starts to pile up for DJ – she ends up with a loup-garou scare, gets herself kidnapped, becomes part of a power play, gets knocked around (a lot!) and as always finds herself in some precarious situations – it makes me wonder just how much can our favourite wizard take? But what I do know is that this book is an amazing, exciting, action packed adventure filled with lots of supernatural goodness, with many life threatening situations for most of its characters & a smidge of romance that always leaves me wanting more and I loved every second of it!! I think that the world that the author has created is just brilliant, the characters, the setting, the supernatural element & even the pacing are everything I could want it a book and that’s what I get  - Now, I WANT MORE!!