Review – Steel’s Edge (The Edge, Book 4) by Ilona Andrews (4.5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Size: 400 pages
Publisher: Ace
Release Date: November 27, 2012
ISBN: 978-1937007829
Stand Alone or Series: 4th book in The Edge series
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 4.5/5 stars

This is the fourth, and final planned, book in The Edge series by Andrews. It was an excellent conclusion to the series and I really really enjoyed it.

Charlotte is the Healer, the top healer in the Weird. When her husband divorces her because she is barren she decides to leave the Weird and start a new life in the Edge. After years of living there peacefully, the wounded Richard is brought to her doorstep to be healed. Slavers are after Richard and destroy Charlotte’s home in pursuit of him. Now Charlotte has decided to dedicate herself to Richard’s cause and hunt down the slavers that have destroyed her home. Charlotte will have to find a balance between healing and killing with her magic.

I enjoyed this book. Charlotte is a very likable, if older (in her 30’s) heroine. She’s dealing with some emotional baggage involving the jerkiness of her former husband. At times she comes off as a bit naive as well because of her secluded upbringing at the Healer’s school. Still she does what needs to be done.

At the center of the story is Charlotte’s struggle to balance healing and harming with her magic. Harming people with her magic is highly addictive and can turn her into a Plague Bearer.

Richard comes with his own set of baggage. We have seen him off and on throughout the other novels. He is an excellent character; a tough fighter who doesn’t take any crap from Charlotte…yet he is always respectful and supportive of her.

The two characters have excellent chemistry and the scenes between the two of them really sizzle.

We also see all the other characters we have come to love; George and Jack are along for most of the story and I absolutely love them. Sophie is also in the story a lot more and it was wonderful to see the tough young woman she is growing into. I really do hope we see future books featuring this younger set of characters….maybe a YA spinoff of this series??

There is a ton of action in this story. Also some medical terminology since Charlotte fights with disease. The plot revolving around the slavers is neatly resolved, with some interesting twists and turns.

Overall an excellent conclusion to this series. This book has well done characters who have excellent chemistry and are easy to engage with combined with a well done storyline and excellent action scenes which make this a joy to read. This is a bit more paranormal romance than urban fantasy. I don’t like these book quite as much as the Kate Daniels books, but they are still very well done and highly recommended to paranormal fans.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Horror and Urban Fantasy Challenge
– 150+ Books Reading Challenge