Review – Black City (Madeline Black, Book 5) by Christina Henry (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Size: 288 pages
Publisher: Ace
Release Date: February 26th, 2013
ISBN: 978-0425256589
Stand Alone or Series: 5th book in the Madeline Black series
Source: Borrowed from Library
Rating: 4/5 stars

This is the fifth book in the Madeline Black series by Henry. The sixth book will be titled, Black Heart, and is scheduled for an October 2013 release. I really enjoyed this book, we learn a lot about Nathaniel’s history and what made him who he is.

Maddy thought things would get better after Azazel was disposed of, but things have only gotten worse. Vampires, who are now immune to sunshine, are flooding the streets of Chicago and slaughtering innocents. When a vampire leader demands Maddy in exchange for peace, Maddy is left with the very people she is trying to help hunting her down.

This was a very good installment in this series. Nathaniel is in the story a lot and there are some wonderful plot developments involving him. We finally learn how Nathaniel ended up at Lucifer’s side and we also learn his history. There are some absolutely startling and surprising revealings involving Nathaniel’s character and I truly enjoyed it.

Maddy also grows a lot in her powers. We find out more about her background and she grows into some new and interesting powers. Maddy still takes a bit too much of the scorched Earth approach to her fights and plans, but she realizes this and jokes about it. The supporting characters do try to reign her in, with not much success.

While I do get a bit sick of the way Maddy can conquer all with her increasing power, I do really enjoy the fast pace of the story and how action packed it is.

This was one of the, dare I say, sexyist books of the series. The tension between Maddy and Nathaniel is absolutely wonderful. The scenes between these two are exceedingly well done.

There are also a lot of interesting revelations around Lucifer’s plans. It’s amazing how well Henry had a lot of this stuff planned out so well from the very beginning of the series.

I also enjoyed that there was a problem to be solved in this book, but also a story that continues from the previous book in the series. The book does end at a horrible cliffhanger, but for some reason it didn’t bother me for this book…it just worked. That’s not to say I am not absolutely dying to see what happens in the next book though.

Overall an excellent installment in this series. I loved that we learned so much about Nathaniel’s past, there were some truly stunning revelations around his character. Maddy also grows a lot in power and continues her rather destructive and power heavy approach to things. This book is fast paced and full of great action scenes. I loved the interplay between Maddy and Nathaniel. This whole series is recommended who enjoy action packed urban fantasy.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– 150+ Reading Challenge
– Paranormal Reading Challenge
– Color Coded Reading Challenge