Retribution (Chronicles of the Uprising #5)

POST APOCALYPTIC:  The former vampire gladiator Mira, her werewolf mate Stryker and their team have taken over New Haven as its leaders, making all the vampire slaves free and forcing humans to be on equal ground with everyone else. However, their attempts to get a binding treaty in place with the largest city are not going over well and the Otherkin and humans in their council can't stop bickering with each other. Allowing herself to be pushed into action instead of thinking things through may not be her smartest decision, but it may be her only one.

"Retribution" is book 5 of a six-book series, and readers of the previous novels will find more to love and deeper peeks inside their favorite characters. Having a synopsis of all the previous books is an immense help to new readers; however, if they are missed or skipped Ms. Salidas does a phenomenal job of interweaving the past into the present without using information dumping. The biggest loss a new-to-the-series reader will feel is the lack of emotional depth between the characters. Because their relationships have been established long ago, every chapter has a different POV—and while doing a wonderful job of keeping the action going—the emotional ties that have bound them together are glossed over in favor of the actions between the characters and in the story. Though the words are correct and the action brutal, sometimes the emotional content is just not high enough, or low enough. The story is fast paced with little breathing room, making it an aching but satisfying journey through devastating growing pains in a newly integrated society.

Julie York