Name: Deathmaker (Dragon Blood, #2)
Author: Lindsay Buroker
Genre: Steampunk, Romance, Adventure
Release Date: 23rd May 2014
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
I received this copy via the author in exchange for an honest review.
When Lieutenant Caslin Ahn joined Wolf Squadron, she was prepared for the reality that she might one day be killed in the line of duty. She was less prepared for being shot down, assumed dead by her own people, and dragged off to the Cofah Empire as a prisoner of war. As if being thrust into a dungeon and interrogated wasn’t bad enough, the sadistic commandant decides to give her a cellmate: the notorious pirate Deathmaker. Given the crimes he’s committed against Iskandia, Cas owes it to her people to try and kill him.
Part warrior and part scientist, Tolemek “Deathmaker” Argoson has not only slain thousands with his deadly concoctions, but he has a special loathing for Iskandian pilots. It was Ahn’s commander, Colonel Zirkander, who ruined his military career, forcing him to leave his country in shame and join a pirate organization. Years later, he uses his dreadful reputation like a shield to keep people away; all he wants is to be left alone to work in his laboratory. But when fate lands him in a cell with Zirkander’s protégé, he sees a chance for revenge. Why kill the lieutenant when he can use her to get to his old nemesis?
There’s just one problem: it’s hard to plot against your enemies when you’re in prison with them. Cas and Tolemek will have to work together if they hope to escape the Cofah dungeon. In the process, they may find that neither is what the other expects, and that they have far greater problems to worry about than ensnaring each other…
I reviewed the first book in the series, Balanced on the Blades Edge, here.
I’m a huge fan of Lindsay Buroker so when she offered me the chance to read this, I jumped at the chance.
It’s part two in her Dragon Blood series and takes place a little time after the first. This one is more like her Emperor’s Edge series with it being heavy on the action and light on the romance, though there is enough to make you happy. It’s more subtle than that of the first, which is what I really like about the authors books.
I grew to like Tolemek/the Deathmaker early on in this, despite him being one of the bad guys, and I think Cas had the same problem. He’s unlike the rest of the pirates she ends up meeting. Tolemek doesn’t like hurting women, unlike some of the others, and over time he softens towards Cas and she gets under his skin. It was all rather sweet reading.
If you’re a fan of the author then you need to read this. If you’ve never read anything by her, why not?
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