Review + Excerpt: Archangel’s Prophecy by Nalini Singh

It’s been a long time since I stayed up all night to finish a book. I am at a place in my life now where I usually have enough self control to put down a book to get a decent night’s sleep in order to not be a crabby grouch all weekend. However, I could not put this book down. I just HAD to know how it was going to end, hence the late night. And let me just warn you all now – it ends on a CLIFFHANGER! Yes. you heard me. I stayed up all night only to be left dangling at the end! I’ve read pretty much every Nalini Singh book written and I can’t recall any other books that ended on a cliffhanger, so this was quite unexpected. Hopefully the next book in the series is coming soon (I haven’t checked for a date yet). I just wanted to warn you all as a kindness. Was it still worth the late night? Definitely yes.

Wow I can’t believe this is the 11th book in the Guild Hunter series. Raphael and Elena have come a very long way since their first adversarial meeting and the world in which they live has also changed greatly. There have been huge shifts in power with Lijuan going to Sleep and Raphael’s mother, Caliane, waking. The Cascade has caused the Earth itself to shift and change, sometimes with catastrophic results. It has also caused changes in the angels and archangels, with Raphael trying to control an immense amount of power without losing his humanity. Fortunately he has Elena, an angel Made human, as his consort to help him navigate these changes and keep him a little mortal.

The book opens with a Cascade flare that causes a huge sinkhole filled with lava to suddenly appear. At the same time, Elena’s brother-in-law is attacked and almost killed. Fearing for the safety of her sister and niece, Elena focuses her energy and finding the killer while Raphael deals with the sinkhole. However, fate has other things in mind for Elena. As the only angel Made human in angelic history, not much is known about the process and its effects on a human. So when Elena’s wings begin to fail her and all signs point to her regressing back to human, it’s a race to find what happening and how to stop it. Elena, in her usual manner, doesn’t let this stop her. She also starts to hear the voice of an old, old power in her head, whose prophecy seems to reference her death. All of this adds to the urgent feel of the book as Elena races to find the killer before the prophecy is fulfilled.

This is a rollercoaster of a book. Elena’s possible death hanging over her and Raphael, every moment between them is more intense and emotional than usual. While Elena is never one to give up, it’s heartbreaking to see her body start to fail her.

This book is filled with all of the usual Guild Hunter awesomeness – great banter, an intriguing mystery, The Seven, and Elena and Raphael’s relationship at the center of it all. There are a few fun appearances by characters we haven’t seen in a bit like Galen and Jessamy. My favorite, Bluebell, has couple of great scenes with Elena. Unfortunately no Aodhan this time around but I am really hoping that he gets his own book one day soon.

I don’t think that fans of the Guild Hunter series are going to be disappointed. This book really kept me on my toes the entire time I was reading it. And even though it ends on a cliffhanger, the book itself does provide a full story. It just kind of rips your heart out at the end and leaves it hanging. I’ll forgive Nalini Singh though because her books are amazing and I have faith that we will all be rewarded when the next book comes out. If you haven’t started this series yet then you have 11 books to go until the next one comes out. For die hard fans, hang on to your seats for an amazing ride!

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my review or opinion of the book.

Excerpt from ARCHANGEL’S PROPHECY

By Nalini Singh

Illium turned in a direction that would take them to the Catskills if they kept on going.

Sweeping closer to him, she said, “You just want to fly?”

Hair rippling in the quiet but cutting wind, he twisted down in a complicated fall before flying back up to her side. She laughed at his showing off. That was Illium. An angel of violent power who had a heart that might almost be mortal. And, these days, she could appreciate his tricks again. Not a single angel in the city had been ready to witness his acrobatics in the immediate aftermath of the day he’d crashed out of the sky.

Elena would never forget her screaming fear.

To his credit, Illium had flown with absolute discretion for months, letting the memory dull and fade.

When he returned to her side today, his face was flushed, the gold of his eyes rich. “Sky’s too beautiful to shut ourselves away in a club.”

“Just don’t forget I’m not as fast as you. Also, I’m currently lame.”

Illium lifted one cupped hand close to his shoulder, the other moving back and forth . . . and she realized he was playing a tiny violin in response to her morose tone.

“Crossbow, Bluebell.” Narrowed eyes. “Remember the crossbow.”

He dived, his wicked laughter floating up on the night air. Lips twitching, Elena continued to glide, letting the air currents sweep her along with cold but gentle hands. Illium, meanwhile, flew circles around her—but he never went far, always close enough to halt her descent should she tumble.

She landed a number of times to rest her wings, once in an isolated park whispering and dark. A luminescent insect appeared then disappeared from sight before she could truly see it, an earthbound star. The ghostly owl sitting on a tree branch watched her with eyes even more luminous.

A sigh deep in her mind, an old, old presence restless in Sleep.

The hairs rose on her arms.

Then Illium shot them both up into the sky again, and together, they flew far beyond the diamond-bright skyline of the city and over the sleeping homes of ordinary people who lived in a world of vampires and angels, blood and immortality.

Another rest stop for Elena.

Another throb of pain from the cut on her forearm.

Another watchful owl, this one landing on Illium’s shoulder without his knowledge. Ashwini had told her not to be afraid of the owls, so Elena ignored the goose bumps and said, Hello, with her mind. A good night to fly.

A vein began to throb at her temple.

The answer came a long time later, after they were in the air again, the glow of the sinkhole visible from the distance.

It has been an eon since I flew.

Posted by arrangement with Berkley, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, A Penguin Random House Company. Copyright © Nalini Singh, 2018.

So tell me, who’s your favorite character in the Guild Hunter world? Besides Elena and Raphael I have a soft spot for Illium (who doesn’t) and Galen. Happy reading, everyone!