Soul and Blade

BLUF: Satisfying wrap up to a trilogy. (Not a standalone.)

I was provided a copy of this book from netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review

The concept of this series is amazing. Jane Spears, a former spy, assassin, and master sergeant, is a mind runner. She enters the minds of victims and criminals in order to gain information needed in the real world. It's an emotional job and coming out of a run creates uncertainty in the runner about what is real and what was in the mind. As if this isn't stressful enough, Jane is being swept into a royal wedding – her wedding – to a man whose wealth and social status intimidates her.

I saw this book and its' description on NetGalley and I just had to read it. I didn't realize this was a trilogy until reading the “Acknowledgements” section at the end (d'oh!).

The relationships in this book are well done, and as complicated as they are in life. The only relationship I thought was off was the one between Jane and Dash. I don't understand their relationship at all, which leads me to believe that there are some major events I missed from the first two books.

The mind running performed in this book is (what I assume) a continuation from the second book. It's entertaining, but there are no new cases introduced, criminals put away, or cases solved.

Overall, this book is the completion to a trilogy, not the standalone I mistook it for. It seems to wrap up the series in a fulfilling way, but I couldn't fall in love with the action or characters without reading the first two books.