Mother.GAMER.Writer

Originally Reviewed At: Mother/Gamer/WriterRating: 5 out of 5 Controllers Review Source: Blog TourReviewer: HeatherRiver Road is the second book in the Sentinels of New Orleans series by the very talented Suzanne Johnson. Please, if you have not read the first in her series Royal Street do so now. If you love fantasy and mystery then you shall not be disappointed at all. River Road picks up with Drusilla Draco (DJ), and the rest of her gang years after the Katrina aftermath we saw in Royal Street. She is now the lead Sentinel for her area, but is a bit miffed that the Elders have kept steamy, shifter, enforcer that is so-still-off-limits on as a Sentinel too. DJ feels she is strong enough, smart enough, and a powerful enough wizard to take care of business without his help, plus he makes more money than she does. With two murdered members of the Green Congress, polluted rivers, a crazy-sexy famous undead pirate that she made endless promises to when she thought he would die in the beyond, plus the rivalry stewing between Jake and Alex Warin over her, DJ really has her hands full in this novel. I know, it’s a bit of a mouthful, but I promise you a lot of action, magic, preternaturals of the fin, fur, and underworld kind, and the mysterious elven staff is back at it again! Even watching her cat through the book brings a chuckle or two, so there is plenty of wit to keep you amused as the story progresses. Ok onto my thoughts before I am tempted to give far too much of this wonderful story away. First of all I am in love with this series. When emailed asking if I would like to review the second book, I jumped at the chance. The world building is phenomenal, I mean really I want to live in this world. No, it isn’t perfect, but between the rich history and preternaturals, I just found it as awesome as JK Rowling’s world of Harry Potter, just a US version, with adults, and more grown-up story line. I am a huge HP fan, so this is me saying “‘It’s all that and a bag of chips” (or whatever we said growing up in the 90’s.) The character development was quite intriguing. While this is written in first person, we still get a real sense of each of them, even though we view them through DJ’s eyes. Alex is head strong, masculine, but underneath he really is an awesome, sweet guy. As the story progresses, we get to see it first hand as DJ notices him or notices little changes here and there. The dead pirate Jean we learn can send very uncomfortable signals, and DJ cannot help but be attracted to him, but we also get to see the softer side of the privateer that has her really looking at him in a different light. So while this is a first person POV, you get so much more as DJ not only watches these characters unfold before her eyes, but as she watched their development, readers do too. Storyline was top notch, and I was sucked into this one big time. There was a perfect balance between conflicts, a progressive love story that has been in the works since the first book, and then the magical action. Laced into this all are the mysteries surrounding not only the murders, but the river pollution. I anticipated every new paragraph, every page, and in the end I left satisfied, but with a taste for more. This series is one you don’t want to put down, and you certainly don’t want to miss.