Review: The Reckoning

In the sequel to the hit The Taker, Alma Katsu returns in The Reckoning with another heart-wrenching, spellbinding, and evocative story of immortals Lanore and Adair.

Lanny thought she had seen the last of Adair some 200 years ago. She hasn’t seen or heard of him since the night she entombed him, with the help of Jonathan, in the basement of his own home. That all changes one night when she receives a message from Adair himself. He’s back.

And so begins Lanny’s journey to the ends of the earth to escape Adair’s clutches and his knowledge, as she seeks out old friends and foes in attempts to learn more about his secret powers and a way to vanquish them. But Lanny’s reckoning is coming, no matter how far she runs or hides, and Adair will find her. Soon.

I’ve been waiting to read this book ever since I finished reading (or rather marathoning) The Taker early this year. Granted, I didn’t have that long of a wait, but given how the first book in the series ended, I couldn’t wait to see if Adair would be released, and how Lanny’s story would continue.

And I have to say, I wasn’t disappointed!

Alma Katsu delivers another amazingly rich and descriptive novel, one in which the characters breathe through the pages, making you feel like they’re right there in the room with you.

One of my biggest concerns after the end of The Taker was that there would be no more historical aspects to Lanny’s story, that the next instalment would completely take place in the boring and colourless modern world. But that wasn’t the case, as Lanny recounts and recalls her trips around the world, as little facts slipped in The Taker become full and lush accounts in The Reckoning, which explain why Jonathan left the way he did, how and when Lanny met Lord Byron, and other immortals that Lanny stumbles upon.

My favourite character of the story was Adair, hands down. While I had been fascinated by him in the first book, I didn’t really connect with him until this book. That’s because this  was Adair’s story.

Powerful and violent, Adair isn’t the kind of hero (or anti-hero) that girls spend their days dreaming about, but for some reason, I just couldn’t get him out of my head. Katsu masterfully fleshes him out even further, letting you know him in a way you didn’t before, as you finally hear his voice, which makes your heart shatter at his sorrow and your stomach clench at his loneliness.

From the very beginning of the story, you spiral on a twisted roller coaster ride towards Lanny and Adair’s inevitable reunion. And while this reunion doesn’t happen till almost the end of the book, fear gnaws on your insides the entire way, as the only question on my mind throughout all of Lanny’s reminiscing and Adair’s awkward learning of the modern world, was when.

The Reckoning is everything The Taker was and more: chilling and imaginative, beautifully written, with lush imagery, and with a cast of haunting and hugely flawed characters who stare at you with mournful eyes, daring you to condemn them, even when you’ve read the last page and closed the book.

So for that: 4.5/5.

For anyone who has still not read the The Taker, what are you waiting for?!

Thanks for reading,

Ikhlas