Review - Renegade by Amy Carol Reeves (Ripper # 2)

Renegade is the sequel to Ripper and takes place in 1889 London as well as Scotland. 17 year old Arabella (Abbie) Sharp is a survivor of sorts after she defeated the Conclave, a group of immortal men that have been pursuing not only her, but her mother Caroline as well to become their only female members.

Abbie is an intelligent, smart, and intriguing character who, when the book first starts off, is suffering from guilty feelings over her actions against the Conclave after they threatened her friends Dr. William Sidal and Dr. Simon St. John. She understands that she can't get too comfortable with her life or her feelings toward her paramore Dr. William Sidal because the Conclave's assassin, Max, is still on the loose and has his sights set on making Abbie his own no matter who gets in the way. He even goes as far as planting suggestive thoughts into her dreams which has her running around London without any sort of protection.

Abbie, besides worrying about Max and his machinations or if Inspector Abberline will find out what she really did in killing the members of the Conclave, is attempting to become a doctor. She works as a nurse at Whitechapel Hospital waiting until she is able to apply to the London School for Women. She's also having vivid dreams about a supernatural creature that looks exactly as her mother did in a painting that was done by Abbie's father Dante Gabriel Rossetti and given to her by Max.

Here's my thoughts about Renegade. First, I actually liked the addition of Seraphina, the lamia who was created by the Conclave and given immortality, to the story and was actually more interested in her thoughts and actions than I was, at times, with Abbie's. Abbie has some romance issues as well as a feeling as though she is the only person in the world that is able to stop the Conclave and Max in particular. She claims to love William, and yet, Simon is absolutely perfect for her in every single way possible which is shown clearly to me when William dives off the deep end and disappears and Simon drops everything in order to accompany her to Scotland.

I would really love to get in the head of Max, the Conclaves assassin and find out what makes him tick. I know that he had something to do with Abbie's mother. I know that he wants Abbie for his immortal mate but what is his purpose in doing so? There are a few surprises at the end of Renegade that obviously will be transferred to the next book. I want to know who the stranger is that has been following Simon and Abbie around. I want to know what is going to happen to William now that it appears he's become yet another target of the Conclave's machinations. Lastly, I want to know if Inspector Abberline will finally join Abbie in her attempt to stop Max once and for-all.

In closing, although the story was interesting at a whole, it wasn't Ripper. I found myself struggling at times to get into this story even though Abbie is clearly able to handle herself in dangerous situations. I thought the tale of Seraphina was sad at times. To understand everything that she's had to go through for 80 years, was a wee bit disheartening. I'm actually glad that part of the story was told in her POV and we see just how she has had to cope with losing her humanity, and everyone she ever loved.

Author - Amy Carol Reeves
Title - Renegade (Ripper # 2)
Publisher - Flux
Releases - April 8, 2013
Genre - Historical, Paranormal
Recvd from Flux via Netgalley