Series: Sentinels
of New Orleans #5
Format: Kindle, 336 pages
Release Date: November 8, 2016
Publisher: Tor Books
Source: Bewitching Book Tours
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Suzanne Johnson's "strong and
intriguing" (Publishers Weekly) urban fantasy series continues with Belle
Chasse. The Sentinels of New Orleans series has earned starred reviews from
Library Journal ("a resourceful heroine who relies on her magical
ingenuity") and PW ("vivid...a lively tale jam-packed with action,
magic, and intriguing plot twists").
With the wizard-elven treaty on the
verge of collapse, the preternatural world stands on the brink of war. Unless
former wizard sentinel DJ Jaco manages to keep the elven leader, Quince
Randolph, focused on peace and not personal matters.
With no one on the throne, Faerie
is in chaos, with rival princes battling for power. The still-undead pirate,
Jean Lafitte, is building his own army of misfits, and DJ stripped of her job
and hiding in the Beyond to avoid the death sentence handed down by the wizard
Council of Elders can’t get anywhere near her beloved New Orleans or her
significant something-or-other, Alex.
It's time to choose sides. Friends
will become enemies, enemies will become allies, and not everyone will survive.
DJ and her friends will learn a hard lesson: sometimes, even the ultimate
sacrifice isn’t enough.
Belle Chasse, by author Suzanne Johnson, is the Fifth installment in the Sentinels of New Orleans Series. For those who haven't read this series yet, Belle Chasse continues the story where Pirate's Alley left off. In fact, I dare say that it would make total sense to go back to the beginning of the series with Royal Street, and progress forward until you are caught up. This series is set in a world Post-Katrina where the supernatural community surged into the modern world thanks to the borders between worlds crumbling.
Series protagonist Drusilla (DJ) Jaco is a Green Congress wizard with the ability to use powerful Elven magic. She even carries a staff called Charlie that makes her dangerous and a threat to others. She recently lost her card, her job as Sentinel of New Orleans, and now has a death sentence waiting for her if she is ever caught. What's a girl to do with all of this falling on her shoulders? She, and her allies escape to Pirate Jean Lafitte's home of Old Barataria, where wizard's magic don't work. Old Barataria is the 1815 version of South Louisiana. It is a place where perpetual darkness leaves no room for sunshine.
Team Lafitian consists of merman Rene Delachaise, Shifter Alex Warin, Loup-Garou Jake Warin, Loup-Garou Collette, Vampire/Wizard Adrian Hoffman, and Christof, Faerie Prince of the Winter Court. In addition, DJ finally meets her cousin Audrey St. Simon, and her uncle Lennox St. Simon who both play interesting parts in this story. On the other side of the equation are First Elder Willem Zarkov who has made DJ's life horrible, Quince Randolph, DJ's "bond mate" who I loathe with every fiber of my being, plus vampires, and the Elven Synod.
Belle Chasse really doesn't move the series forward all that much, except perhaps closer to the preternatural war that has been on the minds of a whole lot of characters for several books now. We still have a whole lot of politics and shenanigans that we need to sort through before we get to the end. DJ's main focus in this book are to keep her best friend safe, keep Rand away from a very pregnant Eugenie while she figures things out, and make sure her friends are safe and sound and survive until the war can either be diverted or won.
One could say that DJ is a very stubborn character who often trusts the wrong people that leads to dangerous situations. One could also say that Jean Lafitte, not DJ is the real leader of the group. He has been using up all of his resources while also standing in the shadows waiting to see which side he chooses to support. I am happy that DJ has made friends with not only Rene, but Jake and Collette as well. I'm still curious as to the romantic entanglement that still exists, but I do hope that Johnson sorts it out quickly in the next book.
Belle Chase is definitely not a standalone novel. You need to have read Pirate's Alley before jumping into this story. Plus, the ending of the story not only leaves heart break, but also leaves a clear path to what the author claims with be the Sixth, and final installment in the series. See you then!
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I expected Christof to start a snowstorm
above Rand’s head. What I didn’t expect was for the prince to lower his head
and charge Rand like a raging bull, head-butting him in the midsection. They
hit the ground, and I saw my chance at the same time Eugenie spotted me.
I
motioned her toward the woods where the transport lay. To hell with the Blue
Congress wizards. We were going to make a run for it while Christof kept Rand
too busy to notice.
She
set off for the woods, and I met her halfway. “My family thinks I’m crazy!” she
wailed, loud enough to draw the attention of the tall, skinny Blue Congress
wizard with the rooster haircut.
“Hey,
stop!”
Holy
crap. I whipped out the elven staff, paused long enough to aim just to the
right of the wizards. They already had their hands up and were doing some of
their nifty Blue Congress magic when I released my fire and blew up the
tombstone next to them, sending a rain of marble and playing cards onto their
heads. Around us, evidence of their magic appeared as tombstones began moving
to block our escape route.
I
grabbed Eugenie’s arm and pulled her around a marble stag the size of a small
SUV. It had lowered its head and pawed the ground as if to charge. Blue
Congress magic was so damned cool— create and re-create.
“Stop,
DJ!” Eugenie grabbed my arm as I tried to race past her. “A sinkhole!”
I
looked stupidly at the ground in front of us, which had opened a gulf big
enough to drive a Greyhound bus into. “Go around and run fast,” I shouted,
sending another shot of the staff toward the Blue Congress wizards
and blowing up a ginormous marble eagle perched atop a nearby tomb.
We
didn’t stop to see if the stag was chasing us, but ran for all we were worth.
Finally, at the edge of the tree line, I hazarded a look back at Christof and
Rand. The faery stood watching us; the elf had crumpled on the ground. Not
dead, though, because in my head, far behind my protective barriers, I heard
him yelling my name.
Christof
grinned and motioned for us to move along. He didn’t have to motion twice,
because the wizards were chasing us, still chanting and doing their finger
dance. The stag was getting way too close.
I
raised the staff and blew a hole in the earth in front of the advancing stag,
forcing him to change direction. Luck was on our side for a change— the stag
began charging toward the wizards instead, who had to stop pursuing us in order
to protect themselves from being trampled beneath marble hooves.
“Let’s
run to the transport before those idiot wizards can get out from under the
stag.” I grabbed Eugenie’s hand and we ran to the clearing. “Help me roll this
werewolf out of the transport.”
To
her credit, she didn’t ask a single question. We tipped the werewolf onto his
side and rolled him outside the interlocking circle and triangle, leaving him
at an awkward angle with his
feet in the air. Oh well.
I
touched the staff to the edge of the transport and said, “Winter Palace, Faery”
just before the Blue Congress wizards reached the edge of the clearing. I waved
at them as the transport sucked the air out of my lungs. They were too late.
As
soon as we materialized on the round floor of ice in the Winter Palace, Eugenie
screamed. I figured she was getting her first look at the grisly remains of
Faerie Princess Tamara until a blinding light knocked me off my feet and a big
crack appeared in the ice between us.
“Where
is my brother?”
I
whirled to see Florian sitting on a block of ice behind us bundled in a heavy
coat, a blanket spread beneath him, no doubt to protect his royal assets from
getting cold and wet.
“He’s
in Shreveport, Louisiana, at Our Lady of Perpetual Help church, having a fi
stfi ght with an elf,” I said, pretty confident that of all the things he might
expect me to say, that wasn’t it.
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About
the Author:
Suzanne Johnson is the author of
the award-winning Sentinels of New Orleans urban fantasy series but perhaps is
best known for her romantic suspense and paranormal romance books written as
Susannah Sandlin, including the Penton Vampire Legacy paranormal romance
series, the Wilds of the Bayou suspense series, and The Collectors romantic
thriller series. Her awards include two Holt Medallions in 2013 and 2015, a
2015 Booksellers Best Award in romantic suspense, and nominations in 2014 and
2015 for the RT Book Reviews Reviewers Choice Award. A displaced New Orleanian,
she currently lives in Auburn, Alabama. Suzanne loves SEC football, fried gator
on a stick, all things Cajun, and redneck reality TV.
Twitter: @Suzanne_Johnson
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