I wondered how Elizabeth Hunter would solve all of the mysteries and tie up all the loose ends readers are left with at the end of The Singer (Irin Chronicles Book Two), but she pulled it off, in part because The Secret is considerably longer than the previous 2 books. The Scribe is 290 pages, The Singer is 336 pages, and The Secret surpasses both of them at 374 pages. And they are 374 action packed pages. I finished the previous 2 books in about 48 hours, but that just wasn't possible with this book. It's a marathon, not a sprint ladies and gentlemen. I needed time to digest the revelations that just kept coming before I could continue on through the book.
That was the major difference for me between this book and its predecessors. In the previous two books it felt like the entire narrative was building to one great OMG moment, whereas every other chapter in this book provided you with that moment. Even with its length I found myself wishing I had even more time to spend with each new piece of information. I wanted more back story. I wanted more history. I wanted more development of all the many offshoots this book had to offer.
In truth what I really wanted was for this series not to be a trilogy. I want more of Ava and Malachi and Sari and Damien and Max and Renata and Leo and Rhys. I want more of the world of Irin, Irina, Grigori, Grigora, kareshta, Fallen Angels, Forgiven Angels, ancient languages and love than spans millenia. I take comfort in knowing I can always return to the series like an old friend and read it again, but deep down I know it will never be the same as it was the first time.
If you have not gotten into this series yet, what are you waiting for??
The Secret can be purchased at the following places:
Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/mm6uycp
iBooks: http://tinyurl.com/lkf3vdf
B&N: http://tinyurl.com/n4bgcwk
Smashwords: http://tinyurl.com/mcbz57b
Happy Reading!