Review: Deadshifted (Edie Spence, #4)

Author: Cassie Alexander
Series: Edie Spence, #4
Published: December 31st 2013
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Format: Paperback, 304 pages
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: The Book Depository

Edie Spence just wanted a vacation. A nice, relaxing, stress free, non-adventure away from the craziness that's dominated her life since becoming a nurse for paranormal creatures. But from the start, her trip on the Maraschino, a cruise ship bound for Hawaii, has been anything but stress free, especially when Edie's boyfriend Asher recognizes someone he used to know. Someone from his not-so-nice past. With their lives in the balance, will Edie and Asher be able to save their growing family or will this adventure be their end?

Here I am after yet another adventure with nurse Edie Spence. Our relationship is so full of ups and downs, but there is a certain honesty and quality to Cassie Alexander’s writing that draws me back in every single time.

To her credit, Alexander doesn’t hesitate to create her setting from scratch for each new book. Edie is long gone from Y4, the hospital wing for supernatural patients where she used to work. Even though I always expected her to return, the author keeps taking her to new places instead. In Deadshifted, she goes on a cruise ship with her boyfriend Asher, where she encounters the most dangerous enemy so far.

Being a nurse herself, and with a main character who is also a nurse, Cassie Alexander was never one to shy away from bloody, gory details, and the same is true for Deadshifted. Her descriptions often turn my stomach, but I appreciate the authenticity they give to Edie’s character. The creatures she brought in this time are second only to her zombies in the amount of disgust they provoke.

After struggling with loneliness for years, Edie finally found some peace with the shapeshifter Asher. Needless to say, I was thrilled when these two found their way to each other after so mall the obstacles they had to overcome. However, now that they’re together and we finally get to know Asher a bit more, I’m not sure that Edie wasn’t better off alone. A woman will never change a man – this is something Alexander approaches extremely realistically – and Asher has lived far too many lives and done what he wanted for far too long to start taking someone else’s feelings into account now. Be that as it may, it seems that he and Edie are here to stay – regardless of his arrogant, hardheaded and extremely unlikeable personality. I don’t doubt that he loves Edie, but I doubt his capacity to love like she deserves.

Unlike the previous book, which wrapped up neatly and beautifully, Deadshifted ends with a pretty nasty cliffhanger. Now, I know you all know this, but it bears repeating: I. Do. Not. Appreciate. Cliffhangers. Suddenly there are cliffhangers everywhere, and I’m getting a bit tired of trying to remember where I left which character.

Cassie Alexander takes everything just a bit further than your average urban fantasy author. She is not in the business of writing fairy tales, nor does she aim to please her fans. She writes it how it is, sparing no one in the process, especially not her protagonist, poor Edie Spence.

A copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher for review purposes. No considerations, monetary or otherwise, have influenced the opinions expressed in this review.