Review: Dark Debt

Author: Chloe Neill
Series: Chicagoland Vampires, #11
Released: March 3rd 2015
Publisher: NAL
Length: 368 pages
Source: Publisher for review
Buy: Amazon

A vampire never gets old. But neither do his enemies. When a figure from Ethan's dark past makes a splashy debut in Chicago, Merit and her Master don't know whether he's friend or foe. But they'll have to figure out soon, because trouble is brewing in the Windy City.

At an exclusive society soiree attended by the upper echelons of the human and supernatural worlds, Merit and Ethan barely stop the assassination of a guest. When the target turns out to be a shady businessman with a criminal edge, Merit suspects a human vendetta. But the assassins have fangs....

The connections to Chicago's Houses go deeper than Merit knows, and even one wrong move could be her last...

Just recently Chloe Neill announced that she’ll be ending her Chicagoland Vampires series with book 13. While I’ll be very sad to say goodbye to these characters, I feel that she’s made the right decision. The series has been noticeably losing steam and the last few books have become just a tiny bit repetitive and predictable. However, predictable can be as comfortable as a warm blanket, and when you add to that a bunch of characters you’re very familiar with, you get a recipe for a very pleasant afternoon.

I’ve been with this series from the start, through excitement, disappointment and everything in between. I’ve loved Merit and Ethan and I’ve suffered with them. I feel like I know them inside and out, which is the absolute best, especially in my favorite genre.

This time around, the vampire that created (and tormented) Ethan, a vampire supposedly dead for centuries, is suddenly in Chicago threatening everything Ethan and Merit have created. To make matters worse, Merit’s ex-boyfriend and leader of the Navarre house, Morgan, is neck-deep in trouble and asking Cadogan for help.

This installment was very emotional for the usually unflappable Merit. She’s always so confident, so sure of her place in the world, but everything was thoroughly shaken this time around and her struggles were extremely hard. I loved seeing the supportive side of Ethan, who remained by her side the entire time. These two have become such a wonderful, mature couple. They’ve finally started communicating openly and completely honestly, and now that there’s nothing between them, I’m enjoying every moment we see them together.

The main thing that bothers me, that has always bothered me in this series is its very short time span. We’ve spent years with these characters, but for them, a lot less time has passed, which makes everything that’s happened to them all the more stressful and far too unlikely. The short time affects the romance as well – it’s much harder for me to believe in its strength when it’s only been a year and a half or so, and Ethan and Merit have had maybe two peaceful days during that time.

Aside from that, though, this is undoubtedly one of my UF favorites, a series I keep going back to whenever I need something familiar and comfortable, and yet exciting at the same time. Neill certainly knows what she’s doing, and I hope that her new series will be just as good.

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.