Risen is the 12th Alex Verus urban fantasy novel by Benedict Jacka. Released 7th Dec 2021 by Penguin Random House on their Berkley Ace imprint, it's 334 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
This is a consistently solid series, well written, skillfully plotted, and precisely engineered. Titular protagonist Alex Verus is world-weary, cynical, and generally fed up with everyone's crap. This installment sees him yet again navigating the self-created crises the council have managed to create in their jockeying for power whilst (hopefully) staying alive and preventing minor catastrophes like the end of the universe and all life in it.
I've seen Verus and the series as a whole compared to Butcher's Dresden. They're both seat of their pants mages and reactive and sarcastic, but Dresden is indelibly American in tone, language, and impulse - he's a hot tempered cowboy. Verus seems more considered and tactical - he usually has a backup plan or two (and usually needs them).
The plotting throughout is tight and the plotline is beautifully fluid, leading to a satisfying climax, denouement, and conclusion. For all the readers who enjoy binge reading from start to finish and aren't already huge fans, this is a good candidate. It's top notch well written urban fantasy with well rendered characters and settings.
Four and a half stars. Sad to see the end of the series, but it's very very well done.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes
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