Izzy Sage is settling into her new job, enjoying her new romance, and only has one thing on her mind: Choosing a new assistant to help her at Belle Isle’s death gate. All of that changes when the gate malfunctions. Instead of dragging someone over, though, it sends five people back.
Years ago, a group of trainees disappeared while on a tour of the facility. There was no rhyme or reason to what happened and the higher-ups assumed they died during the malfunction. Five of them have returned though, and they haven’t aged a day.
Naturally, the reaper world is buzzing with the news. Izzy, however, thinks something bigger might be going on. Her belief only becomes stronger when another creature shows up in the middle of the night and attacks.
The malfunctioning gate is hiding a sinister secret, and it might just have something to do with what happened to Izzy’s parents so many years ago. Oliver has ties to the initial incident, too, and even though he knew the men way back then, he’s discombobulated by what’s happening now. When you add to that the arrival of Paris Princeton, Izzy has her hands full.
Thankfully she’s not alone on the job. She has the Grimlocks to back her play … and serve as emotional sounding boards. Together, Izzy and the Grimlocks are neck deep in trouble and searching for answers. They need to find them before the unthinkable happens and they lose one of their own, because when the gate starts acting weird again, someone is going to have to cross over to the other side – face death itself – and reclaim the most valuable prize imaginable.
Izzy’s life is about to take a turn. Somehow, she needs to stay on her feet to see it through. That’s easier said than done when death is your business but if anyone can make it to the other side and live to tell the tale, it’s Izzy.
It’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Available on Amazon and through Kindle Unlimited.
The Grimlocks are back! I’ve embraced the fact that this series is pretty much a continuation of the Aisling Grimlock series and we’ll be getting a whole lot of Aisling along with Izzy. It’s kinda funny cuz if Aisling had to share her series with anyone this way, she would not have been happy.
The overdone Aisling scenes aside, this book was super fun and intriguing! I love the bigger story arc coming out now. It will be interesting to see what characters come out of it and how the current ones will develop. One interesting element is that the series is now crossing over with another older Amanda M. Lee series, the Covenant College series. I read most of it some years ago but never read the last three. Looks like I’ll be having to catch up. This Death Gate series stands on its own but I think it’s much fuller and better enjoyed if you’ve read the Grimlock and Covenant series before.
The series is definitely more fantasy based and the mystery to solve is who or what crossed the Gate and why. That’s not something the reader can really figure out on their own as this all depends on the world created by the author. The really enticing part is figuring out which way the story will unfold. I love these books where we get to explore some very imaginative worlds.
On top of all that, we have the growing romantic relationship between Izzy and Braden and the interactions with all the Grimlocks. This story mixes magic, intrigue, fantasy, family, snark and humour. The result is surprisingly complex characters and a lot of entertainment. If we could just lay off on the rehashing of previous books though….
Overall, another enticing addition to the Death Gate Grim Reapers series. I’ll be catching up with Covenant College and then coming back for more of this! I give Only the Lost 4/5 espresso shots.
The Cozy Pages 