Dead of Winter by Kresley Cole - PUBLIC ONLY

Cole, Kresley  Dead of Winter (Arcana Chronicles, #3), 303 pgs.  Simon and Schuster, 2015.  $18.99  Content: Language: R (119 swears; 16 “F”); Mature Content: PG-13 (undressing each other, but no on-page sex); Violence: R (torture and gore).   

Evie is torn between two loves: Jack, the mortal Cajun who she has loved since the beginning of the Flash (an apocalyptic occurrence that killed many and left disease) and Death (the immortal Arcana card that is her direct opposite, but she has had a long and other time period past with).  Evie knows that she has to rescue Jack from the twin torturers, but she doesn’t expect Death to follow her to Jack’s camp, or to help her go on a rescue mission to save another Arcana friend.  As Evie is torn between the two men, she is also trying to figure out how to end this reoccurring game between all Arcana.   

This is the third book and the action doesn’t stop, nor does the chemistry between Evie and Jack or Evie and Death stop.  The storyline is impossible to put down and I love Evie’s fight for good.  I love the character development of all the characters, and the villains are as interesting as the heroes.  As much as I love this series, I would never in a million years hand it to a teenager to read—although the characters are around seventeen the content is pretty intense.   

HS-PUBLIC   Reviewer, C. Peterson.