Review: Trail of Dead

Trail of Dead by Melissa F. Olson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is clearly written to bridge the start of the series with the last of the trilogy. It’s all about change and growth… and a lot of driving different cars.

Scarlett is still her snarky self in this book. I still love her, but she is a little more broken now than she was before. She’s recovering from the ordeal that left her in the hospital and coming to grips with the fact that her insane ex-mentor is still alive-ish. This book was different than the first one in that I really want to punch Jesse in the face. He starts this book off in a bad mood and that kind of carries through the book. His life straddles the line between the “normal” and the paranormal and it’s clear that this is driving him crazy. His very serious and clear values are suddenly a lot muddier.

So what’s the big deal in this book? There are witches turning up dead and it’s shaking the very strong core of the leader of the witches. Jesse, and by extension Scarlett, have been tasked with finding the killer or killers before an irrational deadline or bad things will happen. I mean, bad things are already happening (hello, dead witches), but I guess that wasn’t motivation enough. Scarlett is, at the same time, dealing with her internal love triangle drama. Sigh. And borrowing lots of different cars to drive places.

Overall, I feel like the “big bad” in this one didn’t really get the focus and energy that they were due. I will say, though, that I’m excited for where this is headed and how it has changed Scarlett, for better or worse. She’s still my favorite part of this world and I’ll sign up for another book (even if there is even more driving).


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