Twilight’s Herald by TA White – A Book Review

Posted June 10, 2020 by Booksandblurbs in Reviews, Urban Fantasy / 3 Comments

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Twilight’s Herald

(An Aileen Travers Novel – #5)

by T.A. White
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Urban Fantasy, ARC
Available on Kindle and Kindle Unlimited

Down & Dirty

Aileen and her mismatched crew are back, and things are getting more dangerous than ever. Beautifully written and entrancing with grit, it’s free on Kindle Unlimited.

What is it about?

(Blurb from GoodReads)

Aileen Travers thought she had it all figured out. Part private investigator, part fixer to the supernatural community, she was slowly building a reputation as the go-to vampire in Columbus. If you had a supernatural problem and nowhere to turn, she was the girl for you. The best part—no one had tried to kill her in weeks.

Aileen’s peaceful existence comes crashing down around her when an unwilling visit to the police station results in her picking up a stalker—or two. Now, Aileen is dodging suspicious looking portals while evading kidnapping attempts.

Looks like Aileen has a new client. Herself.

Thoughts on Twilight’s Herald

Like all of the Aileen Travers books, the time frame is a touch uncertain from the end of one to the beginning of the other, though Book 5 picks up at least a few months after the events in Book 4. A recent reread has led me to believe that from beginning to now, there has been at least a couple of years traveled in Aileen’s life, leaving her roughly about 4 years into her after life. I could be wrong about that, but that is what it looks like to me, and it’s important to note considering the way the relationships around her are growing – and the past that reaches out to taunt her now.

When Aileen first gained her immortality and stepped into the night under the dutiful employment of Hermes Messenger services, she was the recipient of a favor called in by someone she once called friend. Now, knowledge and experience have her doubting the veracity of that ‘friendship’, and questioning why she was encouraged to travel certain roads. All those questions and worries compound, screaming back into the forefront when the clues dropped over the last few years culminate in an explosion of danger and truth. Like all things Enforcer related and Aileen centered… it gets messy, quickly, and the baby vamp is at the center of it all.

So well written….

Well written and incredibly well plotted, this series just keeps getting better. Nuggets dropped in Book 1 come out to play in Book 5, while tid-bits thrown aside in other books are mentioned yet again. Foreshadowing is taunted and teased, and while some of it comes to fruition here, the hints leave me eager for Book 6.

Like all of TA White’s novels, the narrative is lush and the imagery expansive. The side characters feel more like central figures than the supporting cast they really are, each filled out with growing back stories and individual personalities of their own. The protagonists change as time goes on, growing more secure in their roles while seducing the reader with their inner depths and thoughts (though we only see this from Aileen’s perspective). It’s fascinating and incredibly done, an Urban Fantasy treat you’ll want to dive into again and again.

*I received an ARC of this book and am thrilled to share my honest opinion*

Perspective

First Person, Single POV

Ending Type

HFN, Episodic

Rating

Mature

Romantic Dynamic

M/F

Character Age Range

26+

My Final Verdict on Twilight’s Herald

Engrossing Urban Fantasy with rich characters and an ever growing world. Aileen is a strong FMC with enough backbone to compensate for her lack of experience, though it’s those who surround her that make her grit even more pronounced, and appealing. Well done. Free on Kindle Unlimited.