Flameout

June 6, 2016
Arthur supplies nonstop action in her third Souls of Fire novel (after Wicked Embers), but her lead character’s interior life is stuck in limbo. Luke Turner has succumbed to the mind-altering red plague virus and is using magic and an alliance with the sindicati (vampire mafia) to control an outbreak and try to kill his brother, Sam, a paranormal investigator with the Australian government, and Emberly Pearson, a phoenix and Sam’s former lover. Emberly and fire fae Jackson Miller try to stay alive during their hunt for lost biomedical research and missing witches; most of Emberly’s downtime is spent moping about Sam, whose habit of jumping to conclusions doomed their relationship. Though the book is filled with paranormal activity, the only emotional heat is a few smoldering glances Sam sends Emberly’s way. This installment is a sure disappointment for Riley’s fans and doesn’t begin to approach the quality of the first book in the series.