Okay, I am now seriously annoyed with CL Talmadge’s second novel in her Green Stone of Healing series, Fallout. I want to know whose bright idea it was to end the book on such a cliffhanger?! That was not how I was expecting the book to end.
Let me start from the beginning….Fallout picks up not long after the conclusion to The Vision. Helen and her father, James, are still dealing with the political nightmare that was Helen’s birth (she’s a half-breed, not good) and the continuing political conspiracy going on in regards to the Exalted Lord. We have a couple of medical miracles (miracles because they were not wanted by the opposition) and finally the trial. Or at least I thought so. The trial appears to be taking place in The Scorpions Strike, which I’m going to be picking up sooner than anticipated.
The novel still has that feeling of a soap opera, but the more I think about it, it’s more of a well-written soap opera. All the action is political intrigue and manipulations, but it still keeps you glued to the book. In all honestly, I think I enjoyed Fallout far more than The Vision, which I think is due to the fewer characters involved. There are still a lot of players going on in this series, but it seemed more tamed this time around. Plus, I was right in my review of The Vision; we are continually learning new info on the various players. We think everything has been spelled out, but then this new twist is added to a character and it opens a lot more possibilities.
Overall, I’m actually starting to enjoy this series. When I was reading The Vision, I wasn’t sure about the plot setup and the various characters, but the more I get into the series, the over arcing plot is being fleshed out and it’s dragging me in. I have to say I am not amused at how Fallout ended. It was such an emotional twist that I wanted to keep reading and if I didn’t already have The Scorpions Strike sitting on my desk, I would be hard pressed not to go out and get it tonight.
Read Order:
The Vision
Fallout
The Scorpions Strike
Outcast (2010)
I hate when books leave off that way! I don’t buy books very often and so it means that I have to wait until I can pick it up from the library. I’ll be looking forward to your review of the next one :)