Summary from Goodreads:
The fate of the world is in the hands of detective of the
supernatural R. F. Jackaby and his intrepid assistant, Abigail Rook. An evil
king is turning ancient tensions into modern strife, using a blend of magic and
technology to push Earth and the Otherworld into a mortal competition. Jackaby
and Abigail are caught in the middle as they continue to solve the daily
mysteries of New Fiddleham, New England — like who’s created the rend between
the worlds, how to close it, and why zombies are appearing around. At the same
time, the romance between Abigail and the shape-shifting police detective
Charlie Cane deepens, and Jackaby’s resistance to his feelings for 926 Augur
Lane’s ghostly lady, Jenny, begins to give way. Before the four can think about
their own futures, they will have to defeat an evil that wants to destroy the
future altogether.
Review:
I’m so sad that there will be no more Jackaby books. This
honestly reads like one of those series that could go and on in many books. I’m
not saying that just because I enjoy them. There are some great books that just
seem to feel like they truly end with book 3. This is just such an interesting
story, such an interesting world, and there are still so many unanswered
questions and little un-explored niches I’d like to see. I feel like it would
make for a wonderful series on Netflix or PBS. Really, people, someone needs to
pick this up.
That being said, I feel like this book was my least favorite
in the series. The over-arcing mystery of this one was too much about fairies.
And while I love a good dark fairy re-telling, I was kind of hoping for
something different here. Past novels have always had dark, supernatural
creatures and characters, and I’ve come to seriously love how different they
are. So, reverting to this fairy rift as the backdrop for it all was kind of
disappointing for me because I’ve seen that before.
However, the author was able to connect the dots. The
over-arcing fairy rift was able to explain a few of my unanswered questions
about things like a certain duck character. I also learned a little more about
seers and supernatural creatures in general. I loved all the scenes where
Jackaby’s house was being used as a hideout for all the supernatural folk of
new Fiddleham. Some of my favorite moments happened there.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that I liked the other
books better because they were more personal and smaller scale. I liked getting
to know each of the side characters. This was almost too big –saving the world
kind of big. And while I normally love stories that result in saving the world,
here I felt like it almost took away from the personal charm the rest of the
series had going for it. That, and it read like the author was almost trying to
force the ending on a story that is not quite there yet. It’s not usually good
when you can tell how hard an author is working to make something seem final.
There’s still so much left open and unexplored.
This book also played at my heartstrings a bit. I had tears
in my eyes one moment, and bursts of laughter the next. I really have grown to
love these characters. And there also were a few surprises in this one for me.
I liked being surprised. And I loved the very end of the book. I almost didn’t
read the end of the book though. It ended in the part marked “supplemental
material.” And after the sadness of what I assumed was the end (in the last
real chapter), I almost couldn’t bring myself to read the supplemental material
part. I’m glad I did though because otherwise I would not have gotten the
happier ending I was hoping for…Do not skip this section, people! Also, why
would the publisher let that happen? I bet there’s a lot of readers who won’t
read it and won’t get the real ending….
Any way, all in all, I loved this series. It’s as the blurb
says “Sherlock Holmes crossed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” The characters
and the setting make these books un-put-down-able. The small town murder
mysteries are usually very personable and interesting. I’m kind of wishing this
last installment was less large-scale and more like the earlier books. I also
wish this wasn’t the end and that the author didn’t try to make this the end so
hard. I give this last book an 8/10 (though I’d give the whole series a 9).
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