Black City

This is the fifth book in the Madeline Black series by Henry. The sixth book will be titled, Black Heart, and is scheduled for an October 2013 release. I really enjoyed this book, we learn a lot about Nathaniel’s history and what made him who he is.

Maddy thought things would get better after Azazel was disposed of, but things have only gotten worse. Vampires, who are now immune to sunshine, are flooding the streets of Chicago and slaughtering innocents. When a vampire leader demands Maddy in exchange for peace, Maddy is left with the very people she is trying to help hunting her down.

This was a very good installment in this series. Nathaniel is in the story a lot and there are some wonderful plot developments involving him. We show more finally learn how Nathaniel ended up at Lucifer’s side and we also learn his history. There are some absolutely startling and surprising revealings involving Nathaniel’s character and I truly enjoyed it.

Maddy also grows a lot in her powers. We find out more about her background and she grows into some new and interesting powers. Maddy still takes a bit too much of the scorched Earth approach to her fights and plans, but she realizes this and jokes about it. The supporting characters do try to reign her in, with not much success.

While I do get a bit sick of the way Maddy can conquer all with her increasing power, I do really enjoy the fast pace of the story and how action packed it is.

This was one of the, dare I say, sexyist books of the series. The tension between Maddy and Nathaniel is absolutely wonderful. The scenes between these two are exceedingly well done.

There are also a lot of interesting revelations around Lucifer’s plans. It’s amazing how well Henry had a lot of this stuff planned out so well from the very beginning of the series.

I also enjoyed that there was a problem to be solved in this book, but also a story that continues from the previous book in the series. The book does end at a horrible cliffhanger, but for some reason it didn’t bother me for this book...it just worked. That’s not to say I am not absolutely dying to see what happens in the next book though.

Overall an excellent installment in this series. I loved that we learned so much about Nathaniel’s past, there were some truly stunning revelations around his character. Maddy also grows a lot in power and continues her rather destructive and power heavy approach to things. This book is fast paced and full of great action scenes. I loved the interplay between Maddy and Nathaniel. This whole series is recommended who enjoy action packed urban fantasy. show less

Chicago has been overrun by vampires who can walk by day. Maddie and company take on the task of destroying them but there are just too many. Now the vampires are demanding that Maddie turn herself in or the city falls and her friend JB has been kidnapped by fairies. What to do. Only Maddie can get into these situations and it is so much fun seeing her get out of them.

Gosh, I love this series. I keep thinking the next book is going to suck but so far that has not happened. They just keep getting better and better. I feel like I know these guys now and the world is very well designed. There is lots of action too. Now I have to wait for the next one.

Our Review, by LITERAL ADDICTION's Pack Alpha - Michelle L. Olson:
*ARC provided by the Author in exchange for an honest review

I have a handful of favorite Urban Fantasy series. BLACK WINGS is definitely one of them, and while some series start to get a little stale by about book #5, this series just gets better, and better, and BETTER with each book that Christina releases!

My first words after finishing Black City were "Whoa! Just whoa!
Even darker, just as gripping, action packed as usual, and dare I say... SEXY! :) I love this series so very much!"

Christina is definitely embracing her dark side, and I am positively giddy about it. LOL.

Following the mystifying events in Black Lament, there were countless ways that Christina could have show more gone with Black City. Out of all of the possibilities that I had floating around in my head though, nothing was as good as the way it actually turned out. The intensity of the action, the depth of the story, the emotion embedded in the dialogue and the choices that were made were wonderful and I absolutely couldn't get enough. And while BLACK WINGS is an Urban Fantasy series, this installment was really sexy and surprising! There were characters I had thought never to like that I found myself letting in and embracing, and there are definitely new villains to hate as well.

I know that's all very vague and you probably hate me right now, but I refuse to ruin the goodness for you and can only urge you to start this series as soon as you are able and get lost in the world of Maddy and company like I and so many others have. We'll welcome you to our lovefest and fanclub when you do. :)

LITERAL ADDICTION gives Black City a well deserved 5 Skulls and hopes that this series keeps going. It will be a very, very sad day for me when there are no more BLACK WINGS releases to look forward to. I can only hope that Christina has something up her sleeve for us and a new series when that day comes. show less

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy.
allthingsuf.com

The Black Wings series has an enticing ecosystem of Agents of the Dead, angels, demons, fairies, and gargoyles. Despite those natural advantages, however, I think it is time for me and Madeline Black to part ways. Maddy has a very “Hulk smash” approach to life, and though she shows some flashes of self awareness in BLACK CITY, it seems admitting she has a problem has brought Maddy no closer to reforming her behavior.

Beyond my issues with Maddy’s recklessness, there is certainly a lot to enjoy in this series. Henry has taken some interesting risks with her characters, allowing life changing disappointments and developments to play out without resorting to magic to wipe show more everything away. Maddy is a pregnant heroine, something I haven’t encountered often. She’s also grieving the loss of her lover with very human emotion, not immediately embarking on a quest to miraculously restore him (though now, more than ever, it feels like Gabriel’s resurrection is right around the corner).

The plot pluses aren’t outweighing the minuses for me, anymore. I’ve finally become numb to the arbitrary choices of Maddy and her band as they seem to survive no matter how ridiculous the plan or how bad the odds. If there is an immortal, all-powerful being opposing them, Maddy will magically annihilate everyone with heretofore unknown powers. If she’s not yet in a killing mood, she’ll bluster and punch her way through the scene… a habit that is more boring rather than fun or funny. Prefacing every situation with hand wringing and arguments doesn’t make everything dramatic, it just makes everything equally boring. I may pop in down the line if Maddy has her baby (I’d love to see an UF heroine manage an infant alongside magical mayhem), but for now the series has exhausted all of my interest and patience.

Sexual Content: Kissing, references to sex. show less

*Spoiler's may be present*

BLACK CITY is the darkest of all the books so far in the Black Wings Series. Maddy has lost her husband, she’s pregnant, and people are trying to kill her at every turn. With the vampires on the loose in her city people are dying left and right and Maddy jumps right in hoping to save people. A lot happens in BLACK CITY, it's packed full of action, emotion and sticky situations.

Maddy is a bit of a mess. She has taken to putting herself in extremely dangerous situations against other people’s advice. She seems to be turning romantically to someone I really don't want her to be with, but surprisingly is the only one sticking by her side. The emotion in book 5 left me a tad bit depressed to tell you the truth show more but I could not put the book down. By the end of BLACK CITY all of Maddie's friends have left her. I never thought that would happen and it was a bit of a shock to see them all turn their backs on her. I have no clue how Christina will bring them all back together. If you are a fan of the series you can’t NOT read BLACK CITY. I honestly can't think of anything else to say as I'm a bit shell shocked. Wow yeah that is all go read it. show less

Book Five in this series continues the story line almost immediately following Book Four. Having now rejected the agency, and losing her wings, Maddie Black finds Chicago taken over by vampires that are able to withstand sunlight, due to an experiment from her father, Azazel, had been conducting. In trying to rid the city of the vampires, Maddie asks for help from Lucifer, and as always there are other motives in play. I don't want to give away too much detail and spoil it for everyone, but a I was surprised at a couple of the things that came about. Sometimes when a series gets this far along, it becomes somewhat predictable, yet this one has brought some unexpected developments. Looking forward to book six.

Maddy doesn't seem to catch a break at all. With just a week passing since the previous book she is still mourning for Gabriel and the loss of her job as an agent. Turns out the vampires got the serum and are now day walkers and overrunning the city. JB has been taken by Titania and the vampires have stopped attacking only if Maddy surrenders to them. Still fighting by the seat of her pants she also finds more relatives on her grandfather's side of the family. Not sure how much more she can take before it is over but she certainly isn't the same person when the series started 5 books ago.