Release-Day Review: Wicked Hour by Chloe Neill (Heirs of Chicagoland #2)

Wicked Hour (Heirs of Chicagoland #2)
Chloe Neill
Published: Dec. 3, 2019 (Berkley)
Purchase: Amazon
Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review

Reviewed by: Margaret

Rating (out of 5): 4 stars

Note: While review will be spoiler free, it does make reference to previous books in the series. If you haven’t started yet, check out VBC’s review of Wild Hunger.

Connor Keene and Elisa Sullivan have been apart since they fought fairies together at the end of Wild Hunger. Connor’s been traveling on Pack business and Elisa’s in Chicago working with the Ombudsman’s office. They’ve kept in touch though. And maybe they’re dating. Elisa’s not sure. Now Connor’s come back to Chicago to ask Elisa to accompany him to a Pack event in Michigan.

Elisa’s welcomed by most of the pack, but its elders are less receptive. When there’s a murder during the event, the outsiders are the obvious suspects. Connor and Elisa are stuck until they find the killer and clear their names. And, oh yeah, catch the monsters stalking the woods.

Wicked Hour feels almost like it belongs in Patricia Briggs’s Alpha and Omega series, which I mean as a compliment because that series is awesome. That’s partly because Connor’s role is similar to Charles’s in A&O, both literally as the Apex’s son and in the context of the story as an investigator and enforcer. But also it’s full of Pack politics viewed from an outsider’s perspective, in this case Elisa’s. Going in to this series the one thing I wanted most was to learn more about the Pack so I loved that.

I had mixed feelings about book one, in part because I kept comparing it to Chicagoland Vampires. Taking Connor and Elisa out of Chicago and away from the vampires probably helped lessen those comparisons. That said, I couldn’t help but notice how much Elisa is like her father Ethan. She’s cool under pressure and politically astute. Since we never got to see Ethan’s POV in the original series, I enjoyed that comparison.

I’m loving Connor and Elisa together, as well as supporting characters Lulu and Theo. I also liked the introduction of Connor’s friend Alexei Breckenridge since I had been wondering what happened to the Brecks, who played a role in the previous series. I feel like the series is off to a solid start now. I just hope that this next generation of characters will continue to stand on their own when the story takes them back home.

Sexual content: kissing, references to sexual assault