Review: Lethal Rider by Larissa Ione (Lords of Deliverance #3)

Lethal Rider (Lords of Deliverance #3)
Larissa Ione
Published: May 22, 2012 (Grand Central)
Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon

Reviewed by: Candace

Rating (out of 5): 5 stars

Note: While this review contains no spoilers for Lethal Rider, it does reference events of earlier Lords of Deliverance novels.

When you pick up Lethal Rider, be prepared to sacrifice several hours of your life. Short of a zombie attack, closing this book will be impossible. This was shocking. Not because of a lack of faith in Larissa Ione’s writing, but because I never was invested in Thanatos. I remember telling my best friend that Than’s book was going to be just enough to tie me over until Reseph’s book comes out. Larissa proved me wrong.

Thanatos let us know early on that he was pissed. Which he should have been. Thousands of years of virginity would try anyone’s patience. Ares and Limos felt it best to keep Than contained. After all, an unstable Than tends to rack up an impressive body count. Trapped in his own body, not able to move, Than’s animosity grew. And he had one specific target in mind: Regan Matthews.

The lovely Regan was picked specifically by the Aegis because of her abilities. In keeping with a prophecy that the agency got their hands on, one of the horsemen needed to father a child. Regan’s abilities made her perfect for the mother role and Than was the horseman up to bat. Due to a little supernatural roofie cocktail, Than and Regan consummated their relationship in the last book. In Lethal, a little pony is on the way.

Ordinarily, when a book is inundated with side stories they can detract from the plot. With Lethal Rider, this isn’t the case. There are multiple side plots: Pestilence being his normal blood thirsty self, Reaver still attempting to figure out what made him fall, Limos wanting to have a baby with Arik, the boys from UGH making a very impressive showing, the jackasses with the Aegis being their usual charming selves, the various parts played by Hades, etc. were all happening simultaneously with the main plot and it meshed with precision.

Ione gets major kudos for including the Seminus brothers from her Demonica series in Lethal. Normally, Wraith is the one to make his presence known but this time, Shade and Eidolon are on the page more. Shade even goes toe-to-toe with Than, not exactly caring that he’s giving Death himself a piece of his mind.

Sexual content: Graphic sex