Review: Pirate’s Alley by Suzanne Johnson (Sentinels of New Orleans #4)

Pirate’s Alley (Sentinels of New Orleans #4)
Suzanne Johnson
Published: April 21, 2015 (Tor)
Purchase: Book Depository or Amazon
Review source: copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review

Reviewed by: Jo

Rating (out of 5): 3.5 stars

Note: While this review will be spoiler free it will make reference to previous books. If you haven’t started this series yet, check out VBC’s review of book 1, Royal Street.

I’m always a big fan of that point in a series where an entire book can be based on the consequences of a previous instalment. Pirate’s Alley is just that, picking up a couple of weeks after and dealing with the fallout from Elysian Fields.

DJ and Alex must give evidence at the trial of the Axeman murder ring. Considering the variety of the defendants, it will also be the first convening of the new Interspecies Council. As if that wasn’t going to be enough of a diplomatic nightmare, her best friend Eugene has big news, DJ’s elven husband-but-not-really Rand continues to be a giant pain in her ass and Jean LeFitte is back from the Beyond—and seriously pissed about being used as a murderous puppet.

One of my favorite aspects of this series is the world, both urban and fantasy. Each book adds new layers, new species and trunk loads of details that make it even more complex. Pirate’s Alley continues this, not only introducing us to faeries and giving us a glimpse of the vampire realm but also letting us see how the magical heavy hitters interact with each other. New Orleans continues to play a huge part, the city itself feeling like a character in its own right (similar to Chicago in the Chicagoland Vampire series).

Politics plays a major role in Pirate’s Alley and I really enjoyed seeing how each faction played the game to further their own agenda. It’s soon becomes apparent to DJ that not all those agendas are good and trying to unravel them makes for the mystery in this book—the clashing of them the action. It makes it difficult to know who to trust, and there were more than a few surprises, along with some crossroads for DJ. Her distrust of the Wizard Elders has been something she battles since the first book and as I said earlier, I really liked that all those threads came together to make this a game-changing installment.

DJ started relatively alone but by this point in the series she’s forged tight bonds. One that continues to be one of the most interesting, and complicated, is Jean. There’s a deep respect between them now, that leads to some heart-felt and honest conversations. He’s so roguish and Machiavellian, I could read his adventures all day! All that being said though, I had major issues with Alex and his relationship with DJ. I really didn’t liked some of the choices he made or his reasoning behind them. I felt like what DJ was fighting for was right and all those she trusts, Jean, Jake, Rene supported her–all apart from Alex. And when their backs where against the wall, it all felt a bit too-little-too-late for me concerning him. I’ll be interested to see if my feelings change on this in the next book.

Pirate’s Alley had some of my favorite moments of the series so far… and some of my least favorite. But I’m definitely enjoying the direction it’s going though; there’s certainly going to be even more consequences for DJ & Co. following on from this book, and I’m looking forward to seeing what those are.

Sexual content: sex