I hoped this series was going somewhere.  It hasn't.
932758
This book is no different than the four that preceded it.  The sisters supposedly use their mysterious "powers" to solve a murder but it's not at all clear what their powers are or how they help solve anything.  As always, there's humming blood and visions of shadows that reveal absolutely nothing that isn't obvious. Again, as in the previous books in the series, the sisters suspect everyone who had any contact at all with the victim until, wrongly and inexplicably fearing that the sisters are getting too close,  the murderer reveals himself/herself.  The dialog is stilted and clunky and much too formal for conversation between close sisters.  There is a bit of what I guess is supposed to be romance although the couples involved have very little contact with each other and don't really seem to connect.  Also, cats hiss.
292874
I've been reading the series since the first book. The last couple of books seem like Schettler is trying to tie together disparate threads from his previous works (not just the Kirov series). It doesn't really work for me.
The books are becoming tedious and Doppelganger doesn't move the story line forward much.  Maybe Schettler is trying to make this series his cash cow like the 'Game of Thrones' tv series.
315796
That's it. I'm done with this series. It started with real promise and kept my interest through the first six books. But by then I had begun to suspect the unfortunate truth - that there would never be a real end to the story. This volume proves that I was right. It could have been well presented in just a couple of chapters, rather than being drawn out into a full-length book that is fundamentally boring. And at the end, we just find more questions awaiting us, no resolution. (I can't say more without spoiling things for other readers.) Too bad... I did enjoy the story for quite a while.
4042074
The third book was so rushed and lost connection with the characters.  I just wanted it to be over.  The first two books were great but the last one and series ending were a total flop. It felt like the author just wanted it over too.
3333024
I wanted to like this book.  I feel like giving it a poor review is somehow to not like Rocco or Mandy or the Red Team and I really do like them all.  However, the last two full length books in this series have seriously turned me off the series.  I thought this novella would at least give me a story about the two characters who started the series and I'd get away from the increasingly ridiculous plot that has embroiled the series as a whole.  Well, it did do that.  However, this is not a fun story.  The first half is mostly about Rocco's PTSD and his descent into madness.  While PTSD is a serious subject and one I empathize with, it's not something I want to read about in depth in a romance novel.

Rocco - in his madness, to be fair - contemplates killing himself so he can be with the unborn baby his first wife killed when she exploded in Afghanistan.  He worries that the baby will be all alone in heaven and he must keep it company.  So he feels it's better to leave his actual, live son and the woman he loves and who loves him to be with that baby???  Again, he's suffering from mental illness, so I'll accept that far-reaching premise.  But then BOOM, one weird episode later and he's both miraculously "better" and so is the traumatized horse Mandy has been helping.

I also found the premise that Mandy would leave Ravi (if that's the son's name; I can't immediately recall) to force Rocco to some better place.  This scene is traumatic and it's not something I can believe Mandy would do to the little boy.  Why make his life even worse?  If she wanted to force an ultimatum, she might have kicked Rocco out or taken Ravi (I know that's not his name, but whatever) with her.  This did not make sense.

But all of a sudden, Rocco is better and all is well.

I'm done with the series.  I like the men a lot and would love to know what happens to them, but the interwoven threads of the ridiculous groups they're working against and how they are coincidentally all related is just too unbelievable.
3605790
The story is not consistent enough to last for 6 episodes. The first 3  should make one. Line of duty 1 was highly promising. Series 2 is disappointing. Too long, too far-fetched.
2713307
I continually read this series knowing that I am going to be disappointed in the lack of movement and yet it's like a train wreck in that I just cannot look away from when the next one comes. I'm not saying that I can't wait for the next book, because oh boy can I wait, but I'll probably end up reading it. I do not know why. I kind of feel like I'm pulling teeth with each new installment. However, if you like feeling as if you're slowly falling into a pit of madness while you claw your way up and out of the depths then boy is this book for you!

Seriously though, the series started out fine It's just gone no where. Absolutely no where. Nothing is resolved. Nothing new has happened. Each and every book is the same scenario with the same ending. If she made something specific occur each book and have a definitive end I'd probably LOVE the series despite the boring characters. As it is I just read and read about these boring characters and get no where. Also, its been like 3 months over 8 books. The timeline is just awful.
1420386
I loved the rest of the series. But this book...not so much. And I really, really wanted to like this book.

As others have stated it is very, very repetitive. I kept skipping parts because I didn't want to be told something again, and again, and again...I got it the fist time, no need to keep bashing me over the head with the same information. Many times I felt like I was reading an unfinished manuscript. This felt more like a rough draft filled with notes for the author's own reference and notes that would be fleshed out later. This should never have been published as is. It isn't finished. It felt like a rush job. Something that was done just to say 'See, it's done. Now leave me alone.'

That being said, by the middle of the book, I no longer cared about the characters. Any of the them. The plot was pointless. It was just too easy to see what was going to happen next. By that point I was forcing myself to read it just so I could finish the series. I kept hoping it would get better, but it didn't. Ever since we got to witness Ayla's vision of her two sons, I've been looking forward to what happens when they finally meet. Doesn't look like that will ever happen. We are just left hanging. I was also looking forward to them meeting the Clan again. There's evidence that they're there. They're in the same area and use the same caves. I was hoping for Ayla to come across them in the cave when she went back in by herself, but no, all we get is another tour of the same cave. Which by then is not so great. I felt like I got to read the author's notes from her personal tours of all the known painted caves. By the time we got to the last cave, which was supposed to be the most special, I didn't care anymore. Without pictures, all the descriptions were sounding very much the same. There was very little that made each cave unique. I didn't know which cave was which and didn't care. It would've been better to have their journey be just to the one cave at the end. It would've made it that much more special. At least their journey back was short. A whole three paragraphs.

And then there's part three...Ugh. Not even going to go there. Horrible read. Horrible plot. Completely predictable.

All in all, only buy this book if you must have it to complete the rest of the series you already have, otherwise, just borrow it from the library.
4202946
I'll spare you the summary of the book in this review and just get down to brass tacks.  I'm a fan of the series (some books a little more than others) and love its premise, but was highly disappointed in this installment. This was especially upsetting coming off of the excitement and trial of Victory of Eagles.  Tongue of Serpents had virtually no action, with an extremely dry, drawn-out, and boring (approximately 200 pages) chase across the Australian outback.  For the first time in the series, I started skimming whole pages just to get to something interesting.  Even the characters lacked substance and interest (including the new dragons).

There seemed to be sparks of plot development that could have been followed to make the story more engaging (e.g., the possible Letter of Marque and privateering for Laurence and Temeraire; engaging with Jia Zhen for opening greater trade in the port of Larrakia with China; developing some kind of relationship with the sea serpents; or even allowing Laurence to work some of his aggression out on Rankin).  Unfortunately, this book seemed to be a calculated attempt to extend the series and set conditions for further installments.  While a shrewd marketing plan, after waiting more than a year and a half for this book, I felt cheated as a fan.  I'm also getting a little tired of how meek Laurence has become after being such a force to be reckoned with in earlier books.

If you're a fan of the series, you'll probably want to suffer through the book just so you feel complete for the next installment.  But I urge you to wait for it to come out in paperback or at least get it from your local library to save the wholly unjustified $25 hardcover price.

I expect the next book to be better and truly hope that Laurence and Temeraire start displaying and engaging in acts of a little more action and excitement.  I just wish I didn't have to wait another year and half for something that should have been present in this book.
3282580
It's It's ok. The series is starting to drag and the sub plots too involved and slow. Not sure I want to invest the time in the next book. Like they want to turn this into a long 5 part series that could have been summed up in 3 shorter books.
3580685
By far the WORST series I have ever had the unfortunate pleasure of reading.
I kept hoping maybe the series would get better but no such luck.
Won't be continuing, there is just no hope.
1684565
After the last book, I resigned myself to Joanne heading off to Ireland sans Morrison. Somehow, I hoped the end of this book would see Joanne back home, and the thing between her and Morrison would actually go somewhere. Instead, she saves the world (again - yawn.) and I found myself skimming ahead, muttering under my breath, and . . . nothing. After this many books, I'd like more than a couple of brief phone calls between them. Gary is a great character, yes, but I want to see Joanne and Mike together, sorry. At this point, I feel like I'm being strung along, like the author is dangling Morrison like a handsome carrot to keep me interested. I doubt I'll be buying the next book unless Morrison has more than a token appearance.
2269745
The series appears to be foundering.  Not much at all happens in this volume.  Most of the issues are about characters that just pop in for one issue instead of being about Abe.  It's disappointing since Hellboy and B.P.R.D. are so consistently great.
4437667
I like how this series started, then it became stale and I was getting bored. I was hoping the final book would lift the bar and finish the series as strongly as it started... It didn't. It felt rushed and very predictable.
4575584
I don't understand the high reviews. This series is mediocre at best.
3261675
I understand it's a series, but the plot doesn't have enough enough climactic movements. It ends before anything actually happens. I felt like I had just reached a suitable point of character development.
2341684
When Norman started this series it was great; for the first 6 books or so then it's been downhill ever since with an occasional exception here and there. I've continued to buy these books hoping he'll get his mind out of the gutter and write a really good book again.

It's really too bad because the story has so much potential to being a really good series...If you're not someone who read the first 6 books, I'd pass on this series.