Worst one in the whole series
354554
84% Filler. That's where I was on the kindle when we actually get to the main characters/storyline. That's 84% of an already small book that's wasted on weak setup fluff. That 84% is written without passion - just a generic boring invasion retread with nothing unique or exciting in any of it. It could have been condensed into a handful of pages with the same information conveyed to the reader. Episode 7 was like a roller coaster ride only to get to the peak of the hill and then episode 8 cuts out to scenes of the ticketbooth.

The remaining 16% was decent at best. Appetizer would be a fitting description. The only difference in the whole story from the endpoint of book 7 to the endpoint of book 8 is that now they have a plan.

By the points:

-84% of the book has nothing to do with any of the primary characters.

-Page after page is dedicated to two-bit throwaway perspectives and thoughts of people who'll die or fade away after the story gets underway (which, again, doesn't start until halfway through the book)

-The whole *twist* of what they did with the Celestia was telegraphed over and over (and over) in advance. The author tries to beat you over the head repeatedly with clues until FINALLY explicitly revealing what's to be done. All those pages dedicated to the clues were frankly just annoying unneeded setup. Even then the 16% of the story where we actually get going does NOTHING to explore these events.

-The combat coming in on the first half of the book is extremely weak an unexciting. Not only does it have nothing to do with Nathan and friends, it's simply throwaway. You'd think seeing Jung fighting would be thrilling... or at least interesting and relevant to future battles - nope.

Ryk Brown has said these things are cut up to resemble TV episodes. What TV show would spend the first 45 minutes of a 1 hour show on people and scenes that had nothing to do with the main characters? Audiences would think they were on the wrong channel.

Episode 7 was great. The author pooped the mattress with episode 8.
4115559
Ok, I have to say it really hurts to rank this book so low.  I have read all the others in the series and loved them, but this one has taken a serious spin for the worse.  The first thing I can't get past is the switch to present tense for all the writing.  Past tense worked great for all the others, why the change up? It felt like someone else was writing it, like bad fan fiction off an unofficial site.  Then, upon reading up on it, I found out that it actually WAS partly written by others doing just that.  Unfortunately, it really shows.  I liked the authors writing style in the other books, and this one feels as if the author ran out of ideas and just opened it up for others to write in the absence of knowing how to end the series. So sad that a great series was ruined by the "last" book.
4234177
Having read every previous book in this series and enjoyed most of them very much, I'm deeply disappointed in this one. No need to re-hash what all the other one and two star reviewers have expressed so well since I'm in complete agreement;  but I do want to add that having Hamish's cat kill the bad guy disturbed me on several levels.  It seemed unrealistic to the point of silliness. And even though the cat is "wild" it is a pet and I don't know--something about pets killing people, even horrible murderers, doesn't sit well with me, is not what I'm looking for when I pick up a mystery novel.

Here's hoping that Ms. Beaton will wind up this series if she is (as it appears) completely tired of writing it.
2968642
Okay. Let me start by saying I really liked the first 2 books in this series. She is a great writer and it is a nice little twist on a usual shifter series. BUT THIS BOOK............HORRID. I didn't even finish it. The main characters are such horrible people that I didn't care to know their story. The Hero is using a woman to get infi for his brother by making the woman fall in love and then he is going to dump her. The heroine is working for a congressman to clean his image because he got caught cheating, so to do that she smears and defames the wife. Then when the husband admits he knew the wife was cheating so he cheated in hopes she would get jealous and comeback the heroine just says oh well. After this I didn't want to be bothered with either one. Using people in that way is despicable thats usually the part of the villain in these stories not the hero/heroine. I returned this book because I wasn't going to waste my money on this nonsense I wasn't going to read. Keep your monay and hopefully the next one in the series will be better.
314684
*** May contain spoils***
Man oh man, this book by far is the worst of them all... It seems like her books keep on getting more and more depressing to read. Rachael never gets to be happy, she's living such a miserable life. I loved this series, but after her 3rd book, it just keeps on getting more and more depressing. I like books with happy endings, if I would have known that this series would have turned out to be so depressing to read, especially reading about a baby being killed right in front of Rachael, I wouldn't have bothered to read any of the books part of this series. I wouldn't recommend this book to any one that expects a happy ending in any of her books, besides maybe, the first 3. It just sucks, because I really got attached reading this series, but now i feel like the author is a sadist. I'm highly disappointing to where this book went to and left off. Really, Trent? This book gets a one star because of it being such a let down and a disappointment from a loyal reader of the series who has been reading it since 2006.
1617444
I have read all the books in this series, and they have been going steadily downhill. In this one, the plot is rather weak, the killer linear, Jacob's involvement rather forced, and most of all, Rina's character has become intolerable. she started being a charming widow, and now comes accross as a nagging, ill-tempered, obssesive, impossible wife. One wonders what keeps Decker married, and the author fails to show it. it was not a satisfactory read; slow, weeeak plot,unsubstantial killer,no interesting side characters (Cindy, Marge,etc) and putting up with Rina on top of all that was TOO much! Change her or eliminate her, please! Maybe the plots will improve then
2905089
This book is not at all like the others in the series.  It's more of a character study.  I had to make myself plod through it because there was very little action in it.  Everyone has a secret that is eating them up inside.  it was a downer, unlike the other books that showed some heroics in the midst of despair.  I'd give it a C - and may not buy another book in this series if one is written.
1125597
This was probably the worst of the Stone Barrington books in the series yet. I don't even know where to begin. The writing, plot and characters were juvenile. I have been so disappointed with the last several books but this turned me off for sure. Of the many ridiculous scenarios going on in this book, there is a murder scene that is summed up in one sentence at the end of the book. It never explains how the crime was discovered and what led them to identify the killer. I'm done with Stone!
3681612
Worst book of the series. I was very bored almost didn't finish it because it didn't capture my imagination like her earlier book did. Big disappointment.
4395803
I would have to definitely say that this book is the worst of the three. The only reason why I completed it is because I was very interested in knowing how it ended. I was tempted often to just skip to the end to find out what happened but I did complete the book and I was disappointed in this one. Although I enjoyed the series as a whole because the first two books were fantastic, I feel this book should have been better.
4884245
This book and all the others in the series are probably the worst books I've ever attempted to read. I gave it a shot because my sister stupidly gave me one for Christmas (thinking that's the kind of stuff I like), but I regretted even trying. I had to sleep off the miserable headache and the stupidity that entered my brain after reading it.

Honestly, this series might be okay for boys or girls in elementary school, but other than that, it's not worth anything. Captain Underpants is better than this.
2125207
trite conversations; the worst of the series; did the author even do research on Owls and their nesting habits?  doubt that! this book had no plot, no storyline; the characters were like jr. high  conversationalists; could not even finish this book.  definitely not up to the standards of most of her books. more interested in deadlines than plots.  done with this series.
3355863
This is the worst of the series IMO.  It took until 80% for anything to actually happen.  And,then slam bam conflict and resolution in about 20 pages.
*I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
1181696
I've always enjoyed reading about what was going on at Master Damien's Den. Realizing I was a few  books behind I thought I'd play catch up. I could not get through this book fast enough. This book is the worst in the series thus far,the storyline was weak,the characters Maggie and David had no chemistry,it was just a mess. I would not recommend this book,and I'm wondering if I should invest in #5&6 of this series.:(
4332145
I have read all the books in this series and really enjoyed most of them.  However, this one is pretty bad and seems to be written on auto pilot by the author.  The vast majority of the book is spent on telling us what happened in the last book.  Pretty much the only differences between the two books are the cats and a spat between Sara and John. Now it seems as if it's all about the money and the author doesn't care that this book is just a rewrite of the previous book. I suggest you not waste your money on this book and perhaps her next book in the series will have some substance to it. I wish I had not bought it since it was a total waste of time.
2933343
The series got worse and worse. In this book the main character was a complete idiot and I couldn't get past that. I ended up not reading the whole thing.
4724713
I was so disappointed by this last book in this series.  I read the other 2 and was very enrapt by the characters.  I know the history is the history, you can't change that but in the 2 previous books, the leading female characters were so strong and interesting.  I though that Elizabeth was a wimp.  She had no back bone, she was trapped and you felt dismay with her plight but I felt no sympathy for her and as for the king and his mother....well I wanted for the York's to rise and behead them both before I was even 1/2 way through the book.  The plot never changed.  The king was in fear, he lashed out, he was afraid of plots everywhere and tried to find/get rid of the "pretender" but this just went on and on and on with only slight variation through the whole book.  Sorry but I cannot recommend it.