Fallen Angels Series: Rapture

Have I mentioned lately how much I absolutely adore J.R Ward? Well, you're going to hear all about my love for the WARDen now. 

Rapture is book 4 in the Fallen Angels series. In case you don't know what the series is about, let me quickly break it down for you. It's basically about the whole good versus evil thing that will eventually determine the fate of the entire world. Seven souls are hovering between choosing to be either good or evil, and it's up to Jim Heron to influence these people and help them make the right choice. Jim is being helped by two angels, Adrian and Eddie. Jim is being hindered by a psychotic demon named Devina. 

So in this installment of the series, the score is 2:1 to the good guys. Plus Devina is being punished because the concept of playing by the rules is completely beyond her. The soul in play is someone we met in both Covet and Crave. Matthias was a Bad Man. He was head of XOps (a sort of military group that carried out political hits for the US) and he didn't care who he hurt. It turned out that Matthias was the soul in need of saving in Crave, not Isaac Rothe. However, as a result of some misunderstanding on Jim's part, Matthias was lost and Devina won. Devina didn't get to keep Matthias for very long though. For being a lying, cheating, good-for-nothing she was penalised and Matthias was given a second chance.

I don't know whether the WARDen had a soft spot for Matthias or if he was a fan favourite, but I'm really glad he got his chance at redemption. I had thought that nobody in this series could top Isaac in sheer awww....-ness (I imagine Isaac to be kinda like a young Matthew McConaughey), but Matthias did it. He's had a really rough life and he lives with both the physical and mental scars. And the physical scars are really horrendous. Matthias once intentionally stepped on a landmine and as a result his lower body is badly scarred and he needs to use a cane to get around. Obviously this is a huge blow to his pride, seeing as how Matthias is a big, strong, manly man. But he seems to have accepted his injuries and the limitations that come with them. Until he meets Mels.

Mels Carmichael is a reporter. She moved back into her parents house after her father died with the idea of being a "pillar of strength" for her mom. Sadly, this didn't happen. Mels' life just sort of stalled out. She's frustrated by her job, uneasy living with a mother she doesn't have much in common with. She's stuck waiting for life to happen. And then, after she hits some poor stranger with her car, it does. 

Things progress pretty quickly from there and within a few days Mels and Matthias are thinking in terms of I-love-yous. But Shakespeare had it right and speed bumps for these two come in the form of Devina with poor, long-suffering Jim trying to smooth things over. 

I just want to talk about the characters quickly. 

I loved Matthias. I just wanted to give the poor guy a hug. Amnesia Matthias was much nicer than XOps Matthias. He just seemed more cuddly in general. Still badass though. His stint in hell did him some good.

I liked Mels well enough. I don't know how well I'll remember her in two or three books time, but I really liked how solid she was for Matthias. 

Jim and Adrian are having adjustment issues. Eddie was killed by Devina's minions and this has left them a lot out of sorts. Jim and Adrian tend to... well, they struggle to see eye to eye and Eddie usually played referee when the fists used to go flying. Adrian has now lost his best friend and Jim has to try to keep the poor guy on track as well as save the world. Adrian isn't the only one struggling with death. Jim is still hugely preoccupied with the young woman Cecilia Barton, who was sacrificed by Devina to protect her magic mirror. Devina taunting him about it at every available opportunity is not helping matters either. 

Lastly, we have Devina. She is quite obviously evil and psychotic and horrible and sadistic and all those other things. But she's also funny as hell. Please don't judge me, but I have to be honest: I love Devina. I don't know how the WARDen does it, but she's managed to create a villain that you can almost relate to. Devina has a debilitating OCD (she's a hoarder) and she sees a psychologist for it. She goes to the salon to get her hair done. She wants to look pretty for the guy she likes (Jim, much to his disgust) and she doesn't get why he doesn't like her. If she weren't such an evil, crazy bitch, I would totally be rooting for her.

Let me share some of my favourite bits form Rapture:

This is when Mels' boss, aptly name Dick, is hitting on her.

What she was clear on was that with a jawline more ham sandwich than Jon Hamm, the man had no objective reason to believe the answer to any woman's problems was in his pants. 

This is from Jim's perspective when Matthias ends up asking him for help.

And yet no matter how much his brain cramped, it looked like pigs could fly, there was a snowball in Hell, and somewhere across town, a twelve-year-old dog was learning to drive a goddamn car. 

Jim and Adrian are having a fight because Adrian can be an irresponsible pig when he's got time (but it's okay. I forgive him. And you will too). Jim hits Adrian in the penalty area. 

Motherfucker was going to sing the high notes like Justin-cocksucking-Timberlake for a while.

And then for Devina related fun, read chapter 31.

So, in conclusion, I just want to tell you that if you haven't started reading this series you really should. It isn't quite as good as the Black Dagger Brotherhood, but it does serve to tide me over until Lover at Last comes out next year.

Have a good Monday everybody!