#ThirstofSteel

[echoesofbooks]

Thirst of Steel by Ronie Kendig

Dismantled centuries ago, the sword of Goliath is still rumored to thirst for its enemies' blood. Cole "Tox" Russell wants only to put the dangers of his past behind him and begin his new life with Haven Cortes. First, though, he's called to complete a final mission: retrieve the sword and destroy the deadly Arrow & Flame Order.

The AFO, however, is determined to reunite the sword. Threatening the life of Ram and Tzivia's father, they jeopardize Ram's long-held and dangerous secret while demanding Tzivia locate the blade. With the Wraith team slowly being torn apart, things worsen when Mercy Maddox, a new operative, emerges with the stunning news that the artifact is tied to both Ram's secret and a string of unsolved serial murders. Tox, Ram, and the others are forced to set aside fear and anger to target the true enemy. No matter the cost, Wraith must destroy the AFO...or join them in the flames. First: NOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Why does this have to be the end of The Tox Files!!! I'm not going to lie: I spent a good portion of at least the last 50 pages in various stages of crying. Filled with twists, turns, action, mystery, faith and a heavy dose of mysticism, this SAARC mission certainly pulls out all the stops.

Seriously though, this book threw twists at you like there was no tomorrow. I did have my suspicions regarding at least the direction of a couple of them, but I was still pleasantly surprised. And there are a couple that I'd like more information on please...because those bombs can't just be dropped on us without telling us how things end up!! (I don't want to spoil anything, so if you've got questions about what I'm talking about, feel free to message me) And there was romance! *sigh* It was just so...well I mean, it wasn't exactly beautiful because of reasons, but it was! There was so much love and potentials that I was seriously cheering for. And not just romantic love either. There was familial love as well. And that was just as strong, if not stronger than the romantic love that wove through the book. I loved getting to see more Wraith. The relationship between all the team members is just awesome. I love their family dynamic and the fact that they can rib each other till there's no tomorrow, but they've got each other's backs and they trust each other (yes, that did make things a little difficult at a couple points but still). It's interesting watching Leif try to integrate with the team. I did feel a little bad; the rest of Wraith has had years to get to know each other and he's still a comparative unknown so they are a little standoffish, but I did like that while it doesn't seem like they trust him completely 100% of the time, they've still got his back and it feels like they're working on making him a full blown member of the team. I was a little frustrated with Tzivia. I get that she was trying to rescue her father and she didn't have all the information, but that doesn't really excuse some of her behavior. Ram shocked me. I mean, I'd had questions about where he'd stand on things. While it was clear that he was loyal to Wraith in the other books, at the same time it always felt like there was something...else there as well. Something that pulled him to just this side of, well not disloyalty but maybe priorities? Even though I was angry at the way he went about accomplishing certain things, in the end, he proved where his true loyalties lay. Mercy was an interesting character. I loved her spunk and the fact that she could seriously handle herself. And had a serious superhero obsession :D. I would definitely have loved to know more about Greece and her relationship with Ram though. Same really for how she came to work with Iliescu. And Tox and Haven!! So excited that things look like they're going to work out for them! Although I don't know that I can imagine Tox being able to do the whole "domesticated" thing for too long--he just feels like someone who needs to be out there doing something. I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher. All opinions in this review are my own