REVIEW: Broken by Kelley Armstrong
Dear Ms. Armstrong:
I spent much of last night and this morning scratching my head over my final thoughts on this book. This is the third entry in the Elena and Clay saga which began in 2001 with Bitten. Bitten was one of the first werewolf books that I really loved. I have re-read Bitten and Stolen a number of times and have loaned out my copies to a dozen people. I read the intervening stories about Eve and Paige but those were mere placeholders until you returned to Elena and Clay.
In Broken, it appears that you are closing the pages on Clay and Elena we have another chapter in the life of Clay and Elena. Elena is pregnant after several years of debate with Clay. Clay and Jeremy are quite protective of Elena. She is not allowed to go outside of the Pack boundaries. If the mutts knew she was pregnant, she would be an even greater target than she was before. This constant supervision, combined with her own fears, is chafing Elena. She gets a call from Xavier who helped save her life in Stolen. Xavier is calling in his chit and wants Elena to steal a purported letter from Jack the Ripper that is in someone’s private collection in Toronto.
Elena really would like to do this as it would take her mind of her pregnancy and get her out of Stonehaven. After extensive research and planning, Clay, Jeremy and Elena go to Toronto and steal the letter. It seems like an easy task and they plan to deliver the letter to Xavier and go home. Elena and Jeremy are curious, though, as to the letter’s contents. While they are looking at a letter, a misquito bites Elena and a drop of her blood falls on the letter. And then, all hell breaks loose. A couple of zombie-like creatures come through a portal and start spreading disease throughout Toronto. Jeremy determines that they will try to clean up this mess before heading home.
The book brings back old favorites such as Antonio and Nick, Jamie Vargas. New characters are introduced they may have a presence later. Despite the extensive back story of Elena and Clay’s relationship, it was not a book that required previous knowledge. All pertinent information was disclosed in a cursory manner.
The book was well written, filled with alot of action, sex, and Pack interaction. But . . . I don’t know. I was underwhelmed. To some extent, I felt like you catered too much to readers’ desires and maybe that detracted from the overall feel from the story. There were sex scenes between Clay and Elena which seemed inserted just for the pacification of one set of fans. There was the bringing back of certain Pack members that pleased another set. There was the complete gentling of Elena that maybe satisifed another. It wasn’t until the last 1/4 of the book that I felt that anyone was in real jeopardy, I guess. The lack of conflict (other than being chased around) made the book a bit flat. Once you placed the main characters
God, I can be such a picky bitch sometimes. I am giving you a B- and maybe will re-read your book in a few weeks and see if I have a different feeling. I am still buying your next book and you are still one of my favorite authors.
Best regards,
Jane
