I was a few books behind on this amazing series until last month, when I went on a Jane Yellowrock binge. Jane's most recent outing, BLACK ARTS, builds on the awesome foundation that Hunter laid in SKINWALKER and then grew with each subsequent novel. The seventh novel in the series, BLACK ARTS takes all of the best elements from the series and puts it into one amazing, exciting package.
In case you're not a reader (yet), you can get the main ideas of the series from my Daring You To Read... post. But here's a quick catch-up on some of the things that have happened to Jane since SKINWALKER (which means spoilers abound from here out). Leo is still the Master of the City but Bruiser is no longer his primo. Instead, he's now Onorio, which means that he's more than human and no longer tied to Leo in the same way. Jane now has business partners, two brothers named Eli and Alex, who've added an awesome family dynamic to Jane's life, filling the void left by the absence of Molly and her family, who have distanced themselves from Jane since the incident with Evangelina. Jane's also now Leo's Enforcer in addition to being a contract employee, which has added some interesting and complicated elements to Jane's life. Rick's adjusting to his life with the were taint and as a member of the law enforcement agency PsyLed. Jane's learned a lot about herself and Beast, and she/they are extremely torn on a romantic level since Jane/Beast is drawn to Leo, Bruiser, and Rick for different reasons.
BLACK ARTS starts up shortly after the end of BLOOD TRADE. Jane is back in New Orleans after her job in Natchez, living in her loaner of a house with Eli and Alex. The drama and action start on page 1, when Evan (Molly's husband and not Jane's Number One Fan) literally blows into town, looking for his wife. I love Big Evan and I just knew that it was going to be an amazing story once he stepped onto the page, full of desperation and confusion. The Everhearts have been out of the picture for a few novels so it was great to have Molly and the rest of her family as the focus of BLACK ARTS. We finally get to see what's been going on with them since everything with Evangelina happened and, wow, is it every crazy. I don't want to say too much so that you can get really enjoy it but I will say that BLACK ARTS will throw you for a loop. The developments with Molly and the reasons that she went missing truly surprised me and really tie up some lingering questions. BLACK ARTS also forces Jane and Evan to come to terms with each other and discuss the tensions between them. We also find out just how Angie is progressing with her powers (she's scary strong), which is something I've been very curious about.
Another great aspect of BLACK ARTS is Jane's relationship with Beast. Things between them were so hostile at first (at least on Beast's side) but they've been progressing towards a more harmonious relationship as Jane now understands how she and Beast came together. Their interactions in this novel were so fraught with emotion and I love seeing Jane taking care of her spiritual side, not only because we get to see Aggie One Feather, one of my favourite supporting characters in the series.
To be honest, BLACK ARTS was so good I'm finding it difficult to articulate what I liked most about the book. Everything is Faith Hunter at her finest: great dialogue, fast-paced action, emotional moments. There's no stand-out moment because the whole novel was just so incredibly satisfying. If you're a Jane Yellowrock fan, you definitely need to read this (but only after the others because you can't skip a book in this series). If you're not a fan yet (you crazy kid!), you need to dive into Jane's world. BLACK ARTS is a fine urban fantasy and I'm on the edge of my seat waiting for BROKEN SOUL.
I really need to read this series. I swear all my UF bookfriends have. =))
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