The series is taking an interesting direction further into urban fantasy, and while it might be a bit cluttered with subplots and supporting cast, I still really enjoyed it. Phury's drug addiction wore thin pretty quick (in the previous books, you don't get such a close-up as here), and the dithering got pretty frustrating too. But it made it more believable. Some of the other characters - especially the ones who've already had their "turn" - are becoming less substantial because you don't get to spend any time with them, like Rhage and V, and nothing much is added to their story. Mary didn't make an appearance in this book at all.

Even though the women do make efforts to strike it on their own and all, I still wince at the whole sequestering thing that pops up a lot in paranormal romance. The women become almost like prisoners, unable to leave the building or, sometimes, a single room. They get more freedom by the end but still, what's with that? That's not my fantasy ;)

I would love to see JR Ward do full-on fantasy after this series - something like Jaqueline Carey's Kushiel Series kind of fantasy (as opposed to the more "traditional" kind), but the jumping around is getting as bad as Robert Jordan's later books, without enough reward.

Still, for all the phonetic prose (read: atrocious grammar that makes it really hard to read at times) and "spelling mistakes" (does no one know how to use present perfect anymore?? lie, lay, lain, laid - drives me insane), and the incredible volume of product placement, not just of brand names but actual chains that are getting some whopping free advertising here, I enjoyed this book and I liked what Phury did at the end, and his words to the Scribe Virgin - they should be obvious, but parents the world over still repeat that mistake. Gods aren't infallible after all.