Shadows Before the Sun by Kelly Gay

Title: Shadows Before the Sun
Author: Kelly Gay
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Charlie Madigan #4

Mass Market Paperback, 335 Pages
Publication: July 31st 2012 by Pocket Books

Buy the book
|AMAZON|BOOK DEPO|

Source: Bought for myself

|SUMMARY|
After filling out mountains of paperwork, Detective Charlie Madigan sets out for a death-defying trip into heavenly Elysia to rescue her partner Hank and bring the siren home. Of course, she doesn’t expect to leave behind an all out siren revolution or return home to find that jinn crime boss, Grigori Tennin, has begun a massive search for the divine being, Ahkneri. Tennin’s tactics set off a chain reaction that puts Charlie in the crosshairs of the shadowy creature known as Death and awakens Ahkneri from her long sleep. And when Vengeance rises, Atlanta will never be the same.

|REVIEW|   

Shadows before the Sun is the fourth installment in the Charlie Madigan series by Kelly Gay. The book starts out with a murder in the Druid King’s territory, one of his enforcer was apparently murdered by a Jinn, or so he thinks. Charlie combs the crime scene but eventually passes it over to another detective, as she prepares to leave to Elysia to retrieve her partner Hank. Hank was taken back to Elysia as a traitor to the government for escaping (the grid) when he was younger. The day before Charlie is to leave to Elysia, she gets word that Hank been executed. Charlie doesn’t believe it for a second and sets out to find the truth and bring Hank home.

You guys know that feeling when you been on a trip for days and right when you get home you’re fill with joy, so relax and comfortable being back in your own house? That’s what it feels like jumping back into the Charlie Madigan series. Even though it’s been a year or more since I read the last book in the series, once I open the book and immerse myself in the world and characters that Mrs. Gay created…it felt so good like I never left. I postponed reading the book right when it came out because I heard many of the original characters didn’t have much page time as previous books. Although, I was bummed about not seeing more of Hank, Rex, Emma, Brimstone, and Pen, readers got to know more about Sandra the Oracle. The majority of the book involved the Oracle tagging along with Charlie on her mission to save Hank, saying that her fate is intertwined with the two of them. I really enjoy the budding friendship between Sandra and Charlie. 

The book is told from Charlie’s point-of-view, but there were occasionally snippets of Hank’s third person point-of-view scattered throughout the book. I thought this was interesting, but I prefer only one pov. This was an awesome addition to the series, and each book just gets better and better. This book had me laughing and crying from start to finish. This is one of my favorite UF series around, with one of the best world-building and characters ever written. I always look forward to a Charlie Madigan book, and hope that there will be more to come. This was truly an AMAZING-emotional novel; I can’t wait to see where Mrs. Gay will take Charlie and the gang in the next book. 

I highly recommend everyone to pick up this series, you won’t regret it. If you enjoy the Elemental Assassin series by Jennifer Estep, Kate Daniel series by Ilona  Andrews, Horngate Witches series by Diana P. Francis, or the October Daye series by Seanan McGuire…then you’ll definitely enjoy this series!