5+++ Star Review: Elude (Eagle Elite, #6) by Rachel Van Dyken

Saturday 24 January 2015

Elude by Rachel Van Dyken
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

5+++ Stars

Words cannot express my love of this series. Yes, it’s far-fetched with young men, and women, running the largest Italian mob families in the USA but so brilliantly written that even the harshest of critics couldn’t take away from the truly gripping storyline.

In this instalment we spend time with the ghost that is Sergio. After his fall from grace in the eyes of the Italian families his only hope to survive the fallout is to accept an arranged marriage to the estranged daughter of one of the largest Russian mob families. Andi is beautiful, feisty and sassy but she's also dying of leukaemia. Knowing her time is short, she embraces her life with a determination and passion and despite not loving Sergio, she is more acceptant of the marriage than he is. Sergio is furious that his choice has been taken from him and Andi revels in his frustration and taunts him until he cracks and finally accepts her, if not married life.

Andi is probably one of the best female characters that I have read about. She has been created with careful attention and her personality is a delight to readers. Sergio has met his match and witnessing her strength in the eyes of her imminent death, he starts to appreciate just how lucky he is to have her in his life, if only for a short time. From the one liners to the carefully constructed attacks inflicted on the mob bosses as Andi shows them how well trained she is, you can't help but fall in love with her yourself. She literally is the best friend every girl would love to have: bright, bubbly, fun-loving and hysterically funny. Poor Sergio!

As expected, the story continues on from the previous instalments as Nixon and co. work together to protect their unorthodox family from danger, this time at the hands of Andi's birth father, Petrov. All the best loved characters feature heavily in this story and I find myself torn over who my favourite is. From Nixon to Tex and Chase to Phoenix, and not forgetting their partners, the ride throughout this series is probably one of the most pleasurable that I've ever read.

This story was an easy read, despite the inevitable sadness associated with Andi's deterioration of her health. Sergio's character develops through the storyline into a loveable one and one we all suspected was lurking deep beneath his killer persona. There were emotional highs and lows with this book and I laughed and I cried along with the characters as they reveal a softness to their souls which grabbed at your heartstrings.

This is one series that I never want to end. Despite loving all of Rachel Van Dyken's books, this is by far my favourite series but never fear, the story goes on as the next chapter is written and waiting to be told.