Death by Laura Thalassa @LauraThalassa @SourcebooksCasa #KindleUnlimited @SnyderBridge4‏

Posted August 7, 2023 by Robin in Book Review / 9 Comments

Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.


Death by Laura Thalassa @LauraThalassa @SourcebooksCasa #KindleUnlimited @SnyderBridge4‏Death by Laura Thalassa
Series: The Four Horsemen #4
Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca on August 15, 2023
Genres: Fantasy Romance
Pages: 560
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
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three-flames
One StarOne StarOne StarHalf a Star

He’s known by many names: Thanatos. Horseman. God’s last angel. And then, of course, there's the one I’m all too familiar with—

Death.

The day Death comes to Lazarus Gaumond’s town and kills everyone in one fell swoop, the last thing he expects to see is a woman left alive and standing. But Lazarus has her own extraordinary gift: she cannot be killed—not by humans, not by the elements, not by Death himself.

She is the one soul Death doesn’t recognize. The one soul he cannot pry free from her flesh. Nor can he ignore the unsettling desire he has for her. Take her. He wants to, desperately. And the longer she tries to stop him from his killing spree, the stronger the desire becomes.

When Lazarus crosses paths with the three other horsemen, an unthinkable situation leads to a terrible deal: seduce Death, save the world. A hopeless task, made all the worse by the bad blood between her and Thanatos. But Death’s attraction to her is undeniable, and try though she might, Lazarus cannot stay away from that ancient, beautiful being and his dark embrace.

Death is the final book of The Four Horsemen series, it is the wrap up to a series that spans about 20 years since Pestilence first arrived.  The premise of the series is that the apocalypse is neigh and each one of our horsemen come to earth to bring about the end of days and learn what it is to be human.  Each horseman has a women destined for him, who can teach him what humanity is and change him mind/purpose.  I like the overall concept of these stories but be sure that they may seem like there is a bit of Stockholm syndrome happening and each of the horseman is a mass murderer for god so…not necessarily good guys in the beginning.

Lazarus is Death’s destined women.  She rises from the ashes literally, she is probably the one and only person on earth Death can’t kill, no matter how she is hurt, she rises again.  She confuses Death, he is drawn to her in ways he can’t explain and he wants her with him, he also want to kill her and can’t, so it is confusing.  To Thanatos, a.k.a. Death, dying is not a bad thing you leave this world and go to the afterlife, it is not something to fear or run away from it is just a new beginning.  But no one else sees it like that and the entire cities destroyed in his wake only feel like collateral damage to Lazarus.

Lazarus lost her entire family when Thanatos visited her city.  She will stalk him and try to at least slow him down for a time between cities so they can evacuate.  If that means putting arrows into him so he is dead for a little while so be it.  In fighting him, she learns more about him than she wants to and starts to understand this brooding fallen angel and his singular focus.  They are opposites and so the magnetic pull between them is palpable.

“Yes, but life and death are lovers, kismet. They always choose each other in the end.” 

Death’s three brothers also make an appearance as they too want to stop Death from destroying the world they have all come to love.  I really enjoyed seeing Pestilence again now human and older, softer after living among the mortals as one for the last twenty years.  War is also mortal and aging.  You could see that they were enjoying this mortal life they picked and would do anything to protect it even if it means fighting their brother.  Famine is the only horseman still with him immortality and he fiercely protects his other brothers in this fight.  They have a plan though.  Convince Lazarus to seduce Death, to stop trying to kill him and convert him to enjoying mortality like the women fated to them had.  Do that and she alone can save the world.

I enjoyed Death and the wrap up of the series.  I do think it could have done with a little streamlining as some of it seemed a bit repetitive and there was an entire plot concept that seemed like it could have been tossed out.  That said I did enjoy Lazarus and her never quit attitude when it came to killing or seducing Thanatos.  Death himself, well he was a little blah to me overall.  He is very much alone in the world, being alive longer than his brothers and he just seemed sad overall.  I think there were some opportunities missed with his character that could have made him more dynamic.

A good wrap up to a series though and I really liked the epilogue that showed even horsemen of the apocalypse can go to heaven.  It was well written and beautiful.  If you enjoy anti-heroes and women with some magical seduction skills then this will be a good series for you.

I know he feels our newfound romance is fragile, and he probably wants to do everything he can to not mess it up — which would include hiding bodies.

Ah, horseman chivalry.  What a concept. 

About Laura Thalassa

Found in the forest when she was young, Laura Thalassa was raised by fairies, kidnapped by werewolves, and given over to vampires as repayment for a hundred year debt. She’s been brought back to life twice, and, with a single kiss, she woke her true love from eternal sleep. She now lives happily ever after with her undead prince in a castle in the woods.

… or something like that anyway.

When not writing, Laura can be found scarfing down guacamole, hoarding chocolate for the apocalypse, or curled up on the couch with a good book.

Rating Breakdown
Plot
One StarOne StarOne StarHalf a Star
Writing
One StarOne StarOne StarOne Star
Characters
One StarOne StarOne StarHalf a Star
Dialogue
One StarOne StarOne StarHalf a Star
Overall: One StarOne StarOne StarHalf a Star
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Posted August 7, 2023 by Robin in Book Review / 9 Comments


9 responses to “Death by Laura Thalassa

    • I’ve had a good time with it. Also magic vagina’s save the world. A how to guide on how to stop the apocalypse through f*cking