When Reveillon's march ends in a bombing at the gates of Devils' Isle, Claire's group meet up with Delta, the group of Paranormals living outside of Devil's Isle who are fighting for the freedom of Paranormals and Sensitives (those humans affected by magic), led by warrior angel Malachi and including Darby, a human scientist and Burke, a Sensitive. The two groups face growing concern about Reveillon and its apparent grass-roots movement, as anti-magic spray-painted billboards are appearing all across New Orleans. In order to find out how big the movement is, Claire and Liam go on a recon mission at Camp Couturie, a makeshift tent community, following a clue left on the body of one of the dead terrorists. They pretend to be selling vegetables, since Claire runs the Royal Mercantile, anyway. Unfortunately, their little mission goes awry and both are taken by Reveillon's leader, but while stuck in Camp Couturie, they find out some horrifying information - Reveillon is loaded to the brim with C4 and weapons, indicating a bigger plot is at hand than a little explosion at the gates of Devil's Isle.
When the convoys of Containment agents sent to help from other parts of the state and country start getting attacked and Claire and company realize that no help is coming, since help just can't seem to get there, they realize that an even larger battle is about to be waged than the one where they had to protect the Veil. Sadly, this one is human-led and will result in casualties of humans, Paras, and Sensitives alike. Containment and those humans determined to protect the Paras stuck in Devil's Isle like sitting ducks band together, gathering all of the Paras into the middle of Devil's Isle and surround them as a barrier of protection. Naturally, before it gets to the point of battle, Liam has convinced his stubborn blind grandmother Eleanor to leave her home in Devil's Isle, especially since she and those protecting her were already attacked by Reveillon members, but Eleanor will only go if Moses can go with her, and getting a conspicuous 3-foot-tall Para with black horns out of Devil's Isle won't be an easy task. As always, Claire, Liam, Gavin (Liam's younger brother), Gunnar, Claire's other dear friend Tadji, Burke, and Malachi will find a way to fight the evil brewing to save their beloved New Orleans, once again. However, they won't get through it unscathed and some will be changed forever. With Claire and Liam's foundling romance trying to blossom amidst war, can they survive a devastating blow?
While I found the early portions of the book to be not quite as exciting as the first book, that feeling soon dissipated and I was right back on the streets of the Quarter, heady Louisiana humidity and heat nearly palpable. I love the way Chloe Neill writes and especially all of the Louisiana touches she includes, which she absolutely nails. If you enjoy paranormal romance and urban fantasy with plenty of action and a South Louisiana flair, do yourself a favor and check out the Devil's Isle series. You won't be disappointed, just be sure to read them in order.
