Boy has it been a while since Stormi and I last read from this series. I had to do some searching but I believe it was the end of November 2023. Wow! Almost three years. So, I was actually surprised about how much I remembered once I read a few chapters. This was a great choice to read for spooky season too. So read on for my thoughts and then hop over to Stormi's blog to see hers.
TITLE: The Dire King (Jackaby #4)
AUTHOR: William Ritter
PUBLISHER: Algonquin Young Readers
PUBLISHING DATE: August 22, 2017
PAGES: 352
SOURCE: KU
FROM GOODREADS: The fate of the world is in the hands of detective of the supernatural R. F. Jackaby and his intrepid assistant, Abigail Rook. An evil king is turning ancient tensions into modern strife, using a blend of magic and technology to push Earth and the Otherworld into a mortal competition. Jackaby and Abigail are caught in the middle as they continue to solve the daily mysteries of New Fiddleham, New England — like who’s created the rend between the worlds, how to close it, and why zombies are appearing around. At the same time, the romance between Abigail and the shape-shifting police detective Charlie Cane deepens, and Jackaby’s resistance to his feelings for 926 Augur Lane’s ghostly lady, Jenny, begins to give way. Before the four can think about their own futures, they will have to defeat an evil that wants to destroy the future altogether.
The Dire King is trying to gain domination of the world again and Jackaby has been asked been tasked with trying to prevent it from happening. Once again, he is relying heavily on his assistance, Abigail Rook, to assist him, along with Jenny the ghost and Charlie the shifter. Charlie's extended family also comes into play and adds some extra tension as they want Charlie to return home and assume leadership over their clan. In addition, they are not pleased Charlie has fallen for Abigail and is planning a life with her.
This series has always been a lot of fun and this one especially such since it brought a lot of the supernatural being, including trolls, fairies, witches and monsters together for the final battle. I have always enjoyed Jackaby's relationship as a teacher and mentor with Abigail, and added with his dry wit and sense of humor, he is one of my favorite characters. And of course, I still love Charlie which is to be expected because he shifts into a dog.
The ending of this book went pretty much as expected and was full of action and peril. There is a spin-off book which starts the Rook series which I plan to read in January. However, I don't think anymore were ever written so it might be sad to visit this interesting world one last time.
If you like mysteries, action and urban fantasy, this is a good series to pick up. I believe it is classified as YA but overall, I would say it leans into the older side of YA more than the younger. It might have even been classified as new adult if that were a thing when they first were written. So glad Stormi picked this for this month's buddy read and we both vowed not to wait three years before reading the last one.
MY RATING: 5 PAWS
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