The Crocodile's Last Embrace

I have so many books to review that rarely to I review a book that isn't sent to me. I've long been a fan of Suzanne Arruda's Jade del Cameron series, and the latest book was so good, I just had to share it with you.

The Crocodile's Last Embrace by Suzanne Arruda is the sixth book in the Jade del Cameron series. Jade's story picks up four months after Treasure of the Golden Cheetah. Her long-time love, pilot Sam Featherston, has left her in Africa to figure out if she truly wants him to be in her life while he tries to sell his film in Hollywood. While trying to lay to rest any remaining sorrow from her time in Europe as a nurse during WWI, she spends time in the battlefields and is horrified to see what appears to be her dead fiance, David. Returning home to Africa, she continues to see visions that frighten and unsettle her and soon she and her friends realize that Jade's archnemesis, Lilith Worthy, has escaped from prison and may be behind all of the murders and frights. I fell in love with Jade in the first novel in this series: Mark of the Lion. Her fierce spirit and independence carried through to the next two books: Stalking Ivory and The Serpent's Daughter, but somewhere in the next two, I felt like the essence of Jade was lost. She was isolating herself so much from friends and Sam that she became difficult to understand and the mysteries weren't up to the standard of the previous titles. It was with trepidation that I read this newest title, because I had decided, if I didn't like it, I was giving up on the series. I was completely blown away from Arruda's writing in this novel. It is absolutely the best of the entire series, and worth reading even the lesser books to get to. Jade is so unsettled by the villain's gaslighting that when she returns to herself, it is a new start to the entire series. The mystery and suspense is incredible, I don't think I even breathed through the last fifty pages. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a book this much. The writing is thrilling; the action and adventure heart-stopping. The Crocodile's Embrace will remind readers why they love to read: strong and beautiful heroines with a heart, stoic and handsome heroes who will sacrifice anything for the woman they love, and villains who are sinister and smart who will stop at nothing to destroy them. I loved it!

I did not receive a copy of this book from any company but checked it out of my local library!