Book: Blood Infernal by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell

Published February 2015 by William Morrow|576 pages

Where I Got It: I borrowed the e-book from the library

Series: The Order Of The Sanguines #3

Genre: Adult Thriller

In a masterpiece of supernatural mystery and apocalyptic prophecy, New York Times bestselling authors James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell bring to a thunderous conclusion their epic trilogy of novels set between the worlds of shadow and light, between salvation and damnation, where the very gates of Hell must be shattered to discover the true fate of humankind in…

Blood Infernal

As an escalating scourge of grisly murders sweeps the globe, archaeologist Erin Granger must decipher the truth behind an immortal prophecy foretold in the Blood Gospel, a tome written by Christ and lost for centuries: The shackles of Lucifer have been loosened, and his Chalice remains lost. It will take the light of all three to forge the Chalice anew and banish him again to his eternal darkness. With the Apocalypse looming, Erin must again join forces with Army Sergeant Jordan Stone and Father Rhun Korza to search for a treasure lost for millennia. But the prize has already fallen into the hands of their enemy, a demon named Legion, before whom even the walls of the Vatican will fall.

The search for the key to salvation will take Erin and the others across centuries and around the world, from the dusty shelves of the Vatican’s secret archives to lost medieval laboratories, where ancient alchemies were employed to horrific ends. All the while, they are hunted, besieged by creatures of uncanny skill and talent. As clues are dug free from ancient underground chapels and found frozen in icy mountain caverns, one that will destroy not only her, but all she loves. To protect the world, Erin must walk through the very gates of Hell and face the darkest of enemies: Lucifer himself.

With The Blood Gospel, the first novel in the Order of the Sanguines series, James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell combined science, myth, and religion to introduce a breathtaking world where miracles hold new meaning and the fight for good over evil is far more complicated than we ever dreamed. And now, in this epic conclusion to the Sanguines trilogy, Blood Infernal, they take us to the very pit of Hell itself, making us peer into the abyss and face our greatest fears, to answer the ultimate question: What price will we pay for true salvation? 

I liked this one.  The series didn’t end how I thought it would, but it was a pretty interesting ride.

What I liked most was how different historical figures were involved.  I’ve really liked Elizabeth Of Bathory, and she’s been a pretty solid character this whole time.  I really liked how John Dee was included, and they did a great job at including his experiments into what was going on.  With what I know about John Dee as a person, I could see him trying what he did in this book.  He was mentioned more than anything else, but we did actually see him at the very beginning of the book.  We learned a lot about him in this book, and Cantrell and Rollins did a great job at weaving in history.

This book was a blur to me.  I waited a while to read and then I was scrambling to finish it before it was due, so even though I’m reviewing not too long after finishing it, I still feel like it’s going to be a struggle to actually review it.

I did want more action from this book.  There wasn’t as much as I thought there would be, and that was a little disappointing.  Considering they’re trying to stop the apocalypse from happening, you’d think there would more action and less talk.  But that wasn’t the case at all.

You do see what lengths they’ll go to stop evil, and how they’ll deal with it as they travel all over the world to do it.  They are alone for part of the book, but no matter how far apart they are from each other, they always end up working together as a group to figure out what’s going on and how to stop it from happening.  It makes me wonder if they’ll cross paths now that the book is over.  Jordan and Erin do, for sure, but I’d be curious to see if they ever cross paths with Rhun or Elizabeth.

I had the feeling Erin and Jordan will be just fine, but Rhun?  Of the three, he had the most earth-shattering revelations to deal with, and now he’s really going to have to deal with all of that.  Whether he does it on his own, or with Elizabeth, I’m not sure.  But he has a lot of soul-searching to do after learning what he does.

And I hope Elizabeth keeps in touch with Tommy for the rest of their lives.  They seem pretty important to each other, so hopefully they’re still a part of each others lives now that they don’t have to deal with this apocalyptic craziness.

3 stars.  I liked Blood Infernal, and while it wasn’t the action-packed ending I thought it would be, I did like the blending of suspense with history, religion and the supernatural.