Review: Release by M.R. Merrick

Release by M.R. Merrick
Series: The Protector, #3
Published: November 21, 2012
Publisher: Self Published
Pages: 372

After uniting the shifters and calling in reinforcements, Chase has to face his toughest challenge yet: learning to control his emotions. But as tensions rise and his powers grow, controlling his emotions becomes the least of his problems. Terrorized by a multi-shifter who is hell-bent on turning him, Chase questions just how far he’s willing to go to stop his father. Meanwhile, Tiki’s virtuous nature has placed him in the middle of Vincent’s past, leaving Chase to oppose a senate of vampires and defend a demon he hates. Trying to balance his friends, his enemies, and his inner demons, Chase is left searching for answers about the Mark, his destiny, and where he can find the next soul piece. Stopping Riley is his top priority, but as more obstacles arise, he finds himself doubting all the decisions he’s made - especially regarding Rayna. One thing is for certain: Chase has finally realized that he doesn’t know anything. The light doesn’t always quell the darkness, the monsters don’t always stay in the shadows, and the past doesn’t always stay in the past - sometimes, the demons inside are the hardest to fight.

Well, this is definitely not a trilogy.

In this third installment (of there definitely better be more series), Chase finds himself dealing with the issue that is Riley, and his journey to find the soul pieces. Of course, much more than that occurs.

I am so incredibly happy with how the characters have developed. Tiki and Vincent in particular - Merrick did a fantastic job making these characters project off the page and into my life. But you see, I may have started to smile every time Tiki stood up for Vincent and said, “awww” in my head. Which means, in fangirl language,



Yeah. That happened. Maybe it’s all in my head, but it’s all beautiful in my head. Needless to say, once you start wild shippings, you know something special is going on.

Have I mentioned Merrick’s humor? Well, the moments of sarcastic angst had me smirking all over the place. Until something major happened. Morgana faces for this book.



That being said, I had some major issues with the pacing. Specifically, this book involved more than one major action scenes. As a result, I can’t even remember how many, or specific ones because it’s all jumbled in my head. And they are described in great detail. If you’re into that thing, great. But I honestly got bored after reading Chase struggle with some demon that you know he’ll defeat somehow or other with a fantastic power play for the tenth time. I’d skim a lot of those, without losing any of the plot. I think the books pacing suffered a lot from those, and it’s a difficult to handle without cutting those intricate details (and I could understand why some wouldn’t want to).

Which leads me to the conclusion that this book was too long. For the first half, the pacing was perfect. But then more and more obstacles kept popping up - then were defeated. Until something else huge popped up - to be defeated also. It finally got to the point where I was asking if we were ever going to actually see something big happen. So much time was devoted to developing these other, smaller obstructions, that I believe a lot of the effect of the finale confrontation, that had been built up the entire book, was taken away. Anticipation is good, but there comes a point where the wait spoils the meal. 

It’s unfortunate because I really enjoyed all else about the book, but the pacing ultimately through me for a looper that spoiled the rest. If you’re one to enjoy great sequence of adventures, you probably won’t have a problem! But I read for the moments of Chase’s great insight, and the sweet moments between Tiki and Vincent, as well as the pleasure of watching characters deal with hurtles - when a balance has been struck between the three. And for me, the pacing of the plot outraced all else