BROKEN-WOMEN OF THE OTHERWORLD #6-by Kelley Armstrong

August is the 6th month in the Women of the Otherworld Challenge hosted by MOONLIGHT GLEAM’S BOOKSHELF. THIRTEEN (released July 2012) was the final full-length novel for Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series while the author puts Elena, Clay and Savannah on hiatus. This month’s challenge is BROKEN.

BROKEN by Kelley Armstrong-a review

BROKEN is the 6th novel in Kelley Armstrong’s Women of the Otherworld series. BROKEN continues the story of Elena, Clay and the other werewolves, but this time Elena is pregnant. As the only known female werewolf, Elena isn’t sure what to expect—literally. But when someone from her past calls in a favor, Elena knows this could be her final chance for adventure, before giving birth.

Ever since Elena Michaels discovered she was pregnant, she has been unable to concentrate. As the months pass and the pregnancy advances, shape-shifting, her ability to fight and running with the other Pack members has become increasingly difficult and worrisome. Without the benefit of prior knowledge or experience, Elena, Clay and Jeremy are cautious and reticent—if news were to spread about her pregnancy, she would become a bigger target than just Clay’s mate. When Xavier Reese, a former ‘inmate ‘ from Ty Winsloe’s compound of supernatural beings, calls in a favor, Elena jumps at the chance for the distraction. Xavier has been commissioned to find and retrieve the “From Hell” letter, supposedly one of the last known pieces of evidence and DNA from Jack the Ripper, but he requires Elena’s expertise—basically, the werewolves are the only beings who could pass through the sorcerer’s ‘spell’ protecting the document. One problem-the “From Hell” letter is currently owned by Patrick Shanahan, a sorcerer living in Toronto, and there are many ‘beings’ looking for the “letter”.

Once the letter is in their possession, a series of catastrophic events take place in the Canadian city. Witnesses report missing people, zombie-like beings, an outbreak of cholera and typhoid as well as a string of unexplained murders. It is not until the trio learns that part of the curse of the ‘From Hell’ letter, that whom ever is in possession, must make a ‘blood sacrifice’ to trigger the release of “Jack”, do they realize they may be responsible for the strange events happening in the city. And the only blood sacrifice that was made—Elena killed a mosquito containing her own blood. Meanwhile, a confused and lost soul exits the portal into the 21st century

With the blood sacrifice, a portal is opened into the otherworld, where zombies exit and people fall victim to its’ curse. But while tracking and fighting the zombies, Clay’s arm is puncture by one of the ‘undead’ and without thought of the consequences, he ignores his wounds. Without giving away too much of the plot, zombie scratches can be fatal, and a very sick and ailing Clay has only a couple of options—amputate the arm or die from infection.

When a very pregnant Elena is abducted, they come to realize, that Elena is now the target and no longer the ‘letter’. Clay and Elena’s children will be the ultimate sacrifice in a game of evil, between the mystery man from the portal and zombies wreaking havoc throughout Toronto.

Once again, Kelley introduces a few new supernatural beings such as Zoe Takana , a female vampire with eyes for Elena, and brings back the characters we love. Nick and Antonio Sorrentino are called to Canada to assist with the hunt for “Jack the Ripper”, and Jaime Vegas, a beautiful clairvoyant and necromancer (and a burr up Clay’s backside), aids the werewolves with the eradication and the return of the ‘undead’ back to their own time.

Broken is one of my favorite Women of the Otherworld storylines. Clay’s spiral into a fevered delirium is not without its’ scary moments and we watch Elena and Clay become a family with the birth of their child(ren) as we are drawn deeper into the lives of everyone involved. The birthing scene is heart warming and humorous, and you can almost hear the panic in their voices. Paige as their ‘long-distance’ birthing coach is something that can only be imagined by a writer like Kelley.

Reviewed by Sandy