Lizbeth Rose is stunned when she receives the letter from her half-sister, Felicia. Felicia is residing in the Holy Russian Empire (formerly known as California) where she receives a free education in exchange for helping Tsar Alexei live through the magic of her blood. Felicia’s letter is encoded with the message that Prince Eli, the Grigori Lizbeth recently partnered with in more than one way, is in trouble. In fact, the message indicates he is in prison, which makes no sense to Lizbeth as Eli was one of the Grigoris originally tasked with finding someone just like Felicia and should be in favor with Tsar Alexei. Lizbeth is determined to rescue Eli or die trying….

THE RUSSIAN CAGE is the third book in the Gunnie Rose series and is definitely best appreciated in the context of the series. While it can be read as a standalone due to Charlaine Harris providing sufficient back history, the emotional impact and Lizbeth’s reasons and determination to save Eli will make a lot more sense if you understand their relationship and their history together. Besides, the Gunnie Rose is one heck of a good series and well worth reading as a whole anyway!

We’ve heard about the Holy Roman Empire (HRE) since the first book in the series and it was fascinating to finally visit it. The political maneuverings within San Diego are full of intrigue with lots of backstabbing and untrustworthy characters galore. Felicia is starting to truly develop as a character, too, and I’m hopeful we’ll see more about her as there is so much potential with her for future stories. Lizbeth seems surprised by what she learns about Felicia, but it makes so much sense within the context of all we’ve seen with her. Besides, I want to see what Felicia can do as a full-fledged Grigori with all her magical powers! I have to admit I missed seeing Eli for much of the book as he mainly sat in prison while Lizbeth worked on a plan to get him out of there. However, Charlaine Harris didn’t disappoint with the scenes with him at all and the conclusion of THE RUSSIAN CAGE more than made up for his absence otherwise.

THE RUSSIAN CAGE is yet another stunning multi-genre alternate history tale. While Lizbeth’s job as a gunnie has more of a western feel to it, the HRE adds more of a historical/medieval sense to the story line. Charlaine Harris is proving that she really is the master of any genre, even multiple ones at once, as THE RUSSIAN CAGE truly has it all! Spectacular characters and character development, phenomenal world building, action packed story lines, danger galore, and a whole heap of political intrigue- what more could a reader want?