The first three books in this series concerned themselves with the title character: Gunnie Lizbeth Rose.  Gunnie being both her title and her profession…a professional gunman.  In this world, magic exists and professionals in one of four “types” of magic strengths hire themselves out.  But not everyone appreciates or even trusts a Grigori.  The types include water, air, fire and earth; with death as an adjunct skill. The U.S.A. fractured when President Franklin Roosevelt was assassinated and the country ravaged by the Spanish flu; leaving it unprotected.  In Russia, the Tsar was ousted and after wandering the globe looking for a new home, they landed on the west coast and created The Holy Russian Empire out of California and Oregon.  Mexico encroached and took back land from both New Mexico and Texas.  In the aftermath, Oklahoma and Texas banded together, creating Texoma.  Canada claimed the Great Lakes area and Britain moved in on the east coast creating Britannia.  The southern states came together to form Dixie, leaving the rest of the U.S.A. as New America. 

In the last book, Lizbeth met her younger sister and left her in the care of the Grigori school in the HRE where Felicia hoped to learn more magic.  Felicia also had the dubious honor of being one of the few people who carry the blood of Rasputin, the only cure to keep Tsar Alexei alive.  But aside from the favor of being allowed in the school, no one thought the little eleven-year-old had any magic.  Everyone was wrong about two things; very, very wrong.

Lizbeth and her husband, Eli, had returned to her home in Texoma and both were employed as Gunnies.  Neither of them appear in this story; but not to worry, gentle reader, this is still a way-good story.  It takes place almost immediately after the events of the previous book.  Felicia is trying to fit into the school and wishing she would be allowed into the more interesting classes; the ones that teach magic.  But since she’s hidden her magical abilities, no one has any interest in her.  Due to her circumstances, her father had made very sure that she would appear small, uninteresting and unimportant.  But since her father is dead, there is no one to ensure she continues to appear that way.  So she’s changing; and rather rapidly.  It isn’t very long until no one is sure just how old the girl is. She no longer looks like a scrawny eleven-year-old; an age that she passed quite a while earlier.  But since she still feels relatively unimportant, except for the whole keeping-the-Tsar-alive thing, she can’t quite believe that anyone would want to kidnap her.  Twice.  But quick thinking and a judicious amount of magic saved her; not without some injuries.  Back at the school and put up in the infirmary, she was tended to but by then the Spanish flu had made its way into the school. 

Then to her continuing confusion, two people made it into the school, past the wards, and started killing everyone in sight while searching for her.  This made her so angry that despite her injuries, she fought back and destroyed them both…without any of the Grigori training or tools.  This made her quite a person-of-interest to the school’s headmistress.  A little research into her past produced an astonishing piece of information: the source of her magic was both her father and long-dead mother.  From the earlier books, we know her father was a by-blow of Rasputin.  But it was scarcely believable who her mother’s family was…or if they were involved in her kidnapping.

Felicia and her supporters which included a hitherto unknown cousin are taxed to figure out why Felicia is being targeted and by whom; all during an unfortunate outbreak of flu.  The flu was only a plot device and is largely disregarded.  Considering the virulence of the flu, that felt rather like Ms Harris brushed it under a carpet.  It was a major force in shaping the world during our early 1900s so I was expecting a bit more.

The fun in the book was watching Felicia come into her own power and discover what she was capable of.  It’s a trifle unbelievable that she could mature so quickly without having someone to understand and guide her but that’s a small quibble in an otherwise completely fun escape story.

The world-building was, as is usual with Ms. Harris, pretty spare.  We can visualize California easily enough, even imagine what it was like in the early 1900’s; but Ms Harris doesn’t ground us in the year or make much of what differences there must surely be.  But maybe I can’t have all that and get the same storytelling experience; that’s not where her strengths lie, perhaps.  Her best parts are the characters and a dizzying pace.  I’ve said this before…that much like her Sookie stories, these are fast reads that I compare to eating popcorn: you don’t even realize how much you’ve eaten until you get to the bottom.

I am sorry that I missed finding this book in 2022 when it published; and now a new book is out.  But I’m not sorry that I can immediately dive into the next story without waiting a whole year!  I am still hoping that one or more of her characters has a chance to travel more so I can see more of this alternate America and its magic users.  ~~ Catherine Book

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