The Reckoning
The second book of The Taker Trilogy, this novel promises to be a supernatural thriller, the kind of story in which people chase each other from one great city to another, all without passports or ever needing to go to the bathroom. This one, of course, ranges not just from city to city but up and down historical time.
Sometime in the 13th century a Venetian named Adair discovers how to make himself immortal (he does this in Saint Petersburg, a city not yet in existence in the 1200s, more proof of his supernatural power). He uses this elixir to bind other people to him, and so creates a sort of entourage of immortals. One, the beautiful Lanore, has escaped him, and Adair is determined to hunt her down and make her pay, or maybe just love her to death; his motives are mixed.
Unfortunately the story bogs down quickly into endless recapitulation of the back story and circular thoughts about Lanore’s love/hate for Adair, Adair’s love/hate for Lanore, and how hard it is to be immortal. Worse, the telling is flat and bored. Katsu hasn’t bothered to imagine any of this as if it were really happening. Even a potentially terrific scene where Adair brings another man back to life from a coffin filled with half-liquefied rot just plods along without surprise or excitement. The Reckoning suffers from all the bad things about sequels, without any good things to recommend it.
