Heroes at Risk [Mass Market Paperback]

This book is the fourth book in the series after Resenting the Hero, The Hero Strikes Back, and Heroes Adrift. This really isn't a stand-alone book, since the book references many things that happened in previous books. The entire series is written from Lee's POV (first person). Essentially, a new 'fad' has hit the city of High Scape; people have suddenly become interested in magic and casting spells. About that same time, people living near the riverfront begin suffering from a mysterious illness. And then people start getting murdered and their funeral ashes stolen. Since none of the local authorities seem too keen to investigate, it's up to Lee and Taro to figure out what's going on. But have they caught the attention of the wrong kind of people?

While there is action and mystery, this book really focuses on Lee and Taro's fragile relationship, in that Lee continues to constantly misunderstand Taro's motives and his real interest in her. There are some really great developments here, but I'll refrain from posting any spoilers. All I can say is there is a reason all of Moira's fans have a soft spot for Taro.

The book does leave off with a cliff-hanger, and according to Moira's blog ([...]), book five has been completed and is currently being editted. I love where book five is going to take us! I love Taro's cousin, and I suspect (and hope) that we will see much, much more of her in book five. I love how she tortures Taro's abusive mother.

And then the downside, which seems to be the downside with most of the books: the cover art. I'm pretty sure Moira doesn't have control over this, but I'm not sure what they are thinking, especially with books one and two. I almost missed this series because the cover art was so off-putting (I did like the cover art for book three). So, if you haven't read this series, ignore the cover art.

Heroes at Risk, the fourth book in Moira J. Moore's Source and Shield series, is a return to issues that were central to the first and second books. Lee and Taro are home in High Scape now, and as far as Lee is concerned, her life is back to normal. But almost immediately she and Taro discover that peculiar things are happening in High Scape. A mysterious illness is sweeping through the riverfront areas of town, people are showing a morbid interest in casting spells that require human ashes stolen from gravesites, and people who liked Lee before she left the town now disapprove of her relationship with Taro. And, of course, she and Taro are bickering.

I really liked Heroes Adrift, the third book in the series, so I was disappointed that this book barely gives a nod to those events. I had hoped that Lee's experiences would have changed her permanently, but she's back to being tight-lipped and doggedly logical. The contrast between her character and Taro's emotionality is fun, of course, but I always get frustrated with her.

The plot is solid. Moore's characterizations of bad guys and good guys aren't subtle enough to make me surprised at revelations near the end--it's always obvious who's doing what, even if the why isn't always clear. I do hope the next book focuses more on the channeling/shielding of natural disasters, which I find utterly fascinating. The ending sets things up for the next book, although I found it a fearsome cliffhanger in some ways. It's going to be hard to wait to find out what happens next.

I was positively quivering with excitement to get my hands on HEROES AT RISK, the fourth book in Moira J. Moore's excellent and incredibly fun heroes series. With each installment I've grown fonder of Taro and Lee. Bonded together as Source and Shield, respectively, they've been forced to deal with each other for awhile now and it's always a treat to watch them circle each other once more, to attempt to navigate the treacherous waters that lay between their opposing natures and meet somewhere in the middle. For the most part this has meant Taro putting up with Lee's obstinately pragmatic way of leading her life. For a brief period, in book three, things changed and a few important things came to the forefront in their relationship. I, for one, was very anxious to see what happened when they returned to their habitual home and roles.

Back from "that damned island," as Taro would say, our Pair barely have time to settle back into the Triple S Residence at High Scape before danger and intrigue come knocking on their door. The city seems to have changed in their absence. The inhabitants of High Scape are uneasy. After the events of the first two books, they have lost faith, so to speak, in the powers that be. Namely, the Triple S. There are rumors of magic, of people casting spells using the ashes of the dead. And not just any dead, but those considered most lucky in life. It is hoped that the luck of the dead will rub off on the living and change the course of their lives for the better. Never mind that no one really believes in magic and that such activities are highly illegal. Meanwhile a mysterious illness is cutting down scores of people in the city and no one seems to be able to put their finger on the source of the plague. Faced with these challenges, Lee has very little available energy left to address the state of her personal life, which has become a bit more complicated than she'd like.

Taro and Lee are their old selves (particularly Lee) and I had a smile on my face for the majority of this book because I know them. I know all about them. And here we are adventuring together once more. I had high expectations for developments in this fourth installment in the series. There were so many wonderful scenes and I delighted in the familiar tug and pull of their interactions. It did take me a minute to remember that Lee, as ever, has to move at her own pace. That back in her normal environment, she would revert to form to a certain degree. And I find myself, like Taro, stabbing my hands in my hair in frustration. At the same time, I love how fiercely loyal she is to Taro. When he is threatened she is there. She refuses to let anyone run over her volatile, at times vulnerable, partner and that made me smile. Several times. Because in other respects Lee struggles in this book. She's made decisions that make the running of her life, at least the way she'd like it to be run, difficult. She keeps running into walls trying to reconcile her choices with her expectations and it was hard to watch her sometimes as she takes two steps backward for every one step forward. Fortunately, she has Taro to remind her of what's important. Or at least he tries to. Lee's inability to see beyond her carefully constructed world view does not make things easy. And whenever he tries to get through to her, his emotions are so raw they lend an edge to every scene he's in, a couple of which are exquisitely sweet.

We do get to see Lee vulnerable a couple of times in this book and that stood out to me because Lee is never vulnerable. But even when she is unable to see herself or anything else for what it is, she sees Taro. She knows what he's worth. And that's why I love Lee. So even though I rolled my eyes at her a few times and wanted to shake her several more times than that, I enjoyed this story very much and am looking forward to the next. I have a hunch we're going to learn a lot more about how Sources and Shields came to be and how they're inherently different from the "regulars," as Lee calls them. Lastly, HEROES AT RISK has a killer last line. It's irreverent and funny and guaranteed to make you close the book with a smile on your face.