The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso – Review

Published: November 19, 2024

Publisher: Orbit Books

Series: The Echo Archives #1

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 384 (Kindle)

My Rating: 4.5 Stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:
Follow a star investigator and her rival as they journey through layers of reality to save the world as they know it in this whip-smart adventure fantasy about rival guilds, reality-bending magic and unexpected mystery.

Kembral Thorne is spending a few hours away from her newborn, and she’s determined to enjoy the party no matter what. But when the guests start dropping dead, Kem has no choice but to get to work. She’s a member of the Guild of Hounds, after all, and she can’t help picking up the scent of trouble.

She’s not the only one. Her professional and personal nemesis, notorious burglar Rika Nonesuch, is on the prowl. They quickly identify what’s causing the mayhem: a mysterious grandfather clock that sends them down an Echo every time it chimes. In each strange new layer of reality, time resets and a sinister figure appears to perform a blood-soaked ritual.

As Kem and Rika fall into increasingly macabre versions of their city, they’ll need to rely on their wits – and each other – to unravel the secret of the clock and save their city.

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Based off the cover, I would have guessed The Last Hour Between Worlds would have leaned a bit more sci-fi than fantasy, but that would have been a horribly incorrect guess. This is fantasy through and through with a nice investigative element as the cherry on top. I shouldn’t have been surprised at Melissa Caruso’s ability to spin an engaging tale of guild politics, layered realities, and a new mom just trying to have a nice evening out.

This follows Kembral Thorne, a renowned member of the Guild of Hounds, is attending a party to celebrate the new year and is looking forward to a few moments without a newborn attached to her. Everyone seems to have questions about when she’s returning to work and if she could possibly pick up their case, but she’s still trying to figure out what she wants next in this new era of her life. There are even a few rivals from other guilds and at least one enemy present to keep Kembral on her toes. Much to her dismay, the party takes a turn for the worse when someone dies. And then more people die. And soon after it becomes apparent that work won’t leave Kembral alone even if she is on maternity leave and Kembral is investigating how and why an entire building full of people are dropping through the layers of reality (called Echoes) to relive the party over and over again. 

This book really dumps you right in the thick of the world, the plot, and the characters with minimal explanation. This is a tricky tactic for an author because sometimes it really grabs a reader and pulls them in (like it did to me) and other times you lose the reader because they don’t know what’s going on and can’t parse all the new lingo and the rules of the world. The Last Hour Between Worlds was definitely a little confusing at first, but there were enough familiarities with the party, rivalries, and the murder to keep me hooked regardless. Eventually the peculiarities of this world became more familiar and things started to make sense. This is where I REALLY got hooked! The Echoes, or layers of reality, get stranger and more dangerous the further down one goes and a group of powerful near deities called Empyreans are playing their own wicked game in order to be able to claim the right to ‘Name’ the new year. This will give them influence and power, but this requires blood and the people at this party are the ones who will suffer.

Kembral herself is a likable character and one in a stage of life not typically shown in books. She’s in the trenches of motherhood and as a single mother no less. Her exhaustion is palpable and she feels different in her changed body and out of practice with both her swordsmanship and her ability to blink step, which basically allows her to step outside of time and space and move to another location. A small teleport basically. Lest I neglect our other main character, there’s also Rika Nonesuch who is a member of the Guild of Cats. She and Kembral used to be friends, but had a recent falling out and now the two are quite prickly with one another even when they are forced to work together to try to fix this mess. Rika is a thief and spy, depending on what sort of job she’s on and she is a skilled illusionist with a personality to rival Kembral.

The Last Hour Between Worlds surprised me with how thoroughly addictive it was. Like I said, I really should expect no less from Melissa Caruso but this is a whole new world with no Witch Lords or Falcons, so I just didn’t know what to expect. I loved the setting, the mystery, the danger, and best of all, Rika and Kembral figuring out how to be friends again. This is the first book in a new series, but this can work as a standalone because the plot has a satisfying conclusion. I personally can’t wait to see where this story goes next!