Published: May 20, 2025
Publisher: Orbit
Series: Dr. Greta Helsing #4
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 399 (Kindle)
My Rating: 4.5 Stars
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis:
In this witty conclusion to a delightful fantasy series finds Greta Helsing, doctor to the undead, facing the latest and strangest challenge of her career…accompanying an anxious angel and a sullen demon on a road trip across America.
After narrowly avoiding the end of the world, the leaders of Heaven and Hell are struggling to collaborate according to the terms of their new treaty—especially because angels and demons are, quite literally, allergic to each other. Seeking a solution, the powers that be decide to see if the allergy persists on Earth by sending an angel and demon on a research trip, first New York City. And what better chaperone than Dr. Greta Helsing, who happens to owe Hell a few favors of her own?
But there’s unrest in New York’s monster underworld and Greta and her team are about to land in the middle of it. Something is off in Heaven and on Earth, and Greta will have to figure out just what that is if she hopes to protect those she loves most.
I was delighted to find that Vivian Shaw was releasing another full length novel in the Dr. Greta Helsing series and I absolutely jumped at the chance to read it. This installment picks up some time after the events of Grave Importance and the recent novella, Bitter Waters, and in it we find Greta getting roped into yet another task she doesn’t really want to do but will because she’s just nice like that. This time it seems much more mundane – Greta will be taking a young angel and demon under her tutelage and study and go on a road trip across the United States. You see, when the Accords were signed between Heaven and Hell, they failed to account for the fact that their respective realms have a health impact on non-occupants. Basically, angels are allergic to Hell and demons are allergic to Heaven. The purpose of the project is to see if the two groups of beings can work together on the mortal plane without causing any reactions.
This is certainly a slower paced book compared to some of the previous installments and honestly, that didn’t bother me one bit. In fact, it was nice to linger with some of these characters in their respective new roles and see how their lives were going, especially after the events of Grave Importance shook things up on the celestial level. I was a little surprised in the direction things went, mostly because I was expecting something a bit different from the inferno-celestial American road trip. Fully half the book is still spent in London, Heaven, or Hell bouncing around between different POVs after both an angel and demon were shot with some sort of poison blow darts. Then there’s a mysterious POV from one Gideon Tremayne, who seems to be in communion with a higher being that is giving him nefarious instructions. Eventually all of this comes together in quite a fascinating series of events that resulted in a completely unexpected ending.
Overall, this was a respectable entry in the Dr. Greta Helsing universe and I continue to hope for more stories – whether novella or full length – to further flesh out this vibrant paranormal filled world. I know the synopsis says this is the conclusion to the series, but a girl can dream. The character relationships are wonderful and I love that we get to see more from the angelic side of things. Raphael and Adariel are just so earnest and caring, up to the point they are both willing to defy authority to make life saving choices. The demons are so metropolitan and practical, but also so willing to help. And darling Greta is simply a badass. She’s the glue holding all of this together. As I said, this is a world I love to return to each and every time!
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