ARC Review: Shadowed Steel by Chloe Neill

Shadowed Steel
Author: Chloe Neill
Series: An Heirs of Chicagoland Novel (Book 3)
Publication: Berkley (May 4, 2021)

Description: In the third installment in the USA Today bestselling Heirs of Chicagoland series, the vampires in Elisa Sullivan's world are out for blood.

Elisa Sullivan is the only vampire ever born, and she bears a heavy legacy. After a sojourn with the North American Central Pack of shifters in the wilderness—where she turned a young woman into a vampire to save her life—Elisa returns to Chicago.

But no good deed goes unpunished. The ruling body of vampires, the Assembly of American Masters, is furious that Elisa turned someone without their permission, and they want her punished. When an AAM vampire is found dead, Elisa is the prime suspect. Someone else is stalking Chicago—and Elisa. She'll need to keep a clear head, and a sharp blade, to survive all the supernatural strife.

My Thoughts: In this third book in the Heirs of Chicagoland series, Elisa Sullivan finds herself in trouble with the Assembly of American Masters for making a human into a vampire in the previous book in this series. 

Vampires from the Compliance Bureau have come to Chicago to demand that Elisa join a House or face the consequences which include testing and/or facing a kind of imprisonment until she complies. Testing is not something she will agree to. She hasn't even told her parents about her monster half. Only her best friend Lulu and her boyfriend Connor know about it.

When Blake, one of the vampires from the Compliance Bureau, is found messily dead, Elisa is pulled in for questioning by the Ombud's Office where she has been working. She's put on administrative leave while the investigation goes on which makes her very determined to find out who killed Blake.

Elisa has also attracted a stalker who is sending her creepy notes which talk about their very close relationship. Elisa has no idea who's sending the messages but she's concerned that the stalker seems to be targeting her friends including Connor.

This was a very entertaining story filled with both action and vampire politics. I like the way Elisa's  relationship with Connor is progressing. I also like her determination to make her own choices and not let anything, including disappointing her parents, get in the way of making the right choices for her life. I enjoyed the worldbuilding and the near-future setting of the story. 

Favorite Quote:

"We follow the rules we can; we break them if it's necessary to save others. "Put that on a damn pennant, I thought, and fly it above the loft.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.