Judgement Road is one of those books that will keep you up all night. At first, I felt a little confused. Like perhaps there was a prequel or something that I missed. But, you catch up pretty quick, and the story makes sense! Anya was a heroine I loved from the start. She is a kind of 'boot and rally' girl. Down on her luck but determined to make a better life for herself. You can't help but root for her. When the girls were mean to her, I cried. Like Anya, I think many women have experience bullying from other women and it always is so upsetting. Women face so many issues that when we turn on each other, its even more crushing. I was glad to see this was addressed and rectified.
If you are sensitive to certain topics, you might want to check out the trigger warning. While I think Feehan handled the topics with appropriateness, this book is full of tragic events that could be upsetting to some readers!
Reaper is exactly what I expect when I hear motorcycle club. He is hardened and will kill without compunction. The club is 'clean' in the sense they don't run drugs or anything, but they are hired assassins. You get some of the backstory about how all these men grew up and its so sad. The abuse they went through is heartbreaking. Even though Reaper was cold and, at times, cruel, it felt true to his character and understandable.
There are some people in the club with some unique psychic abilities. There is a turn of events where these abilities are used on Anya and I was like "Oh hell no!". I was so enraged! Trust broken!! It was this huge violation and I could not believe it. Its such a huge turning point in the story. The action really picks up after this and the focus becomes saving the wife of another MC president as well as Anya. There is also a few bumps in the 'relationship road' for Anya and Reaper. The man is totally clueless and takes advice from other, equally clueless men. The ending felt a little off to me. I wasn't expecting THAT to be the end of the book. A little anticlimactic perhaps? I'm not sure what exactly felt off, but it just felt unfinished to me.
Ok, y'all know I love my maps. So, initially the author mentions Highway 1 up the coast. So, I instantly think California. But then she mentions Fort Bragg and I think North Carolina. So, I turn to Google and discovered there is a Fort Bragg in California. And also, the city the club is in is a real place! (I'm a geography nerd. I could stare at maps for hours! When I was little and we went to vacation, we had an atlas of all 50 states. I spent hours just looking at that thing! Directionality is my superpower too. I can tell you which way is north, south, east, and west from just about anywhere I happen to be. Pretty lame 'superpower' but whatever!)
So, here is the area the book is set in. The club resides in Caspar, CA. Next, I have expanded the map so you can see where it is in relations to other places in CA.
Judgment Road has rocketed to one of my favorite reads. It is a sort of spin off of the Sea Haven series and I am totally going to binge on that series next! I might just change my Author Love Challenge to Christine Feehan!!!
- POV: 3rd
- Tears: yes, parts of the story are so emotional it just made my eyes leak!
- Trope: MC club
- Triggers: Reaper and the other guys in the club experienced horrible physical and sexual abuse. Feehan handles is with delicacy but what they went through is very horrible.
- Series/Standalone: stand alone
- Cliffhanger: no
- HEA: yes
Beautiful Killer by Sherilee Gray, Rocco by Sarah Castille, Fear the Beard by Lani Lynn Vale...then you will probably like Judgement Road!
See full review on The Book Disciple