Rifts- A Grace Murphy Novel by Nicole Hamlett

"Remember when life used to be nice and easy? No? Yeah, me either."  - Grace Murphy, heroine

She's back!!

Grace Murphy returns with a bang in 'Rifts' and she also brings along some of the gang from the first installment, 'Huntress'.  From the first chapter, poor Grace hits the ground running and is introduced in a not so pleasant way, to a sister she didn't know she had... (put it this way, her sister gives an entirely new meaning to the term, 'dysfunctional family').  Coming to terms with the fact that her sister, Hope just tried to stab her to death with a stiletto and trying to keep life as normal as possible for her son Dylan is almost overwhelming for Grace, even with Drew around to help her out and why wasn't Drew surprised to learn about Hope's existence?

As 'Rifts' progresses, Grace and her son Dylan find themselves relocating to Olympus... both for reasons of safety and training.  We are introduced to a variety of new characters and also keep a few from 'Huntress'.  Zachary (which is Zeus, the Greek God) plays a bigger part in Rifts, almost a surrogate father role to Grace, as she's learning more about who she is and what she can do.  Dylan plays more of a central role in this novel too... but for reasons that are revealed as the storyline unfolds.  Let's not forget Drew... well, life gets even more complicated for him.  We're introduced to a new guy, Heph... and let's just say there's some potential there with Grace... (regardless, some of the scenes with Heph had me saying Hubba Bubba!!)

Perhaps the most telling part of 'Rifts' is the progress and changes in Grace.  In 'Huntress' she was a newly divorced, single mom with a bit of a chip on her shoulder, out of shape, and trust issues.  She was 'flawed', but real.  In Rifts, I think her journey is more of an emotional one and to be honest, I don't think it was a particularly good one, but it was necessary.  I think she may have learned that sometimes what we want from life isn't always what is best for us... and even though we love someone, they may not love us back the same way.  I also think she was dealt a huge blow and is going to have to come to terms with it... I'm curious to see if she'll do that in the next book(s).  Most of all, I'd like to see how she picks herself up and gets on with her life... she's Diana's daughter, there's no denying that.

Rifts is full of several 'surprises' I didn't expect!!  And a few of them left me speechless, enough that I was shocked in awe of the sheer brilliance of how Nicole Hamlett managed to execute them without even a hint of foreshadowing.  And no, I won't go into detail here, so I don't spoil anything for those that haven't read this series yet... however, can I applaud the mastermind, genius, and amount of time that must have went into plotting this storyline?  I am rarely caught off guard or surprised when I read fiction or fantasy now, so I was absolutely thrilled to find myself saying, 'Back up the bus, I didn't expect that!!'  I adored this book as much as the first one... maybe a bit more since I feel a bit of a kindred spirit with Grace.  Huge kudos to Nicole Hamlett for writing yet another urban fantasy that's beyond fantastic!