To Free the Stars

Ciesielski’s pulse-pounding, continent-hopping conclusion to the Jack and Ivy duology (which began with The Brilliance of Stars) takes readers to 1927 London, where Talon agent Ivy Vale is on assignment to prevent the assassination of a world leader by the Order of the Rising Moon, a centuries-old organization intent on taking over the world. When an Order agent attacks her, Ivy is shocked to recognize the man as her missing husband, Jack, who was presumed dead after plummeting from a Romanian cliff. Ivy’s quest to bring Jack back to himself takes the couple to rural Virginia, where Jack discloses that, after his fall, he was given mind-altering drugs by Order leader Helena Dragavei and forced to join her ranks. He and Ivy, with their fellow Talon agents, decide to face Dragavei head-on. All head to France to infiltrate a Parisian party that leads them to the Order’s underground hideout. Their search for Dragavei then takes them to her lair in Romania—and the most intense battle of their lives. All the while, the question of whether Ivy and Jack can get back what they had lingers. Ciesielski delivers truly memorable characters and high-stakes action rendered with remarkable realism. Readers will be riveted. Agent: Linda S. Glaz, Hartline Literary. (Aug.)