Head Rush by Carolyn (The Disillusionists Trilogy #3)
Urban Fantasy
December 6, 2011
E-Book
Samhain

Reviewed by Mandi

Note: Spoilers for previous books in this series.

Head Rush is the final book in Carolyn Crane’s Disillusionists trilogy and we finally get to see how it all plays out. When we left off, Justine’s memories of the day Packard told her “I love you” were revised under orders from her fiancé and mayor of Midcity, Otto. You may have heard me scream NOOOOO as I read the end of book two. Justine now thinks Packard is the one that killed Shelby’s boyfriend, instead of the very man she is engaged to.

Justine is also trying to live a better life, which includes going to nursing school (which is amusing since her fear rests on horrible diseases) and not zinging anyone. She feels that it is unmoral to zing now and is trying her best not to. Although her friend Simon is whispering in her ear how good it would really feel.

Although Justine is happily engaged to Otto, she finds herself jumpy around him. She thinks it is because she witnessed Packard killing someone but deep in her mind she has this defensive instinct around Otto, so she spends a lot of time in the beginning of the book convincing herself she loves Otto.

She also starts to get confused as to why Simon and Shelby, two of her closest friends (who know the real events of the day Justine was revised) are acting very odd with each other and towards Otto. This all leads to a path where Justine must face what really happened that day and then decide what to do about it.

What I really liked in this book is that although it does come down to Otto being the ultimate villain, there is a lot of grey area. Yes, he murdered an innocent, but in his mind, he is just trying to survive himself. Ultimately, he wants to do good I think, he just went about it the wrong way. There are times in this book I hatedd Otto, but there are also times where I felt pity for him, and maybe even a spark of hope that he could be redeemed. When all is said and done, I really like how he is dealt with.

And of course I couldn’t wait to see how Packard and Justine would finally find each other for their HEA. I think their relationship built so well over these three books. And it would not have been as sweet unless Justine had her crazy group of friends, that became her family and so endearing to the readers, along for the ride. This is the kind of book where I couldn’t wait for the HEA between Packard and Justine but I also adored the time spent with the supporting characters. (Even Gumby!)

I do think there are some moments, especially in the first half of the book that are a little slower. Justine does a lot of self analyzing and it weighs down the story some. But otherwise, I think this is a nice ending to this trilogy and I can’t wait to read more from Carolyn Crane. For those of you new to this series, this one must be read in order.

Rating: B

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