Book Review: The Dragon of Russia by Jessica Piro

Genre(s): Action / Thriller

Content warning: There are a number of violent scenes in this book involving gun fire and explosives. There are also some crime scenes depicted.

The Dragon of Russia is book 2 in The Phoenix Trilogy. I recently read book 1; you can read my thoughts on it here: Book Review: The Ascension of the Phoenix by Jessica Piro.

Leila Wells is back at work for the NYPD homicide squad, after her victory in the tag-team fighting competition, but she’s not the same woman she was before. She’s chosen to embrace her dark side, and while it protects her from further emotional harm, she’s become distant and cold to those she once called friends. Her temper is ferocious and her patience nonexistent.

When her new partner says the wrong thing and triggers her rage, she attacks him and earns a suspension from the force. Her chief, out of concern for her, tells her of an off-the-books mission in Russia to help one of his friends in need of a bodyguard, hoping time away and a new focus will do her some good.

While there is plenty of action in this book, the story was more focused on Leila’s struggle with her dark side and how she attempts to overcome and control it. That internal struggle makes up much of the book, and by the end, her character had returned to a close facsimile of her original personality from early in book 1. It was great to see her character redeemed—and happy!—after everything she went through.

During her time in Russia, she meets and befriends a covert military team. While some of those characters weren’t well defined, there were a few that were incredibly memorable. Dragunov, being a kindred spirit to Leila in terms of past grief/trauma, understands her when no one else can. Alek, who is light-hearted and a bit of a prankster, gave some much-needed humor to the story; I liked his character a lot. And Ruben, who at first seems rather aloof, turns out to be quite the musician. His insights into the personalities of the rest of the team and Leila were really cool to discover.

The Dragon of Russia does end on a cliffhanger. It will be interesting to see where the next book takes Leila and Dragunov—and if she finally succeeds in catching up to the killer that’s been haunting her since the beginning of the series.

I loved this book (and its precursor). Despite having to work, I still managed to devour this one in 2 days. It was a great read.

There is a book 3 in the works, Dueling with Snakes, which is set to release later this month on August 23. At least I won’t have long to wait for the end of the story.

Author website: jessicapiro.com

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