Probably the best in the series so far, and still...STILL...at an immaculate quality. Series' like this is why Goodreads 5-star rating is crap. It should be out of ten. Because none of these books could be lower IMHO, even though they're getting even more urgent and intricate.
In APoR we're given not only the journey of Thom after he left Nate and Kitty in AToD, but we also get to find out how he ended up on that pike. We get to to see the relationship between him and Nate properly, which to be fair, I'd been waiting for. I love stories about brotherly relationships, and this one has some currently unknown deeper, and odder connection to it, and this is probably my favourite conflict/union in the series--summink big's a'comin...
Thom goes on what is probably a harder journey than Nate (in the same vein as Kitty), in the sense that Nate's always been fighting, so he doesn't really know what it is not to. Whereas Thom is a clean-living boy (on the outside, at least) who uses manipulation and smarts to get his way. But he revelations in this tale gave me a slap for thinking I knew what was going on, when I really didn't. The proverbial fans got hit with ton of proverbial horse shit in the multitude.
Without spoiling too much, the relationships and journeys of Thom and his new comrades in arms were fab, and his more intimate one, well, that only added to the powder-keg this story is becoming. That particular conflict later on in the story, where Thom is caught in the middle, caused a hell of a lot of it in me, as it is continuing to in the fourth. It's like watching someone put up the biggest, most beautiful house of cards in the universe...but one hurricane and...
These people are basically my family now, until I know how it ends, or maybe long after. I really, really give a shit what's going to happen, as much as I do in my own work.
Anyway, currently on Book 4. Currently trying not to sit up in bed until the wee hours again because it's bad for my eyes, but hey, whatever, it's a Saturday night, right? Put on the blue-light filter and have at it.
I cannot advise enough to go a read A Touch of Death, right now, then book yourself out of life for a couple of weeks for the rest of the series.