This is Alec's redemption story. We met him in Zen and the Art of Vampires and Crouching Vampire, Hidden Fang where he was involved in nefarious schemes. His Beloved-in-waiting had been accidentally killed (run over by panicked oxen and cart). Alec decides revenge is in order: he kills the woman driving the ox-cart, he turns her husband into a Dark One, and then he befriends that man and systematically sabotages all of his relationships, keeping him from finding a Beloved. That frustrated man is Kristoff (from the two books above).
This book opens with a miserable Alec, having been banished to Abaddon (essentially Purgatory) where he has decided to lay down and go into a sort of torpor. This is where an accidentally-banished Cora finds him and decides to revive him. To begin with, he is unappreciative, but he finds himself responding to Cora. Cora has her own problems. She has experienced a traumatic past life regression. Then during her accidental removal from regular life, she has been melded with one of the Tools of Lucifer, plus she has no idea how to get out of Abaddon.
Good old Ulfur, the Icelandic ghost, plays a significant role here. He is a lich, brought back from the spiritual to corporeal form by a lichmaster, and has stolen the three Tools of Abaddon. During his escape, he collides with Cora and they are accidentally turned into human Tools and transported to Abaddon. Things escalate from there.
As per usual in MacAlister's novels, there is overlap with previous books, there are elaborate and quite crackers plans, and a Dark One will find his Beloved. In this case, Alec ends up with two potential Beloveds, proving once again that there is some flexibility in the Beloved dynamic.
I've been having great fun with this ultra-fluffy series, but I think my enjoyment will decline if I read yet another right away. It's time to turn to other fare, but I'll be back to visit the Dark Ones and their Beloveds in the future.
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