I had never read Charlaine Harris before, so was exciting to receive an advance copy of this book. Once I realized it was the third book in a series, decided to get the first two books first. All three books were exciting, with characters that I liked. Nice world building. Will definitely have to read any new books.

Nostalgia from true blood in the city steakhouse novels led me to checking out the Charlene here is novel and I’m so glad I did I found that it’s her unique style and delivery that I like most!

This is the third installment of the “Gunnie Rose” series, featuring hired gunslinger Lizbeth Rose in an alternate 1930s America in which the United States has fractured into different nations, the West Coast being the Holy Russian Empire. In previous stories, Lizbeth encountered, then partnered with and fell in love with, Eli, a gregori (wizard) and Prince of the aforementioned Holy Russian Empire. Their adventures took place in the Southern regions, but now he’s been arrested in San Diego, and Lizbeth sets out to rescue him. As resourceful as she is, and as keen a sharpshooter, nothing has prepared her for the dangerous intricacies of royal court politics, certainly not her previous life, which was poor in material goods but rich with love.

I loved Lizbeth’s first-person voice, a bit Southern-folksy in the manner of Sookie Stackhouse of the True Blood series, but not the same character. Lizbeth has little formal education but a good deal of common sense, kindness, and life experience. While the story moves right along, I most enjoyed the tiny details of Lizbeth’s life.

No wonder Prince Eli fell in love with her!

Lisbeth Rose is back on another adventure but this time in the Holy Russian Empire. Packed with action and magic, Lisbeth is reunited with her love, Prince Eli, and her half-sister Felicia. Working with Felicia and other Grigori's to save Eli's family, Gunnie Rose remains true to herself as she learns what it's like to be part of a big family. Great series!

I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have loved the previous two books in this series with Lisbeth "Gunnie" Rose and this was another great one. Lisbeth is such a strong, good character who takes care of her friends and their families with all the skills that she possesses. I like that each book travels to a different part of the alternate US. This time it is to California and the Holy Russian Empire that occupies that territory. It was cool to see more of that history and also get to know Felicia (Lisbeth's half sister) better. She is a real hoot and is definitely as capable as Lisbeth. Must run in the family. It was nice to meet more of Eli's family too.

Lots of action in this book and a quick read. I can't wait to read more in the series and hope there are a ton more books in the Gunnie Rose series!

This third installment in the Gunnie Rose series takes Lizbeth Rose to San Diego and the heart of the Holy Russian Empire. Charlaine Harris has done an excellent job of setting up her alternate history of the US in the 1930s - including elements of the western, sci-fi and mystery genres, along with a little magic from the Russian side. The United States has been "deconstructed" into different countries, including Lizbeth's Texahoma and the Holy Russian Empire, which in this book is holding her sometime partner (in both senses of the word) Prince Eli, essentially as a political prisoner. Lizbeth travels to the HRE to save him but is totally out of her element in this new-to-her society. It's interesting and entertaining to follow her journey through this strange new world, where she poses as Russian royalty - not the most natural fit for someone with Lizbeth's background and personality.
I've very much enjoyed the books in this series to date, including this one. Harris has left things so that the series could end with this book as a trilogy - or pick right back up with #4 in the series. I hope there will be more - I'd love to at least see Lizbeth operating in New America and Britannia.
Thanks to Netgalley and Gallery Books for providing a copy for an unbiased review.

Gunnie Lizbeth Rose may be one of the most capable shooters in Texoma, but San Diego and the Holy Russian Empire test her limits like nothing before. If not for a cryptic note from her sister, suggesting that Eli has been imprisoned, Lizbeth would happily avoid the HRE entirely. Luckily for Eli (and us), Lizbeth sets out to free her prince, with the help of Felix, Felicia, and Eli's family. As is the case whenever Gunnie Rose steps into town, there are shots fired, spells thrown, and political plots unearthed. Lizbeth's third adventure shows her at her best, despite the mounting obstacles in her path.

Hands down, this is my favorite book in Charlaine Harris's newest series. I've slowly grown to enjoy Lizbeth's blunt wit and determination, both of which served her well in San Diego. Felicia and Felix made for great support on her quest, and I savored their interactions with Lizbeth. The tense atmosphere kept me on the edge of my seat and constantly guessing at who Lizbeth should trust. World-building was excellent, with the mysterious HRE coming into focus as a sharp contrast to the previous settings of Dixie, Texoma, and Mexico. The pacing felt very deliberate in this installation, with tense storytelling that led to a satisfying conclusion.

The series is a decidedly different beast from Harris' previous works. Fans should take a chance on it, as well as anyone looking for a magical-wild west-dystopian-historical genre-blender of a book. This isn't a stand-alone, so check out the first two books (An Easy Death, A Longer Fall) and buckle up for the ride, because The Russian Cage is worth it! Lizbeth has evolved with every adventure, and I for one am happy to saddle up and follow her to wherever she travels next!

Special thanks to Netgalley and Gallery Books for providing an advanced copy for me to review!

This series is a super fun dystopian storyline that I can't get enough of! The first book is still my favorite, but the second and third books were both fabulous as well! I loved the characters and the amazing action and messy situations that they have to work through! Such a great book!

Charlaine Harris did it again! I usually love her books and this one did not let me down. A MUST READ!!

Gunnie Rose is on a mission. She is traveling to California - to the Russian Empire - to find out why her partner of sorts (see the first two Gunnie Rose books) is in prison. When she arrives in San Diego, Lizbeth meets Prince Eli's mother and sisters and checks in on her half-sister in the grigori school. Then with the help of Felix and Peter (cousin and brother of Eli) she starts plotting. A nicely convoluted story evolves with events spiraling out of control and leading to a major shakeup of the Empire leadership. The question is will Lizbeth get her man or only get him free from prison? Read The Russian Cage and find out!

This is the third book in the Gunnie Rose series. It is a great mix of alternate history, fantasy, and thriller. I would recommend this book to fans of all these genres.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Erica – ☆☆☆☆☆
The Russian Cage is the third (probably final) installment in the Gunnie Rose series. Not a standalone, must be read in series order.

In a mix of dry narration, intriguing world-building, and an exciting political conspiracy, the Gunnie Rose series has been one of the most original series I've read to date. Set in what I assume is an alternate version of the depression era, the United States have been dissolved, California now under the control of the Holy Russian Empire.

Lizbeth Rose is a gunnie, offering paid protection to escort precious cargo across the continent, which is how she met Eli and was pulled into his life, where she found a little sister she never knew existed.

Said little sister has secrets of her own, sequestered in an academy where she learns how to handle her magic, while also providing the life-saving blood transfusions for the tsar, Alexei Romanov. The sisters share correspondence, writing in code as the letters are read by the professors, where Felicia warns Lisbeth how Eli has been imprisoned.

Lizbeth is on the cold side emotionally, her narration beyond dry and stilted. This is by design, as this truly is a facet of her personality. This makes for a difficult read, where I had a hard time connecting with Lizbeth. At the same time, it also means when Lizbeth feels something, it hits the reader hard. Her connection to her sister and Eli is strong, the emotions ringing true to impact the reader. Her selflessness, her need to sacrifice to protect them, and her unconditional love and desire to make sure they're happy.

Lizbeth, along with Eli's best friend, Felix (who doesn't particularly like Lizbeth out of jealousy, as his draw to his best friend is more romantic in nature, I suspect), put animosity aside and do everything in their power to save Eli, which draws them into a political conspiracy, a plot to protect the current tsar from his own uncle and cousin, as well as protecting Eli's family from his older half-brothers.

Intriguing and fast-paced, the conspiracy is complex, the romance is an undercurrent, more befitting a classic novel, the emotions more sedate.

One issue I've had with then entire series is the way information is delivered in a stilted fashion, but I do understand that it is Lizbeth's way. Her daily events are catalogued in a laundry list of point A to point B to point C to point J with everything in between. Example: I took a bath, washed my hair, redressed, took a nap, sought out something to eat. I found a hotel restaurant and ate. Then I hit the street. Even when these events take place with other characters, it's a laundry list with no dialogue, nothing that connects the characters within the scene. I may understand why it's written this way, but it doesn't make it more engaging having that understanding. It's still jarring yet dry, filled with inane activities that usually are glossed over for the more important details in the plot.

I do highly recommend, but it's hard to pinpoint which genre of readers to recommend the series. I do believe that Charlaine Harris' fans will enjoy the series for the most part. However, those who enjoyed Sookie's humor, light-heartedness, warmth, and quirky every-woman vibe, they may be disappointed in Lizbeth. Lizbeth Rose is a strong heroine, but that strength also makes her seem cold, the emotions buried beneath logic and a hard mentality due to how she was raised. Two highly different heroines written by Charlaine Harris, drawing in different types of readers.


Sarah – ☆☆☆☆
For the third time, Charlaine Harris plays with time, place, and historical accuracy in her Gunnie Rose series. This time, Lizbeth is fighting to save Eli from a political plot she doesn’t fully understand.

This is the book that made me fully engage with this series. During the first two books, I found myself constantly distracted by unreliable historic details. This time, I was too engrossed in the characters and the wonderfully complicated plot to question anything. This story is an exciting adventure and I love the characters who join Lizbeth in her efforts to save Eli and his family.

This book is fun in a way that the first two books weren’t. Lizbeth’s sister is wonderful and I’m already hoping we see more from her at some point. I love Eli’s world. The mix of Russian and American elements in this story create an unusual sense of drama. This isn’t my favourite of Charlaine Harris’ series but after book three, I’m enjoying it much more than I expected to at the start of book one. In some ways, this feels like a natural trilogy – but after finally settling into the unique world Harris has created, I find myself hoping for more.

A new Charlaine Harris book often feels like slipping on an old, well worn, pair of shoes. She's stumbled before but the Gunnie Rose books have been enjoyable. I really like alternate America in the early and middle years. The Alvin Maker series by Orson Card come to mind. This series (with no relationship to Card's work) happens sometime later, perhaps the late 1910s or 1920s. Rose and others are armed with model 1911 automatic pistols. I had erroneously thought because of the dialog and settings we were talking revolvers but it appears not.
Although sliding back into Gunnie Rose's world was pretty easy and comfortable. . . the story was too. Too easy. Too comfortable. Like it was on rails going around the track. I enjoyed it but there wasn't any true adversity. Everything just worked out. Towards the end the narrative started pushing out false foreshadowing. I hit one, then another and I literally stopped reading for the rest of that day because I was expecting something horrible to happen.
I don't know if this is the end of the series. I think this is a rich world for Rose and Eli to explore and have adventures in. I wouldn't mind reading more, I like these characters. But if this is The End, then it ended well.
A copy of this book was supplied by the publisher.

I loved this author Sookie Stackhouse series and I think ever since I’ve been wanting for her to create a book series like that again that will hold a piece of my heart. Now this is book 3 in the Gunnie Rose series, and it has yet to captivate me like her previous books. I know it’s not fair to compare series but I feel that when you’ve read some thing good and entertaining from an author and you go to mediocre, it needs to be said. I do love that the author sticks to her guns and writes a good cozy but this is not the series for me.

I was granted complimentary eARC access to The Russian Cage through NetGalley. Thank you to whoever approved my request! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

The Russian Cage is a futuristic old west western set in California of the Russian Empire. It intrigued, entertained, and bored me in equal amounts, and I'm scolding myself for not reading the synopsis more carefully before committing to review it. I saw the name of an author I recognize and always wanted to check out in the NetGalley category "Science Fiction & Fantasy" and I went for it. Whoops! I hate westerns.

I will give credit where credit is due and applaud this weird and wonderful fantasy western for keeping me interested enough not to abandon the book at any point, given that I hate westerns, but it did not change my mind about westerns. My grandfather loved westerns so I've seen every Roy Rogers and Clint Eastwood film ever made and listened to excerpts from his favourite books, and this one has all the hallmarks of a classic western from what I can tell. If that's your thing, this is perfect! If it's not, maybe avoid this one.

I found that there were long stretches in this book that were tediously slow and a lot of scenes where groups of characters got together and told each other what had just happened, but instead of summarizing the fact that this reporting and debriefing is going on because the reader just experienced it all we're quite literally asked to read it all again. No thanks!

I did find that the main character has a great dark sense of humour. I loved lines like this one: "Who did she think was going to cook? I'd shot the maid!"

I recommend this book to fans of westerns who don't mind a little fantasy infusion, but I would advice SFF fans who don't like westerns to skip this particular series.

4 stars

You can read all of my reviews at Nerd Girl Loves Books.

This is a great finish to this book series......or is it?? I just discovered that the author is writing a fourth Gunnie Rose book (release date 2022) - no idea what the plot will be because the main storyline of this series wrapped up in this book, but there are definitely enough loose ends to continue the series another several books, which I would love.

This book starts off where the last one ends, and Lizbeth finds herself taking a train to San Diego to break her love, Prince Eli, out of Grigori jail. She's all alone, so will need to rely on her half-sister Felicia and her own growing powers. Once there, she meets Eli's family who are devastated about Eli's incarceration, and not exactly thrilled with Lizbeth's appearance. As she digs into the treacherous waters of the Holy Russian Empire, Lizbeth finds herself fighting for her life, but what's new.

I really enjoy Lizbeth and her snarky "I don't give a f*&k who you are, I'm going to speak truth" attitude toward everything from royalty protocols to wearing a dress. It often gets her into some trouble, but nothing she can't handle. It's nice to read about a strong, independent woman who doesn't need anyone or anything, but who is still soft enough to get butterflies about her crush.

Look, Charlaine Harris books aren't Shakespeare, but that's ok. We all need our bubble gum, guilty pleasure, light and fluffy reads to break up all of the other dark stuff we normally read. I look forward to more books in this series, but I hope she ends them before they become silly and cliche like the last couple Sookie books. Go out on top, girl!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and Gallery/Saga Press books. All opinions in this review are my own.

#The Russian Cage by author # Charlaine Harris really should have six stars. This is book #3 of her # Gunnie Rose series. And for a full review it's on my blog Maddie approves book reviews on Instagram.
Thank you for the advance copy,
#Netgalley, # Charlaine Harris, and #Simon & Schuster

In this third instalment of Gunnie Rose series, The Russian Cage, action moves from the lawless western setting to sophisticated and wealthy San Diego, the capital of the Holy Russian Empire. Lizbeth is completely out of her comfort zone among the aristocratic Russians and wizards, and to make matters worse, she can’t carry her guns.

Eli has been imprisoned without charges and no one seems to care or do anything about it, least of all Emperor Alexei, whom Eli has helped a lot. So Lizbeth’s sister Felicia summons Lizbeth to free him. The plot that’s led to Eli’s imprisonment involves both the imperial household and Eli’s own family, but Lizbeth doesn’t hesitate to set things right. And this time she’s not only shooting for self-defence; she’s contemplating an outright assassination.

The alt-history setting of the series truly came to life in this book. The Russian Empire has settled on the west coast of California, ruling over Americans who’d been left in power vacuum. There’s surprisingly little conflict from the Americans. All the plotters are Russians, and solely so that they could rule.

True to her character, Lizbeth isn’t wooed by the wealth or power. She’s as straightforward as ever, stubbornly concentrating on freeing Eli. There’s more Felix in this book, helping her in Eli’s absence, and his character gets some depth, though superficially, with only hints and allusions. He never gets to voice his own emotions. Eli was absent for most of the book, and even though I’m not a fan of his as a romantic lead, I kind of missed him. The ending for him and Lizbeth was good and put them in a new place in their life, setting the stage for more adventures. I’d be interested in reading them.

I always enjoy this series and appreciate the short length and fast pace of the stories. I would recommend to people looking for a fast read with supernatural elements.

This series improves with each new instalment and this one is the best so far.
I liked the character development, the world building and the tightly knitted plot.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine