Kindle Spotlight -- Claimed (Flash Gold #4)

It's been a while since I've done a book review, but now this segment is back and ready to rock. Today we have Claimed, the fourth entry in Lindsay Buroker's Flash Gold series. Refer to past posts on this blog for reviews of the previous novellas.

This time the story is told from Cedar's point of view. He returns to the cave he shares with Kali to find her talking with a young reporter named Travis Andrews who wants to write a story about the airship she's building. But before he can, a Mountie arrives to ask for their help in solving a mystery. People all over the area are suddenly selling their gold claims and hightailing it out of the Yukon, and the Mountie wants to know why. Cedar suspects his sworn enemy Cudgel Conrad is involved and agrees to investigate so he can finally put an end to him. He and Kali hop on her motorized bicycle and head off to investigate. Their latest adventure has them facing an Indiana Jones-esque snake pit, armed baddies, suspicious lawmen, invisibility powder, and possibly even Cudgel himself. Will Cedar finally get his man?

I've long sung the praises of Lindsay Buroker. I think she is a very talented writer, and her quality work continues here. Claimed offers few surprises, and lacks the insane airship action of previous entries (in fact, there are no working airships this time around), but it still delivers a solid narrative. Cedar finally tells Kali how he feels about her (sort of) and the ending is satisfying. I personally want to see more of the mysterious people who view Kali as a threat for unknown reasons, but hopefully that will happen in the upcoming fifth book.

Bottom line: if you liked the previous Flash Gold books, you'll like this one. If not, it won't do anything to change your mind. This series comes highly recommended by yours truly either way.