Fourth instalment of the Heart Lines series

“Ea is among you. One of your own.”

After being healed by Sam, Alex was taken into custody by CHAS to be held accountable for his actions. Sam hopes to use her influence with CHAS to have him released. Having witnessed his brutal interrogation at the hands of a vindictive Simon Brooks, however, a furious Sam offers Brooks an ultimatum - to release both Alex and Mason or she’ll quit. When Brooks refuses to back down, Sam quits and along with RJ and Brittany, carries out a daring mission in which they rescue Alex and Mason from the compound.

Now on the run from CHAS as well as Indra’s murderous werewolves, the gang decide to go to Koby’s secret hideout. When Koby is mysteriously abducted, they are forced to change their plans and RJ offers his mother’s home in Oregon as a hideout.

Alex struggles with his guilt and memories of all that he did while he was under Indra’s influence. He seeks help from his old friend, Jin, a seer who may help him recover a crucial detail he may have missed during his time with Indra that might help them in their fight to stop her. Alex is appalled to learn that they have a traitor amongst them. The answer is who?

“He has much hate inside him. He’s given himself over and has grown so numb. He used himself as the vessel I think.” - Jin

Meanwhile, with every infected werewolf that Sam heals, she begins to feel herself slipping away. With Hina’s presence ever dominant, she wonders if she will lose herself altogether during the Spring Equinox. When they tragically lose one of their own, Sam decides on a new strategy to heal Indra and rob Ea of his vessel. In the explosive showdown between our gang and Indra with her werewolf army, will Sam’s ploy prove successful or will the traitor amongst them put a spanner in their works?

Imbalance is the fourth instalment of the Heart Lines series which sees Alex and Sam finally reunited. Unfortunately Alex is struggling with guilt and remorse over his actions while under Indra’s spell and the couple have to deal with the aftermath. Seeing Sam take on Simon Brooks was satisfying. We begin to see a new confident and resolute woman emerge from the one we saw in Remembrance. Brittany was as supportive as ever. I was saddened by the the loss of a certain character and felt their death and subsequent burial was glossed over somewhat with little reaction given.

The ‘traitor in their midst’ angle was a clever twist although I did feel that it had been suddenly sprung upon us. Prior to this instalment there hadn’t been any sign that there was anything untoward. Hopefully the timeline as to when this character ‘turned’ will become more clear in the next instalment. It certainly ramped up the tension though - although I was frustrated that Alex and Sam were slow to catch on.

With the explosive finale, that saw our gang split up and now on the run as well as the inevitable showdown between Ea and Hina on the horizon, it will be interesting to see where the author will take us in the next instalment.

I received an advanced free audible copy of Imbalance that was narrated by Kelly Pruner who made it easy to differentiate between the different characters.

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