I’ve loved every book in this setting and Spirits of Vengeance was no exception, as we follow the adventures of Haruto the onmyoji, whose job is to hunt down and free evil spirits, known as yokai. Haruto soon finds himself faced with an even greater challenge as a group of powerful spirits, known as the onryo, plot to unleash death and destruction upon the world.

A great blend of mystery and spectacular action scenes, the standout feature of Spirits of Vengeance is the varied cast of characters, where no one is who they seem. As Hayes expertly raises the stakes with each dramatic set piece encounter he really makes you care about their fate. He also creates a range of memorable villains in the form of the various onryo, who all have their own special powers and particularly horrible ways of making people die.

The character of Guang Meng, Haruto’s friend who accompanies him on his journeys, is a poet and storyteller. Guang’s stories (which may or may not be entirely true) sprinkle legend and history throughout the book. These asides are always so good and Hayes knows exactly when to use them without slowing down the main story too much. It’s an effective and engaging way of expanding on the world and its history.

Spirits of Vengeance contains everything I’ve come to expect from Hayes’ books, which are always packed with memorable characters, brilliant battles and awesome magic

Shiki is Haruto’s companion spirit, and she adds an element of comedy and childish fun to the story. She has a habit of stealing every scene she’s in. I also appreciated how in this book we have a cast of older characters coming to the fore, all of them weighed down by different experiences and the bad choices they made. Slowly, the secrets of Haruto’s past and the nature of his true master are revealed, as well as his complicated relationship with the onryo. The characters of Yanmei and Kira also return from previous books, and I liked how Hayes continued their story, weaving this in with that of Haruto, Guang and Shiki.

For me, this book didn’t quite hit the absolute heights of Never Die and Pawn’s Gambit, but those are two books I’d rank as being some of the best I’ve ever read, so that’s an exceptionally high bar. Nevertheless, Spirits of Vengeance contains everything I’ve come to expect from Hayes’ books, which are always packed with memorable characters, brilliant battles and awesome magic. I really enjoyed this and had a great time reading this story.

Put another way, if Hayes writes something in the Mortal Techniques universe it’s only a matter of time before I read it. If you haven’t yet given these books a try, I highly recommend you check them out. You won’t be disappointed.