Alex Easton returns in T. Kingfisher’s third installment of her Sworn Soldier series, WHAT STALKS THE DEEP. This time around, Alex is off to America to answer a cry for help from Dr. Denton, a friend we met way back in WHAT MOVES THE DEAD. Denton’s cousin has gone missing after investigating a mine in West Virginia and it’s now up to Alex to mount a rescue mission.

I absolutely love this series and the third entry is no exception. Kingfisher has created, and now firmly established, a character she can return to over and over again, and the tight structure of the novels keeps them both exciting and easily digestible in just one sitting. Alex is outwardly non-binary in their presentation which makes them quite unique for the era in which these novels are set. They’re brave on the surface but at times deeply fearful inside, which to be honest, based on the horrors they’ve experienced over the past three books, I can’t blame them.

The events that occur in WHAT STALKS THE DEEP are fascinating and at times, unsettling. While I’m not sure I quite fit the definition of someone who is claustrophobic, I’m certainly not a fan of tight squeezes, and the setting explored by Kingfisher in this novel had me squirming in my chair. Crawling through cave systems on the verge of collapse only adds to the horror of what they find down there.

It should not go without pointing out that with this series, artist Chris Mrozik continues to produce deeply striking artwork for the covers; I would absolutely love to have them displayed on my living room walls.

If you’ve loved the previous two books, this will not disappoint.

Alex Easton forever.