The Last Watch by Sergei LukyanenkoMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Usually when a series book takes a trip from its usual setting, it's a sign that the author is running out of ideas to keep the storyline fresh. In Lukyanenko's The Last Watch, taking a familiar character and putting him/her into an unfamiliar setting works well, almost a natural progression from Twilight Watch's side trip to Prague. As the protagonist Anton (and the reader) is educated more deeply about the essence of who the Others are and travels further into the Twilight world, the story expands externally from Moscow and heads farther afield into Edinburgh and the Stans. And although the external plot deals with a series of murders in Edinburgh, the book simultaneously delves into Anton's internal struggle over killing a vampire he once considered a friend and his role in the overarching struggles and balance of power between the Watches. To paraphrase Anton near the end of the book, he feels like a small screw in a huge, merciless machine. No doubt this struggle will come to a head in the fifth and final book in the series.
Despite some story holes (who couldn't guess the killer's true identify after the name was provided), Last Watch is a worthy successor that crosses genre (fantasy/scifi/mystery) boundaries.
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