The Last Raven: An Urban Fantasy Thriller

Riftborn, Book 1

By: Steve McHugh

Narrated by: Matthew Wolf

Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

The peace between the rift and humanity has always been tenuous. It’s up to the Guilds to protect it, removing whomever—or whatever—poses a threat, whether human or rift-fused.

Lucas Rurik used to be part of the Raven Guild. That is, until someone murdered all of its members—except for him.

That was seven years ago. Now, Lucas keeps to himself, avoiding getting too close to anyone lest they become targets themselves. But when one of his oldest friends at the Rift-Crime Unit calls upon him for help with a case that’s already taken down people who mean a lot to him, Lucas can’t resist stepping back into the fray.

Something is killing FBI and RCU agents alike—something unlike anything Lucas has ever seen before, on Earth or in the Rift. Even more concerning, the gruesome assaults seem to be linked to Dr. Callie Mitchell, a depraved and disturbed individual who treats the rift-fused like her own personal lab rats.

And when someone Lucas thought he could trust turns on him, he realizes these killings aren’t just the random attacks of some terrifying new kind of fiend. They’re connected to whoever killed off his Guild all those years ago—and that’s something Lucas just can’t let lie...

Lucas is a riftborn fighter bent on vengeance in this thrilling urban fantasy/detective noir series from the bestselling author of the Hellequin Chronicles.

©2022 Steve McHugh (P)2022 Podium Audio

Critic reviews

"McHugh’s pithy prose energizes the narrative, even when there’s no superpower on display, and builds intrigue with gradual reveals of Lucas’ rift-derived skills and backstory. This slick introductory supernatural tale will leave readers eager for a sequel." —Kirkus Reviews

"The Last Raven has the appeal of a great action movie. There is a nice mystery, a compelling lead, strong support, and enough adrenaline to leave you with a pleasant high afterward. . . . Eagerly looking forward to the next installment." —The Cosmic Circus

"If you have a friend who loves both speculative fiction novels and thrillers, this is the perfect gift." —Medium, "10 Chilling Books for Mystery/Thriller Lovers This Winter"

I'm craving more!!!!

Steve has done it again! These fantastic worlds, that he thinks up, are the reason why he's titled "My favorite writer".

Well written and entertaining

This is exactly what I expect from Steve McHugh. I already bought the next book and look forward to reading it.

Love it love it love it

I will never have enough so dear author please keep on writing. I love your characters, plots and prose.

decent read, little generic

decent story, little predictable, hope the series improves. if it's like the rest of the authors books, it should

Another hit from Steve

I have loved every thing that Steve has created and this is no different. I can't wait for more!

Good Book

As a fan of Steven McHugh, especially the Hellequin Chronicles series, you may find this series somewhat slow, but don’t let that deter you from getting it because it culminates into another great book by Steven McHugh.

I love you Steve but..

I absolutely loved Steve’s prior work. I lost myself in the Hellequin chronicles. However I feel Steve has lost himself in his Virtue signaling as an ally to the LGBQT community. Honestly it makes me uninterested in your latest work Steve. I feel like your need to prove you’re an ally overpowers your talent as a writer. I loved the werewolf pack leader and his man in the Hellequin series their relationship was awesome and didn’t take away from the story at all. And I tolerated your need to make Chloe a Lesbian, that too wasn’t all too distracting and I still enjoyed the story. But this recent couple in rift born just proves you cannot help yourself in your need to shout to the world that you’re an ally. I just feel like you’re just shouting to the world it’s cool to be gay you can be gay it’s okay. When in real life we all know this. We have our gay friends and treat them no different than our heterosexual friends. I just wish you would cut thru the bull shit man and focus on being the kick ass writer that you are. I love your work but please stop shoving your need for affirmation down my throat. I look forward to your stories. But I cannot help but feel annoyed by your constant need to virtue signal. Call me out if you please. But as a fan I felt the need to voice my dissatisfaction in your work here. Keep up the good work man. I just wish you’d tone it down and do what you do best, which is help me and millions of others escape reality with the worlds you can create. Much love and Merry Christmas.

4.5 Stars!

I was excited to see that there was a new series out by Mr. McHugh. I've read all of the books in his Hellequin series and while I've kind of fallen in love with Nate Garrett over the years, I was curious to see what was next. I have to admit, the beginning of the book took me a while to settle in to. I think that part of the issue was that I was listening completely on audio. For some reason, I've found that with books in the fantasy genre, it is easier for my mind to build the new world if I'm reading versus listening. Weird? Yeah, I know, but for some reason it just is.

This was the type of beginning where the reader is being told a story, but it is unfolding in different time periods and we are not really sure what the complete story is until much farther in. We are introduced to a new world. In this world, there is a rift, or a kind of tear in the fabric of this world. This rift has power/magic that can bring both human and animals back from the dead if the timing is right, but they come back different. There are the rift fused, which come back no longer human, but .......extra. They have different abilities, different appendages, and are much, much stronger than they were before (for animals - I think they become fiends - same concept). Then there are the Riftborn. These people wake up in the rift and spend the next 100 years in the rift before coming back to earth. They are the REALLY powerful ones who obviously gain... almost immortality, but also have amazing abilities and can heal and regain strength by returning to their "embers" in the rift. I know I didn't really explain that well, but I think I understood it when I was reading it.

This book is focused on our MC Lucas Rurik. I'm not going to go into much detail about him because a lot of the book was spent SLOWLY giving us his back story. I think the pay out was much greater when we FINALLY began to understand who and what Lucas was. I will admit to being a bit frustrated at the time, but I do think it was worth it.

We also are introduced to a new organization, the RCU (think of the FBI but for the Rift Fused and Rift Born). Things begin happening and several FBI and RCU agents are brutally murdered. It becomes apparent that someone is trying to manipulate the situation and things are not what they seem.

Bottom line, I enjoyed this new world. I really liked Lucas and I am looking forward to seeing where this is going next and seeing more of him in the future. I think Matthew Wolf did a great job with the narration - I always enjoy hearing a book with a narrator in a British accent. I love the fact that Mr. McHugh is British and you see that in the phrasing and English words like car park and boot.

So, another winner. I'm looking forward to the next book in this series.

There is still a psychopath to catch....

Not sure I will continue this series...

I loved the Hellequin series and all the trilogies that followed but it was pretty obvious towards the end that Steve McHugh was letting his political views leak into the books. I'll continue to say this as many times as needed. All authors need to keep their political views to themselves. We have enough of that in our daily lives. I find it particularly offensive in fantasy novels. I read fantasy to get away from real life and immerse myself in another world. I want to leave what's going on outside my door, and walk away for a while. Steve McHugh you are an excellent author of fiction but if you want to tell people about your political views write a non-fiction book.

That being said, I like the world building in this story and story itself is ok but I'm just not sure I will continue the series due to the aforementioned. It's just annoying and off putting. Also, it's basically Hellequin with a different world and supporting characters.

I really liked Matthew Wolf's narration and use of voices. He is very pleasant to listen to and I would definitely like to hear more books he has narrated.