Now that he's gotten back from his second adventure with the Fey, Ethan Chase just wants to live normally. Sadly, fate won't let him. 
 And in "The Iron Traitor," he must contend with the increasingly dangerous Forgotten, a strange prophecy and his own nephew -- leading to a conflict that may destroy him. Julie Kagawa ramps up the horror and suspense in the latest Iron Fey book, as well as a horrific cliffhanger that really, really needs to get resolved. As in, now. 
 Though Ethan has gotten back to his usual life, he's still got problems aplenty -- his rotten reputation has gotten even worse, the police suspect him, and Kenzie's father forbids him from seeing her anymore, and everyone thinks he did something horrifying. Then Meghan appears to tell Ethan some problematic news: Keirran has gone missing. 
 And then Annwyl appears in Ethan's bedroom, and reveals that she's begun to Fade. Keirran has disappeared because he wants to find some way of stopping it. To help Annwyl, Ethan and Kenzie decide to head to New Orleans in time for the goblin market, in the hopes that Keirran will be there. But then Ethan discovers that his fate is tied in with Keirran and the Forgotten, in a prophecy that no one has ever told him of. 
 Julie Kagawa has been building up the significance of the prophecy for the past few Iron Fey books, and "The Iron Traitor" is where it finally hits its high point. Ethan dives deeper into the Fey world as Keirran goes deeper into the darkness, and it soon becomes obvious that their mutual desperation can only lead to something catastrophic. 
 Most of the story is a slow buildup to the cliffhanger, with the heroes struggling to get to the goblin market in time. It gives the story a bit of a middle-chapter quality, since there isn't much to the plot except to drive the heroes towards Keirran. 
 But Kagawa's prose is pretty astounding. Ethan gives the story a blunter, more action-packed style, and there's more of a horrific bent amid all the fantastical fey stuff ("his mouth opened impossibly wide, like a snake unhinging its jaws, revealing a gaping black hole within"). And the entire story is haunted by the presence of a prophecy that Ethan doesn't know of. 
 Ethan himself has to finally come to grips with his connection to the Fey -- they're an inextricable part of his life, whether he likes it or not. And his relationship with the sprightly Kenzie, who is dying of leukemia, provides a nice parallel to Keirran's relationship with the Fading Annwyl, which drives the naive young prince to strange and terrible places. 
 "The Iron Traitor" adds a shocking twist to the tale of Ethan Chase and the Iron Fey, and leaves you really wanting to see what will happen next.