Unbroken

Rath & Rune #4

by Jordan L. Hawk

The hunt for the evil Books of the Bound nears its end, as Ves and Sebastian track an elusive killer who can raise the dead.

Librarian Sebastian Rath has Bound himself to three of the four necromantic Books created by his ancestors. Only the Book of Blood remains—and it’s in the hands of an elusive killer.

Someone is murdering members of the Widdershins Horticultural Society using the Book’s magic. In order to stop the killings and Bind the final Book, Sebastian and Ves must find their way through a forest of lies and deception. But the danger is closer to home than they think, and more than one killer has Sebastian in their sights.

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal, Historical, Romance, Horror, Mystery, M M Romance

194 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 17, 2025

About the author

Jordan L. Hawk is a trans author from North Carolina. Childhood tales of mountain ghosts and mysterious creatures gave him a life-long love of things that go bump in the night. When he isn’t writing, he brews his own beer and tries to keep the cats from destroying the house. His best-selling Whyborne & Griffin series (beginning with Widdershins) can be found in print, ebook, and audiobook.

Reviews

[BevS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, this series is OK, but obviously nowhere near as good as Whyborne & Griffin: Books 1-10...which I must re-read very shortly. Oh, and this series should end after the next story Unbound...but who knows 🤷‍♀️.Bonnie really must take more care as to whom she invites into her home.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Felt very flat.

[Rishika Aggarwal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for the Romancing the Gothic bookclub.

As ever, there's not really much to criticize about getting the chance to once again, return to Widdershins. I will literally never say no to anything set in this universe, and getting to read a new adventure in the Rath and Rune series was a treat.

Seb and Ves were as they always are, an utter treat to read about, as were Noct, Irene, and Mortimer. Loved the addition of (or rather, the return of) Mr. Tubbs, because he added a truly entertaining element to the investigation.

As with the previous books, the mystery was the weaker part of the novel, and it was pretty obviouus who the truly 'guilty' parties were meant to be pretty early on. That said, I did appreciate the twists with the other Dark Young and the references to Rappacini's Daughter, as well as the reveal of the culprit carrying out the attacks, and their motivation for doing so.

I will say, Bonnie (and, in many ways, Ves and Sebastian) rather annoyed me in this one, because the whole situation with the School of Night was something they should have seen coming a mile away. Still, now that that's sorted, we get to deal with the real creepy crawlies of the series - Ora and Lenore Rune.

And, of course, whatever's going on with the Books of the Bound now that all four of them are together again.

While I went into this one expecting it to be the last of the series (four Books of the Bound, four books in the series, the logic was there you guys!), I can't say I'm upset about getting an additional book. That said, time to set the timer back to waiting I suppose!

[Joyfully Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Joyfully Jay review.

4 stars

Unbroken is the fourth book in Jordan L. Hawk’s Rath and Rune series and picks up the series arc with the hunt for the fourth Book of the Bound. While each story is its own adventure, the overaching plot carries across the series and these are best read in order. I am really enjoying this series and the way it takes a beloved and familiar location (Widdershins from Hawk’s incredible Whyborne & Griffith series) and gives it a fresh spin by setting the story years later and giving us mostly new characters. This story follows the pattern of the prior books by focusing on locating one of the Books of the Bound. Along the way, we get an interesting mystery as Ves and Sebastian try to figure out who has the book, why they are killing the Horticulture Society members, and how to stop them.

While we do get a resolution related to this final book, there are some big picture things that don’t resolve here. I had thought this was the last book in the series and was a little worried that we don’t get the “big finish” here, but was delighted to learn that there is one more book coming that will wrap it all up.

Read Jay’s review in its entirety here.

[Ariana (mostly offline) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stars

The blurb seems to be suggesting that this is the last book in the series, but when I started wondering by 70% how on earth all the issues could be solved in the remaining page time and checked I (of course) found out that there is one more book yet to be released. (I really should have paid better attention! 🤦🏻‍♀️)

Jordan L Hawk keeps ‘the best for last’, namely what’s going to happen to Sebastian now that he is bound to all 4 books , with that last scene more or less a cliff hanger and a promise of horror to come.

And then there are Ves and Noct’s evil mother and grandfather who are clearly looking to harness some of the powers that are now contained. Ora, particularly, creeps me out. He is a total psychopath and his ‘love’ for Ves and Noct truly horrifying.
Some developments and revelations are rather surprising and seem to come out of nowhere, but ... this is Widdershins, so anything is possible!

We get some nice Ves/Sebastian moments, as usual not quite enough for me. But I enjoyed the mystery better this time, with some darker moments and sinister ongoings.

No idea when the last book will be released, but I will be back, no doubt, to see this to its end.

[Loves · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read Patreon ARC. Overall this was another excellent mystery/romance novel in the series written up to Hawk's usual high standards - the MCs were endearing, the plot was fast paced and suspenseful, the historical background was realistic and believable and there wasn't a single redundant scene.

Nevertheless, the mystery aspect was weaker this time. We can clearly state by now that Sebastian and Ves are.. pretty hopeless as detectives. They didn't figured out a single clue on time in this case, didn't manage to save anyone else and were barely saved by the conflicting interests of their enemies. The Endicotts also did not perform up to their usual standards and the librarians were not as helpful as they were in previous novels. In fact, Mr. Quinn seemed quite happy to watch Seb and Ves struggle with the challenge the books of the bound presented on their own.
I also have to say that I've grown to detest Lenore Rune's character as one-dimensional, caricature villain. Hawk's past villains were given more depth, personality and motives than the psychotic, shining-like "Here's mommy!".

[Susan Scribner · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Hawk's Widdershins series affected me on a visceral level; I will never not choke up when I hear "Widdershins knows its own." But his recent releases, including this Widdershins spin-off series, have not had the same impact. I suspect that some of the disconnect stems from the vastly different time and place (the last book in the original series, Deosil, was published in 2019). But for whatever reason, I'm continuing with the Rath & Rune series mostly out of fond nostalgia.

[Deeze · Rating 4 out of 5]

It seems I jumped the gun.

I thought this was the last book and so I started this series thinking it was complete. I am both disappointed I was wrong and happy I get to continue to journey along with Sebastian and Ves.

This one was a wild ride. Mystery and bad guys galore. I was kept on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen next.

While these are not exactly romance there is just enough chemistry between Seb and Ves to keep me satisfied while giving me an interesting story with lots of side characters to keep me entertained.

I eagerly await the final instalment.

[Amy (I'd Rather Be Sleeping) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid book. I mean, I've loved the three previous ones, does anybody really expect me not to love this one? (Also, this is not, as I had erroneously suspected, the final book in the series.)

I do really like the plot, though. It is ... honestly, it is not as horror as I was expecting and just...kind of tragic, really. (Tragic in a sad way for the character involved, not that anything unusually bad happens to the main group.)

[Katarina Wuulfsun · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hawk's a great storyteller, and this plotline was unique; however, I felt like the pacing was off. A lot of scenes seemed to end abruptly. There were so many scenes that would have went better if they had more detail to them. Overall the story was enjoyable. I look forward to reading the next one in the series.

[Ilene G> · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story in the series.

The pace of the story is good. I like the characters. There is romance , magic, monsters, and action. It is well-written. This is a good series.

[Kristel (hungryandhappy) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Widdershins is truly one wacky town!
Btw, TENTACLES!!

[Lina Keit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes! I really needed to know how it continued! Engaging, interesting, fast-paced, a real page turner. The only bad part is waiting until the next installment to know how the overarching story ends.

[CRM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great installment in the series. I look forward to wear the story is going. The pacing and twist/turns keep me coming back.

[caro_cactus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Midsomer Murders vibe to the killing-spree-of-the-week, cool visuals.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was the last book, but there's still one to come.

[Nad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oooh, boy! So far, this is the best book of the series, and also the most horrifying. You can still easily predict a lot of turning plot points (the reason behind the garden the moment we get the description, or that something is up with the new neighbour, or who would come to save our heroes both times), mostly because of tropes but also based on the information we learn in the previous books, but unlike the previous books, the exact details are still pretty surprising (what exactly is up with the new neighbour, who exactly is behind the garden, who else would suddenly come to the rescue). Ditto for the identity of the villain and why they were using the book. The level of paranoia is through the roof and we get a really cool cinematic final confrontation.

On the minor downside - not enough Noct and Mr Quinn, too much involvement from the Endicotts, and it's getting pretty annoying that a) they don't do anything to stop Vesper's fucked up family prowling in the shadows, and b) they never even stop to think of maybe not adding this book to the rest, especially since they were outright told in the previous book that the necrobooks want to be reunited.

Still, it was a pretty exciting adventure and I hope we get an epic finale in the next book.


~~~~~~~

📖🌬️Unhallowed 🌟🌟🌟🌟⭐
‌📖🦷Unseen 🌟🌟🌟
‌📖🦴Unknown 🌟🌟🌟🌟
📖🩸Unbroken 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

[Tetiana]

Always nice to be back in Widdershins! Can't get enough of cultists, evil books and our boys: Sebastian "Slutty little glasses" Rath and Vesper "Tentacles for days" Rune.
Hope for the future: an Irene and Noct novella? Maybe? Please?
Also Mortimer needs a love interest. Pretty please? Can my problematic son get someone to kiss his face?
But all in all, 5/5, as always.

I need to do a big reread soon. Maybe even a Whyborne and Griffin reread while I'm at it...