In Cut Free by Tess Manchester, headhunters are attacked during a recruitment meeting, and everyone is killed except Kent Ainsley. The attack is by the followers of the priest, who believe that making Dwellers the majority will result in the changes that they are hoping for. Unfortunately, they disregard safety concerns and other things like the availability of enough blood to feed all the Dwellers. Due to this devastating attack, Kent initiated the restoration protocols. Meanwhile, Neve and her colleagues, who are unaligned to any Dweller factions, are involved in fighting the government agents involved in a program that alleges to cure the Dwellers. Does the government have any cure? How will things turn out?

With well-crafted dialogue and twists and turns in the seamlessly flowing plot, there was never a dull moment in Cut Free by Tess Manchester. I loved the steady pacing, which kept me intrigued and eager to discover the next twist in the plot. The narration was perfect, and the well-developed characters brought the story to life. I also loved how vividly the author described events, which helped me to create a mental picture of what was happening. This thought-provoking work also helps one imagine living in a world full of mythical creatures, which was pretty entertaining. The reader will appreciate the easy-to-understand language used, which makes the work accessible to all kinds of readers. This was a good story, and I look forward to reading something else by this talented author.

In the third book of the Web of Dwellers vampire series, Cut Free by Tess Manchester, Neve and Marek, aligned with the Keepers, maneuver through a world divided by vampires, called Dwellers, and humans, called Regulars. The Followers, a faction led by Holden Wake, want the Dwellers to be the dominant population. The Keepers want to end the vampire infection, with Neve and Marek on a mission to find more on a reported cure for the infected, stealing critical government files. Neve's transition to a leadership role in the Keepers, after a shocking death, is amplified when she and her team are captured by the IRU and transported to a quarantine zone. She has been fighting to rescue prisoners from this place, including those with crucial information about the infection and cure, while leading the Keepers against the dangerous and growing power of the Followers.

I went into Tess Manchester's Cut Free not having read the first two books, and, while it took me a moment to figure out who is who in the social structure of both humans and the infected, once I was in, it was full steam ahead. That structure is phenomenal. The Dwellers are all infected, but the Followers want to convert the rest of humanity, while the Keepers want to save them and turn everyone back to humans. Infinity shepherds Dwellers through transition and into roles, and the Eight try to neutralize the Followers and other factions. DHS is the real government agency that runs the quarantine zones to try to contain and control the infected, while the IRU is looking for a cure. Everything is so well mapped out that falling in love with the exceptional world-building Manchester has achieved is a guarantee. There are a lot of twists interspersed with great action sequences, and, as far as well-written supernatural dystopian novels go, Cut Free is masterful. Very highly recommended.