Review: Atlantis Unleashed

Atlantis Unleashed
Alyssa Day Paranormal Romance
Warriors of Poseidon/Book 3 (plus 2 novellas)
Berkley/June 2009
Purchased

From the back cover ~

Poseidon’s warriors swore an oath eleven thousand years ago to protect humanity from those who stalked the night. Now those powerful forces are uniting. So are two souls who are all that stand between justice and the eternal darkness…

A warrior prince…

Lord Justice made the ultimate sacrifice for his brother and paid for it with an unimaginable torture. Now he’s back, rescued from death, his sanity shaken, and his mission inescapable—the search for the lost Star of Artemis. But the beautiful human female whom he has sworn to protect is shadowed by an evil that could destroy them both…

A woman of science…

The archaeological artifacts of Atlantis speak to Dr. Keely McDermott, sharing visions of life long ago. The ancient revelations have cast her into a world between past and present, between reality and illusion—and, when she meets the fierce Atlantean warrior assigned to guard her, between terror and temptation. Now as their two worlds collide, so too will danger and desire…

A quest for a lost star…Atlantis is unleashed.

This is a series that I've been meaning to catch up on. I've had books 3 and 4 in the tbr pile since shortly after they were released and there they sat. I picked up book 5 at the library last week so I had to read books 3 and 4. Reader logic I guess. :)

It didn't take long to get back into the world of the Atlantean warriors. Day does a good job of catching up and filling in any back story from the previous books. There is also a glossary in the back of the book. It's fairly short with just the basic terminology but can be helpful, mainly for the definitions of Shape-shifters and vampires.

This is a series that should be read in order. Yes, Day provides back story but the seven warriors are a close group and they all play a role in each others' books. As the series progresses the reader gets to know them. The warriors don't stagnate even when they're secondary characters. There is character development going on, although it may be small, it's still there.

This story is Justice's story. He is the handsome warrior with the big sword and blue hair. Yeah, I had a hard time picturing a big, buff warrior with blue hair. I kept picturing him more like a scrawny punk rocker. LOL He's been the prisoner of the Vampire goddess Anubisa who enjoys inflicting pain and suffering on her prisoners. While imprisoned he has visions of a beautiful women but he doesn't know who she is, only that he needs her. Once he escapes his prison he finds the mystery women and he has to have her.

Dr. Keely McDermott is not just an archaeologist, she's also a object reader. She has the psychic ability to touch an object and see it's history through the eyes of a person who came in contact with it. The visions are usually violent or emotional so Keely needs to protect herself. She wears gloves so as not to inadvertently touch something that could cause a disturbing vision. While I liked Keely I felt sorry for her. She kept herself fairly isolated mainly because of her psychic ability. Her parents thought of her as a freak, sending her to numerous psychologists when she was a child. The fact that she wasn't "normal" made them uncomfortable and kept them at a distance. I thought her parents overacted in their lack of support for their daughter but we really didn't get much back story on them, just the basics, so I chalked it up to them being asses.

Keely gets pulled into Atlantis and the fight against the growing threat from the vampires and the shape-shifters. She's stunned to find out that Atlantis really exists and thrilled to get the chance to explore the fabled underwater city. What she doesn't expect is the blue haired warrior of one of her visions to show up.

Justice is really screwed up after he escapes Anubisa. He's got a nasty voice in his head, trying to take over. Justice is part Nereid and it's the crazy Nereid in his head that's trying to take over Justice's body. One thing the Nereid wants is Keely. It's a battle that Justice fights within himself because he's not sure if Keely is safe from the Nereid. We get to know the Nereid through his voice and he's a true cave man. It was weird to have the two distinct characters in one body. Kind of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with neither one very appealing. It wasn't that I didn't like Justice as much as it was that I didn't feel like I got to know the real Justice until towards the end.

One thing I did like about Atlantis Unleashed is seeing Alaric and Quinn again. They are the Sam and Alyssa of the series. Alaric is an Atlantean high priest and has taken a vow of celibacy so no Quinn for him. Quinn is the sister of Riley, heroine of book one. Quinn is also one of the leaders of the rebel forces. About 10 years ago the vamps and shifters came out to the world and ever since then they've been taking over. They have infiltrated big business and government and continue to get stronger throughout the world. Quinn and her rebel fighters are trying to stop the vamps and rogue shifters from taking over and enslaving the humans. I like Alaric and Quinn but they're story line is starting to drag. It's just gotten really sad and they're due for some happiness, even if it's a quickie. :)

Keely and Justice and their love story... didn't exactly work for me. It was that Mr. Hyde horning in on their alone time, telling Justice to "just take her, fuck her" that really sucked the romance out of it. And then towards the end when I thought they had finally reached an agreement (Justice and the Nereid) the story takes a different turn and Justice and Keely wind up in the jungle. They're looking for one of the lost gem stones of Atlantis. It's crucial to find the gem stones if Atlantis is to rise safely from the ocean floor. They have to battle vampires before they can search for the gem stone. The fight scenes are fairly decent but I had hoped for more romance.

Not sure how to grade this one. I liked seeing all the warriors and previous characters again and getting to know some of them better. I liked the continuing story line of the vamps and rogue shifters gaining power. I liked the rebels, cause they're rebels. :) I just wasn't crazy about the hero and heroine as a couple. Hmmm...

Rating: B-