Review: Invincible

Invincible
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Young Adult Urban Fantasy
Chronicles of Nick/Book 2
St. Martins/March 22, 2011

*Spoilers for Book 1*

From Goodreads ~

Just when he thought things couldn’t get any worse...

Nick Gautier’s day just keeps getting better and better. Yeah, he survived the zombie attacks, only to wake up and find himself enslaved to a world of shapeshifters and demons out to claim his soul.

His new principal thinks he’s even more of a hoodlum than the last one, his coach is trying to recruit him to things he can’t even mention and the girl he’s not seeing, but is, has secrets that terrify him.

But more than that, he’s being groomed by the darkest of powers and if he doesn’t learn how to raise the dead by the end of the week, he will become one of them...

It's the day after the big zombie fest from Infinity (book 1) and Nick finds himself at Kyrian Hunter's home, safe and sound. As I was reading this, I realize I'm not reading it so much for the actual story as for the back story of Nick and company and how it relates to the current Dark Hunter/Were Hunter world of the adult series. So if I had never read Kenyon's adult series, this YA series would make me pick it up and I would most likely spend time read it rather than this one.

Nick has been, I wouldn't say a favorite character but one I've been interested to see where Kenyon would take him in the Dark Hunter series. So reading how he can to be in the world of Kyrian, Acheron and the Peltiers of Sanctuary is interesting enough to keep me reading this series. Nick is very much a teen with an attitude. He's had a hard life but he does have a mom who loves him more than words. She is the most important person in his world and it's never more evident than in his teen years.

We also see Nick developing relationships with his classmates, some of whom happen to be demons. Yeah, it's a weird world that Nick lives in but Kenyon does manage to make it all mesh together. Nick does seem surprised at every new revelation of supernatural beings. You would think he would be used to it, considering his boss is a Dark Hunter and he's friends with Acheron, who is 11,000 years old. Add in everything he's learned about and fought against in recent days, nothing should surprise him but it does.

Nick once again finds himself in trouble and not sure who he can trust. I did like the character of Death or Grim as he's also known as. He added a wicked sense of humor to the story. It's a good thing I'm not reading this series for the plot line because it didn't keep me entertained. It was easy to figure out where the story was headed and I was far more interested in how these characters fit into the Dark Hunter world. Good thing I got this from the library, not worth the hardcover price, IMO.

Rating: C+

Books in this series ~

Infinity
Invincible
Infamous (2012)

Review: No Mercy

No Mercy
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Paranormal Romance
Dark Hunters/Book 19
St. Martins/September 2010

*Spoilers for previous books*

From the author's website ~

Live fast, fight hard and if you have to die then take as many of your enemies with you as you can. That is the Amazon credo and it was one Samia lived and died by. Now in contemporary New Orleans, the immortal Amazon warrior is about to learn that there’s a worse evil coming to slaughter mankind than she’s ever faced before.

Shapeshifter Dev Peltier has stood guard at the front of Sanctuary for almost two hundred years and in that time, he’s seen it all. Or so he thought. Now their enemies have discovered a new source of power- one that makes a mockery of anything faced to date.

The war is on and Dev and Sam are guarding ground zero. But in order to win, they will have to break the most cardinal of all rules and pray it doesn’t unravel the universe as we know it.

And here's another series that I'm still reading - 19 books and no end in sight. I'm not sure if it's always been so full of snark but everyone, and I mean every supernatural being, was full of the snark in this one. It got old after awhile. I expected it from Dev, he's always been a smart ass, but everyone else from the Dark Hunters to the Daimons had a quick smart mouthed comeback no matter the situation. Running for your life - snark attack. Fighting off hordes of Daimons - snark attack. End of the world - snark attack. I would have liked a few more serious, mature characters. Considering some of these guys are thousands of years old, I don't think that's too much to ask, right?

Dev Peltier is a bouncer at his family's club. That simplifies his life because he really is so much more. He's a good brother, a good uncle and a good friend. You would think he would have close relationships but he holds himself apart, even from his family. Until recently the club, Sanctuary, was under the protection of Savitar. It was a place where supernatural beings and humans mingled with no violence allowed. But in the previous book, Bad Moon Rising, Savitar revoked Sanctuary's protection and the club burned down. It's been rebuilt but Dev and his family are always on the alert for any new threat. Dev's an easy werebear to love. He's just so darn cuddly! LOL

Samia (Sam) is an Amazon and a Dark Hunter (DH). But she's not just a regular DH, she's one of the Dogs of War. Which just means she's even more kick-ass and she's not easy to control. She and the other Dogs give Ash a hard time. I liked Sam but she had some major issues and by the end of the book I couldn't help but wonder how she had stayed alive for thousands of years. The thing about any DH is that they can lose their powers if they focus on the memory of why they became a DH, usually it was their death or betrayal. This happened a lot to Sam. She's fighting, all kicking ass and taking names then - Wham! She's remembering her death and the death of her family. Results - no powers. Then she either gets kidnapped or Dev swoops in and saves her. When she did fight she was amazing, even impressing Dev, but you'd think after all these centuries, she's like 5000 years old, she would have learned to control her emotions and not get sucked into her past.

The overflowing world of Kenyon's is just so hard to keep track of anymore. There are the characters that have been around for numerous books, there are recently introduced characters that may have only been mentioned a couple of books ago, and the new characters that keep popping up in every new book. I really wish some of these characters would just tell their story, take their HEA and fade off into the sunset. LOL I like many of them but that's the problem, there are just too many! Kenyon does have an extensive characters list on her site which is nice as a refresher before reading the next book but I found myself referring to it more and more while reading this book.

The story is about Dev and Sam falling in love while being hunted down by those nasty Daimons. In between fighting off Daimons, searching for the holy grail of all girdles and getting over their past failures, there is some hot loving going on. Dev and Sam are a good fit as a couple but have so many issues to work through that some serious intervention was needed by some very powerful beings before the HEA was attainable. I would have preferred less external conflict and more focus on their internal conflicts. There was too much going on, too many subplots that took the focus off of Dev and Sam and left me wondering how they went from "Hi" to "I love you".

So, I'm still reading this series and I might read the next book, Redemption (August 2011). I'm on the fence since it's about Jess/Sundown (DH) and Abby, new characters. *sigh* I think Sundown has been mentioned before but just briefly. I might skip it. I do want to read Savitar's book but it's not even a glimmer on the horizon. He's the only one I'm holding out for and at this rate I might have stopped reading the series by the time his book rolls around. I guess if you're a fan of the series, then I would recommend reading No Mercy but it's hardcover so try getting it from the library.

Rating: C+

Review: Infinity: Chronicles of Nick

Infinity: Chronicles of Nick
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Young Adult Urban Fantasy
Chronicles of Nick/Book 1
St. Martin's Griffin/May 2010

From the inside cover ~

At fourteen, Nick Gautier thinks he knows everything about the world around him. Streetwise, tough and savvy, his quick sarcasm is the stuff of legends. . .until the night when his best friends try to kill him. Saved by a mysterious warrior who has more fighting skills than Chuck Norris, Nick is sucked into the realm of the Dark-Hunters: immortal vampire slayers who risk everything to save humanity.

Nick quickly learns that the human world is only a veil for a much larger and more dangerous one: a world where the captain of the football team is a werewolf and the girl he has a crush on goes out at night to stake the undead.

But before he can even learn the rules of this new world, his fellow students are turning into flesh eating zombies. And he’s next on the menu. As if starting high school isn't hard enough. . .now Nick has to hide his new friends from his mom, his chainsaw from the principal, and keep the zombies and the demon Simi from eating his brains, all without getting grounded or suspended. How in the world is he supposed to do that?

Well, Simi's still annoying. LOL Guess she's always been that way. Seriously, I can only take her in small doses. Infinity has the trademark Kenyon smart-ass snark that her characters seem to have in abundance but there is also the pleasure of seeing a very young Nick Gautier. I liked this young Nick who has a chip on his shoulder (probably born with it) and a lot of love and respect for his Mama. We get a bunch of back story on some favorite characters and there are new characters who play important roles in Nick's life.

Infinity goes back to before Nick Gautier knew about Dark Hunters, Were Hunters and Daimons. It starts when Nick is a student at a private high school in New Orleans. He's there because he received a scholarship otherwise, there's no way he and his mom could have ever afford the tuition. Even Nick has a job to help pay the bills. He's very aware of his status as the poor kid at a school were most kids get brand new cars when they turn 16. Nick doesn't even have a TV, let alone a cell phone and definitely no car.

Nick's day starts out as usual with him running for the bus to school. Then the bullying begins, another thing he's used to. His day goes from bad to worse when he's suspended for fighting. You definitely feel for Nick. He tries to be good and stay out of trouble but it just seems to follow him. He does meet a new girl who makes a strong impression on this teen age boy with hormones racing. She's pretty and sweet and she actually talks to him! Nick is starved for attention and Kody's friendship is just what he needs.

Nick's life takes a turn when he gets caught up in a bad situation but there is a light at the end of the tunnel - Kyrian, the Dark Hunter who steps into Nick's life and decides to help him, hiring him as his assistant. Nick is in shock at Kyrian's wealth and very skeptical as to Kyrian's motives. It was amusing to hear Nick constantly questioning Kyrian about what Nick's new job would require. Nothing illegal and no getting naked were two of Nick's main concerns. *snort*

There are a bunch of new characters introduced and most are not human. Nick gets a crash course in the supernatural when his school and neighborhood are overrun with zombies. There's quite a bit of action with fighting zombies, running from zombies and just the general mayhem in a world full of supernatural beings. There are twists and turns with numerous characters to keep track of. It does help if you're already familiar with Kenyon's Dark Hunter series since characters from that series are featured plus the mythology and world building are the same, just with a different point of view.

Infinity's plot of high school kids turned zombies and attacking their classmates was merely okay. At times it felt like a B horror movie with the cast doing exactly what you would expect in a horror movie. What I liked was finding out the history of Nick and the Hunters. It gives more insight into what is going on in the current time line of Kenyon's adult series. The writing was standard Kenyon fair, simply toned down for a younger audience.

Rating: C+

Review: Bad Moon Rising

Title: Bad Moon Rising

Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Series: Dark Hunter/Book 18

Published: August 2009

From the inside cover ~

Fang Kattalakis isn't just a wolf. He is the brother of two of the most powerful members of the Omegrion: the ruling council that enforces the laws of the Were-Hunters. And when war erupts among the lycanthropes, sides must be chosen. Enemies are forced into shaky alliances. And when the woman Fang loves is accused of betraying her people, her only hope is that Fang believes in her. Yet in order to save her, Fang must break the law of his people and the faith of his brothers. That breech could very well spell the end of both their races and change their world forever.

The war is on and time is running out...

Finally, Fang and Aimee's story. They're sort of the Sam and Alyssa of the Dark Hunter world. LOL It seems like we've been waiting a long time for their story. Pretty much since Night Play (book 5). I did read some reviews and heard some grumblings about how Bad Moon Rising was a repeat of what has already been told in previous books. I can see why there might be some less than happy fans, especially if they paid for the hardcover but overall I liked getting Fang and Aimee's POV and what was going on behind those closed doors of theirs. :)

Aimee Peltier is a waitress at her family's restaurant and bar. She's just a normal young woman except for the fact that she's a wereswan, a shape shifter who can turn herself into a bear. I really liked Aimee. She's been in previous books and while I had a sense of who she was, Bad Moon Rising let's the reader into her heart and mind. She's very devoted to her family and has a kind heart for the underdog or underwere (LOL) as the case may be. But don't think she's a pushover. She has brothers galore that have taught her how to stand up for herself, otherwise they would smothered her with their love and protection and she wouldn't be allowed out of their sight.

Fang is such a stubborn, irritating, in-your-face, itching for a fight, pain in the ass hero. LOL Dang, that was a mouthful! He's also one of the most loyal and honorable Were Hunters around. Fang isn't easy to like because he doesn't want to be liked but once you get past that tough guy exterior he's such a wonderful, beautiful and caring individual. Fang had a terrible family life and the only things that made it bearable were his sister Anya and brother Vane. When Anya dies and Markus, their father, has Fang and Vane beaten and left for the Daimons, Fang ends up in the Nether Realm, spending some time in another dimension that leaves him less than whole. I kept hoping he would catch a break and all the bad shit would stop landing at his door. But in this of course wasn't the case, had it been the book would have been a lot shorter.

The plot is one that readers of the series are very familiar with. I kept having a sense of déjà vu. Bad Moon Rising starts before, most notably for me, Vane, Fury and Ash have their HEA so it was a bit odd to have them single and all cranky cause they weren't getting lucky with their mates. Almost all of the book has already been told in previous books so you know the basics of what will happen if you've read them. But Bad Moon Rising is different by giving us Fang and Aimee's POV we get a whole other story of what had been going on that we didn't get to see. With new characters, both good, not so good and all out bad, Kenyon puts a new twist on the old story arc. Some questions are answered while some new ones crop up. There are a number of characters to keep track of and being a lover of graphs, charts and glossaries, I do wish some type of glossary would have been included. Oh, one of my favorite Dark Hunters does spend some time on the page. Valerius in all his well dressed glory showed up to remind me why I like him so much. :)

So would I recommend? Yes, if you're a fan of the series. It's a decent story and I do like Fang and Aimee a lot. It kept me entertained and still wanting to read more from the Dark Hunter world. Is it worth the hardcover price? Hmmm.... that's not so easy to say. I waited and got mine from the library so no cost but my time. If the only way I could have read it was to buy the book new, then I would have waited until I could get it used, which would probably be a long wait. But I'm cheap. :)

Sherrilyn Kenyon has an extensive website with tons of info on her books, characters and worlds. Check it out here but plan on spending time some time looking at the eye candy. :)

Rating: B

Review: One Silent Night

Title: One Silent Night
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Dark Hunters/Book 16

Stryker is back and up to no good as usual. He's decided to wake up War and use him to seek vengeance against Acheron and Nick Gautier. What he doesn't know is that someone has been sent to seek their own vengeance against him. Someone who will gladly kill him. This isn't surprising since Stryker is no saint and has numerous enemies but this enemy comes as a surprise to him because he thought her long dead. He soon finds out that she's very much alive and intent on seeing him dead.

So I've been curious about this book ever since it was announced that Stryker would get his own story. How the heck was Kenyon going to redeem Styker? Well, it turns out she really didn't, at least IMO. We do get glimpses of his own warped moral code and how much he loved his children, even though he killed his own son. In the end he's still a badass out to kill his enemies and use the weak humans as his own personal buffet.

Stryker and Zephyra were young(fourteen) and in love when they wed. But Apollo found out and told Styker that Zephyra wasn't good enough for his son and if Stryker didn't leave her Apollo would have her killed. So Stryker leaves her, eventually they are all cursed by Apollo and become Daimons.

Now they are back together after 11,000 years apart. Zephyra hates Stryker and wants him dead. He's still attracted to her and gets her to agree not to kill him but give him a chance to win her back. So they have to work together to defeat War and not get killed in the process. Stryker also uses this time to try to woo Zephyra into bed again.

Zephyra is totally into kicking ass and hates humans possibly more that Stryker. She hasn't forgive him for leaving her and still wants revenge after all these centuries. I think I might have liked her if she hadn't been so bitter. Granted, she had some very good reasons but centuries have passed, time to move on.

The ending was another "save the world" type of ending with a bunch of the good (and not so good) powerful beings joining together to fight War and his band of merry evil doers. There was a new character introduced that I found intriguing and would imagine will be showing up again. He has an important role in relation to Nick.

The problem I had with this book is that I really didn't care about Stryker and Zephyra. It's hard for me to enjoy a book when I don't have any interest in the main characters. I found myself simply reading this for any new info on the Dark Hunter world. So for that aspect it was worth the read because there are some new developments and new revelations about characters from the series. But for the love story ~ I was very meh about the whole thing.

I should mention this book is printed in a larger font than normal and 310 pages. So it's a quick read. For the most part, if you're a fan of the series, yes, read it if only for the latest developments (try getting it from the library like I did). Kenyon's writing is still good but I just didn't care for the overall story.

Rating: C+

New Releases...

Today marks some wonderful goodness coming readers way in the form of new releases.

First up is the latest release, Demon Bound, in the Guardians series by Meljean Brook. From Meljean's website:

The seductive and dangerous world of the Guardians now yields a secret that threatens the soul of a woman and the fate of the universe, both Demon Bound…

Among the Guardians, Alice Grey is known as the Black Widow—a woman trapped in a web spun by the demon Teqon. To save her soul, she agreed to deliver to Teqon the heart of the oldest and most powerful Guardian of all, or else be damned for eternity. After more than a hundred years, Teqon is calling in his debt.

Jake Hawkins is a novice Guardian whose gift of teleportation could be invaluable to Alice in determining her next move. But in aligning himself with her he never expected to fall in love. Now, their passionate flight to escape Alice’s damnable bargain is threatening both their souls. For they’re about to discover a hellish secret about the Guardians—something that will change their universe forever.

So I think I'm the last one to read this series. What the heck I was waiting for? I don't know. I have read the short story Falling for Anthony in the Hot Spell anthology and I will definitely be reading more. If you'd like to read some reviews for Demon Bound, Meljean has posted some on her blog here. This is one series I'm looking forward to gloaming! You can find out more about the Guardians and their world at Meljean's site. Demon Bound is the seventh book, including the three anthologies, in the series.

Next up is Sherrilyn Kenyon's latest entry into her Dark Hunter series, Stryker's story One Silent Night.

Blurb from Amazon:

While the world carries on unawares, Stryker, who leads an army of demons and vampires, is plotting an all out onslaught against his enemies—which, unfortunately for us, includes the entire human race. To avenge his sister, Stryker prepares to annihilate the Dark-Hunters. But things go awry when his oldest enemy returns. Enter his ex-wife. Zephyra. Just when he thought nothing could stop him, he’s now embroiled in a centuries old war with a shrew who gives new meaning to pain.

Yep, I'm still reading the Dark Hunters and am curious to see how Stryker will be redeemed, or if he will.

The next new release is a new series by an author that is new to me. The first book in Lisa Hendrix's paranormal series about Vikings, Immortal Warrior, is released today. It sounds absolutely wonderful. The series is about nine Viking warriors who are cursed to turn into animals during the day and are men at night. Each warrior is a different animal and their story takes place during a different century. I will certainly be adding this to my TBR pile.

Synopsis:

He came to England in search of treasure. Two hundred years later, he’s found her…
Ivar Graycloak is a brave warrior, a man known for his strength and integrity. He is also a man with a terrible secret. Long ago he was part of a Viking crew cursed by an evil sorceress to live for eternity as were-creatures. An eagle by day and a man by night, Ivar has lived a solitary existence for over two centuries. Then the king orders him to marry.

Lady Alaida is everything a man could want in a bride—intelligent, spirited, and beautiful—and their wedding night is a balm to Ivar’s lonely spirit. Then a seer brings him word of a dark vision, one that makes Ivar vow to stay away from his lovely wife forever. But now that Ivar has sampled Alaida’s passion, her humor and warmth, he is enthralled. His traitorous body-his very heart-longs for that which hecan never possess.

Lady Alaida may surprise him yet, though, for she has a power of her own-a power that will either destroy everything they hold dear or ultimately set them free…

I'm sure I've missed quite a few new ones coming out but these were the ones that I could remember. So, what new releases are you looking forward to?

Coming Soon from Sherrilyn Kenyon...

Sherrilyn Kenyon has a few books due out soon that I plan to read. I've only read her Dark Hunter/Were Hunter/Dream Hunter books. And they can be confusing at times with all the who, what, where and how of the characters. The various gods and goddess are what usually screw me up. She also writes historicals under the name Kinley MacGregor. I have a few of them but haven't had the chance to read any yet. While I don't run out and get her books on release day I do still enjoy reading those from the Hunter universe.

The first book, due out November 4 is One Silent Night, Stryker's book. He's the leader of the Daimons and a total bad boy. He loves nothing more than killing Dark Hunters and eating humans. How Kenyon will redeem him or if he will be redeemed is why I want to read his book. Here's some info from Kenyon's site:

While the world carries on unawares, Stryker, who leads an army of demons and vampires, is plotting an all out onslaught against his enemies--which, unfortunately for us, includes the entire human race. To avenge his sister, Stryker prepares to annihilate the Dark-Hunters. But things go awry when his oldest enemy returns. Enter his ex-wife. Zephyra. Just when he thought nothing could stop him, he's now embroiled in a centuries old war with a shrew who gives new meaning to pain and a shrew who is the only woman he's ever really loved.

This is a keystone book where new alliances form and old ones realign. The world of the Dark-Hunters is shifting and you definitely don't want to miss it. There are major shockers in it about Nick and Acheron and you will also meet Simi's future hero.

Longer than a novella, but not quite as long as a novel, OSN is a special thank you to fans. It's events will also lead directly into the next few books.

So there will also be new stuff on Nick and Ash and Simi's future HEA. I can't even begin to imagine what he will be like. The comment about the events in OSN leading directly into the next few books could mean more of Jaden. He's an interesting demon that we got to read more of in Acheron. You can read an excerpt of One Silent Night here.

The Dead After Dark anthology with stories by Sherrilyn Kenyon, J. R. Ward, Susan Squires and Dianna Love. Release date is December 2, 2008. Kenyon's story is about Fury and Angelia. They are both Were's, wolf shapeshifters. Here's some info on this story from Kenyon's website:

Angelia has fought her entire life to make herself strong. Now, with her tessera under fire, she has to protect herself and her patria from Fury and his Werewolf pack. But now the hunter has become the hunted and the only for her to survive is to trust the very Wolf she once tried to kill...

This book sets up the summer release Bad Moon Rising which will be Fang and Aimee's story. While it is a short story, you will see a lot more about Fury and Angelia in the summer release.
Look for a special cameo appearance from Z in the story and don't miss meeting Trace-- Vane and Bride's son.

I've always like the Weres and a visit to Sanctuary is usually entertaining. You can go here to read an excerpt of Fury and Amelia's story in Dead After Dark.


Then there's the next Dream Hunter novel ~ Dream Warrior, due to release February 2009. I'm not sure how I feel about this one. I'll read it but will probably get it from the library. I've liked the past Dream Hunter novels, The Dream Hunter and the very short book Upon the Midnight Clear, and Dream Chaser which I thought was pretty good. This one sounds like there are a lot of new characters to keep track of and I'm just not sure I'm up to it.

Here's some deets from the official site:

We are the Dolophoni. Diligent. Vigilant. Fierce and inescapable. Servants of the Furies, we are the right hand of justice and no one stands before us.The son of Warcraft and Hate, Cratus spent eternity battling for the ancient gods who birthed him. He was death to any who crossed him. Until the day he laid down his arms and was banished into exile. Now an ancient enemy has been unleashed and our dreams are his chosen battlefield. The only hope we have is the one god who swears he will never fight again. As a Dream-Hunter, Delphine has spent eternity protecting mankind from the predators who prey on our unconscious state. But now that her allies have been turned, she knows in order to survive, the Dream-Hunters need a new leader. Someone who can train them to fight their new enemies. Cratus is her only hope. But she is a bitter reminder of why he chose to lay down his arms. Time is running out and if she can't win him to her cause, mankind will be slaughtered and the world we know will soon cease to exist.

This book is a lynch pin book of the Dream-Hunter series. Several characters will meet their demise and new order emerges...

The Dream-Hunter world is rocked as the Skoti revolt against the Oneroi and the battle lines are drawn. Their world will never be the same.
Cratus is a darkly tortured character. Complex and even scary at times...

It sounds interesting but I think I may need to check out The Dark Hunter Companion from the library again before reading Dream Warrior. And I like the UK cover better ~ the guy is blond on that one. If you'd like to read an excerpt and maybe get a bit more confused like me you can read one here.

Review: Acheron

Title: Acheron
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Dark Hunters/Book 12

The anticipation of this book for many readers has been years in the making. For myself, I started reading the Dark Hunter(DH) series last year. Having read all the DH books there were some that I found less than stellar and a few that I consider favorites. But overall this is one of my favorite series.

While I have been looking forward to Ash's book it was with hesitancy and some trepidation. Would the book live up to all the hype? Because there was a hell of a lot of it. 2008 was proclaimed as "THE YEAR OF ACHERON". MySpace, websites, ComicCon and even TV commercials were all plugging the book.

Now for those of you that aren't familiar with Acheron (that would be you two in the back) here's the synopsis:

The most anticipated story in the blockbuster Dark-Hunter series. The never-before-revealed story of the Dark-Hunter leader, Acheron. He was made human in order to escape death, but in death he was reborn a god. . .

Eleven thousand years ago a god was born. Cursed into the body of a human, Acheron spent a lifetime of shame. However, his human death unleashed an unspeakable horror that almost destroyed the earth. Then, brought back against his will, Acheron became the sole defender of mankind.

Only it was never that simple. For centuries, he has fought for our survival and hidden a past he’ll do anything to keep concealed. Until a lone woman who refuses to be intimidated by him threatens his very existence.

Now his survival, and ours, hinges on hers and old enemies reawaken and unite to kill them both.

War has never been more deadly... or more fun.

Ash has made an appearance in most, if not all of the DH books. He is one of those characters that readers feel they know well and yet know so very little. His book is divided into two parts. Part I deals with Ash's life and death as a human and his early years after he acquired his god powers and became a DH. Part II occurs in present day and is the story of Ash and his heroine and what they must go through to get their HEA.

Part I

Hell, hell and more hell. That pretty much sums up what Ash went through as a human.

Part I starts out as told from Ryssa's point of view as she writes in her journal. Ryssa is Ash's sister and is the only human that really cares about him. While there were some short periods of almost normalcy or what could pass for it in his screwed up existence, overall his life was filled with pain and suffering. Ryssa did attempt to give Ash affection and love but she was limited in what she could do. Her father, a Greek king and her brother Styxx, Ash's twin, hated Ash and would do anything to degraded and punish him.

I won't go into details of the numerous abuses Ash suffered. And they were numerous. Too much at times for this reader. This for me was not a "sit and read for hours" type of book. There were times when I simply had to put it down and read something else. Kenyon does mention in the Author's Note that she "pulled no punches" when writing the first part and she wasn't kidding.

Ash's human existence is a very brutal, often graphic display of the cruel treatment he suffered at the hands of those who should have loved and cherished him. From his human father, uncle and brother Ash received nothing but horrendous treatment at their hands. Even Artemis asked to be friends with him but then showed him that she was also capable of using and abusing him.

The stark reality of what he survived made me wonder how he managed to survive intact. How strong he is to have become such an honorable man. His abuse was so horrific that he did beg to be killed a number of times. Since his life was tied to Styxx's the king dare not allow Ash to die. Instead he had him nearly tortured to death. All of this happening at a very young age. He was only 21 when he died.

When Ash dies as a human he is brought back to life and given his god powers. He now has to figure out how to use those powers. This is where Savitar comes in to help. He also must hunt the Daimons that Apollo helped create with his curse. We find out how Artemis tied Ash to her and convinced him to help with the Dark Hunters that she created to fight the Daimons.

Part II

Fast forward to present time and we find Ash in Nashville listening to a woman lecture on her search for Atlantis. It turns out this woman knows too much and has uncovered evidence to prove the existence of Atlantis. Ash must stop the rest of the world from finding out what new evidence has been uncovered and discredit the lecturer.

The word gets out about the new evidence and it seems like everyone is after the it. Ash must now not only stop the world from finding out the secrets of Atlantis but also keeps his enemies from hurting the only woman who won't be intimidated by him.

There are characters from previous books that come to help Ash as well as long time enemies that are out to get him and his heroine. There are some unexpected twists and answers to many of the questions readers have had about Ash. We find out what's in his backpack that he always carries and where his soul is.

The characters of Jaden and Savitar also get more page time. We've seen bits of them in previous books but have very little knowledge of their background or what they are really capable of. The series is set to continue with Jaden's part next, then Savitar's then an unknown character for the fourth part of the series.

So now the question is did I like the book? It's not an easy answer. While Ash's back story was critical to understanding him and did answer some questions about his relationship with Apollymi, Artemis and Savitar, it was just too long. I think it could have been done with fewer pages of the details of his abuse and still given the reader a very good understanding of him and what shaped him into the man he is. The other problem I had with Part I is the language. I didn't get any sense of historical setting from the language. It came off sounding very modern day. Now I don't know how people spoke 11,000 years ago but I expected it to sound less 21st century.

The second part set in present day was an easier read and I found myself far more interested to find out what would happen. It read and felt more like the other DH books and by itself I would consider it a good addition to the series. But this is Ash's book and because he is so much more than just a Dark Hunter I was expecting something extra special, something epic.

Rating: A-

Dream Chaser

Finished Dream Chaser. It was very good, much like earlier Kenyon Dark Hunter books. The main characters were interesting and played well off each other. The quality of the writing gives me hope that Acheron will live up to all the hype.

Upon a Midnight Clear.

Finished reading Upon a Midnight Clear by Sherrilyn Kenyon. It was good but a very short book. It should have been in an anthology. There was an addition short story at the end. It was a holiday story that caught up with some of the characters from previous books. Amy/Fang/Fury & group. Kyrian/Amanda/Nick. Ash/Katra/Sin. Picking up Dream Chaser on Wednesday.