Review of Darkness Hunts by Keri Arthur

Publisher: Signet Select
Series: Dark Angels #4
Format Read: Paperback
Release Date: November 6, 2012
Buying Links: Amazon  The Book Depository  Barnes & Noble

Book blurb (from goodreads):

New York Times bestselling author Keri Arthur returns to the enthralling Guardian World—and a twilight realm of danger and desire… 

Risa Jones, half-Aedh/half-werewolf, can enter the realm between life and death. She can speak to the dying and the dead, and she can see the reapers, collectors of souls. What she can not yet see is the identity of a stranger murdering women and draining their blood. Now Risa must summon her gifts to find him, even if it means putting her own life in danger. But Risa needn’t look far. The killer knows who she is. 

He tells her his victims are infected by darkness and he’s fated to destroy them. Fascinated by Risa, he engages her in a sinister game: the chance to save the life of his next victim by deciphering his series of clues. In a race against time, she enlists the help of the reaper Azriel. 

But as an attraction between them grows, so does the fear that the stranger’s motives are only part of a larger, more dangerous stratagem—one that that has lured Risa and Azriel into the dark.

Bea's Thoughts:

Judging by the reviews on goodreads and Amazon, I am in the minority in my feelings for this book. It left me lukewarm, impatient and I probably won't read the next one.

There's not much forward movement in the overall story arc: 2 steps forward, 4 steps back; too much repetition of events from one book to the next; and too many coincidences. But really, it's the slowness of the main arc that's bothering me. We're four books in and not a lot has happened. Each book has the main arc and then a plotline specific to that book, which takes up the majority of the book. I assume that the book specific plots are adding to and leading up to the finale but it feels like Arthur is dragging it out as long as she can. It's frustrating. 

There's some forward movement in the relationship between Risa and Azriel but we make it most of the way through the book before that happens and there's way too much rehashing of the problems between them. There's also change in the relationship between Risa and Lucian, one I was happy to see. Jak is back; I still don't trust him, or Lucian, but he was a little more likable.

The main mystery keeps Risa busy, with little time to rest, barely time to eat. She and Azriel are on a tight time line trying to track down the killer and maybe, hopefully, rescue his victims. Rhoan is actively involved in the investigation and not at all happy that Risa is, nor is Riley happy about it.

He groaned. "Don't tell me Riley's listening-"

"Yes, she is," Riley said mildly, over my shoulder. "And she's very interested in the reason why you're involving Risa in Directorate business."

 "Because I have no other damn choice, that's why. Look, I'll explain everything later. Right now, we have a murderer to hunt, and Ris has to be in on it."

"Is this something I can help with? I have more experience than Ris-"

"Yeah, but that's not going to help in this case. She made contact with the killer on the astral plane before she knew we were after him, and now he won't deal with anyone else."

"He's a murderer. He should be dead, not dealing with anyone, least of all Risa."

"The problem is, he's a f***ing ghost and we can't find him. We have to use Risa to have any hope of tracking him down, but trust me, we'll take good care of her."

 "I trust you, Rhoan. I just don't trust the killers you hunt."

She squeezed my shoulder, then walked away, leaving me feeling warm deep inside. I might have lost my real mom, but in very many ways, I still had another.

The book is fast-paced but as I said, the series itself is moving slowly. There's humor, some romance, and action but wish that the story arc was making more progress. There is some in this book but it's incremental. If that works for you, then you'll probably enjoy the book.

My review of Darkness Devours.

I received this book from the publisher for review. Ms. Arthur sent me books 1 & 2.

Review of Darkness Devours by Keri Arthur

 

Publisher: Signet Select

Series: Dark Angels #3

Format Read: Mass Market Paperback

Release Date: June 26, 2012

Buying Links:  Amazon   Barnes & Noble  The Book Depository

Book Blurb (from goodreads): *contains spoilers for previous books*

Half-werewolf, half-Aedh Risa Jones can enter the realm between life and death, and she can see the Reapers who collect the souls of the dead. Now, she is using her gifts—and the investigative know-how of a man who broke her heart—to find a cabal searching for the power to control time, reality, and fate. And this is besides her work for the Vampire Council, half of whom want her dead.

    But for now the Council needs her alive. Someone is killing blood-whore addicted      vampires, and Risa must find the guilty party. If she succeeds, she may finally convince the council to lift the execution order on her life. But before she succeeds, she must first survive…

Bea's Thoughts:   *contains spoilers for previous books*

Risa's hunt for her mother's killer takes a back seat in this story. The focus is on her dealings with the vampire council and on her hunt for the keys. There's little overlap between the story lines. She and Azriel grow closer though trust is still an issue between them; I admit, I got tired of Risa's continual distrust. Azriel has proven repeatedly that he's trustworthy; no, he doesn't tell her everything she wants to know but he's honest about that. I hope that the next book shows a deepening of her trust because the lack of it is getting boring and annoying. There's progress in Tao's storyline also, which I was happy to see and there's potential for a range of new subplots.

Lucian has a smaller part in this book, due to something that happens early on. He's not nearly as trustworthy as Risa has thought and she has serious second thoughts about him in this book. I think he will betray her at some point, it's just a matter of time. I could be wrong but it's one of the few things I'm certain of in this series. :D

 As if Risa's love life weren't complicated enough, along comes a former boyfriend, Jak, a reporter whose help she decides she needs. I'm a little worried that he may be a serious contender as a romantic interest. My worry is that Risa is starting to acquire all these men who want to be with her a la Mary Sue plus I just don't like him. Granted, each man has different reasons for being with her and she has very different attractions to each of them but if Arthur isn't careful she could have an Anita Blake on her hands, and that, for me, would kill the series. 

At times the story line with Jak and his help with the hunt for the keys overtook the storyline with the vampire council. It was interesting most of the time and moved things along in baby steps but honestly it could have been the whole book and moved the story along more dramatically; the vampire council storyline was filler. The vampire council is all about politics, as we've seen previously. Risa has to prove herself, prove her worth, to them or lose her life. The case they assign her is a challenging one as the people being killed are not ones she's sorry to see die; her sympathies lean more toward the killer though that does change as the story goes on. I thought the whole story line was unnecessary; we already know that Hunter is manipulative and not to be trusted, we know that Risa is obliged to help Hunter; it just didn't add anything or advance the storyline in any way that I can see. Actually, I take that back. The storyline does allow for some interaction with Amaya and a change in Risa's relationship with her/it. But, that could have been done using the main storyline. Also, Riley is noticeably absent in this book, though Roane has some brief appearances. Given that Risa was dealing with ghosts, Riley's absence was a gaping hole and the rationale for keeping her uninvolved was weak.

Overall, this is an okay entry in the series. Risa develops her abilities further and she becomes closer to Azriel, which has potential, but most of the story just didn't seem necessary. It was okay, nothing wonderful. I found with Riley's series that there wonderful books and meh books so I expect that the next one will be better.

I received this book from the publisher for review. Ms. Arthur very kindly sent me the first two books in the series so I could read this one and not be lost.