Dance with the Devil (Dark-Hunter, Book 4) [Mass Market Paperback]

Sherrilyn Kenyon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2003

Zarek's Point of View:

Dark-Hunter: A soulless guardian who stands between mankind and those who would see mankind destroyed. Yeah, right. The only part of that Code of Honor I got was eternity and solitude.

Insanity: A condition many say I suffer from after being alone for so long. But I don't suffer from my insanity-I enjoy every minute of it.

Trust: I can't trust anyone...not even myself. The only thing I trust in is my ability to do the wrong thing in any situation and to hurt anyone who gets in my way.

Truth: I endured a lifetime as a Roman slave, and 900 years as an exiled Dark-Hunter. Now I'm tired of enduring. I want the truth about what happened the night I was exiled-I have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Astrid (Greek, meaning star): An exceptional woman who can see straight to the truth. Brave and strong, she is a point of light in the darkness. She touches me and I tremble. She smiles and my cold heart shatters.

Zarek: They say even the most damned man can be forgiven. I never believed that until the night Astrid opened her door to me and made this feral beast want to be human again. Made me want to love and be loved. But how can an ex-slave whose soul is owned by a Greek goddess ever dream of touching, let alone holding, a fiery star?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The third entry in Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series, which focuses on the sexy vampire-like immortals who defend humans from soul-stealing Daimons, is darker than last year's Night Embrace due to its change in setting (from the French Quarter of New Orleans to the isolated Alaska wilderness) and its focus on Zarek, the baddest of all the Dark-Hunters. Physically gorgeous but scarred psychologically thanks to his former life as a Greco-Roman slave, Zarek is bitter, feared and rejected by everyone, including the Greek goddess who transformed him. It's up to the emotionally detached nymph Astrid, sister to the three Fates, to judge whether 900 years of isolation has made Zarek too vicious to be redeemed. To accomplish this task, she tries to push Zarek "to the heights of his tolerance and beyond." Sasha, a werewolf posing as a mere pet, serves as her protector, and the witty telepathic banter between them is a nice counterpoint to the seriousness of Zarek and Astrid's relationship. Kenyon's slangy dialogue also leavens the story. In the midst of a heated battle, for instance, a disoriented Astrid asks Zarek what's happening, and his blase reply is, "Not much.... Some invincible asshole is trying to kill me." Those who can't get enough of bad boy heroes and Buffy the Vampire Slayer reruns will relish this roguish tale.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Zarek put the "dark" in Dark-Hunter. Exiled in Alaska for centuries, despised by the goddess who made him, and feared by his own kind, he is ordered to be executed by Artemis because of an incident during his last mission. His one chance at reprieve comes from the head Dark-Hunter, Acheron, and the justice nymph, Astrid. It's a slim chance. Astrid has never judged a being "not guilty," and the only man who came close to earning an acquittal betrayed her and broke her heart. But in a snowbound cabin, the judge and the accused discover love always offers another chance. In this third novel in the Dark-Hunter series (Night Pleasures, 2002; Night Embrace, 2003), Kenyon manages to write a tale that's heartwarming yet edgy cool at the same time. In turns angst-filled and laugh-out-loud funny, her latest once again delivers a sensual, fast-paced read with a hero who is definitely worth the risk. As a bonus, readers familiar with the series get to learn more about Acheron and enjoy a heady dose of the incomparable Simi. Nina Davis
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks; 1st edition (March 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312984839
• ISBN-13: 978-0312984830
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (174 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #51,302 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #60 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Romance > Vampires
  • #74 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Romance > Fantasy, Futuristic & Ghost

More About the Author

In the past two years, New York Times bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon has claimed the #1 spot twelve times. This extraordinary bestseller continues to top every genre she writes. With more than 23 million copies of her books in print in over 30 countries, her current series include: The Dark-Hunters, The League, Lords of Avalon, BAD Agency and the Chronicles of Nick. Since 2004, she has placed over 50 novels on the New York Times list. The preeminent voice in paranormal fiction, with more than twenty years of publishing credits, Kenyon not only helped to pioneer, but define the current paranormal trend that has captivated the world.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well titled page turner!, November 17, 2003

By 

Darkcat_ak "darkcat_ak" (Alaska) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dance with the Devil (Dark-Hunter, Book 4) (Mass Market Paperback)

When things go badly in New Orleans, Zarek is again exiled to the Alaskan wilderness. Certain that his death was immanent; his soul purpose in living was to piss everyone off. What else is new? So it was with great surprise that while seriously injured from a fight with blood squires, Dark Hunter's and Artimis's creature to kill the Dark Hunters-Thanatos, he finds himself in the home of an enchanting blind woman who lives alone in the woods with a wolf. Astrid was sent to judge him insane and a threat to humanity, or innocent of all the crimes against him. Blind only while deciding how to serve justice she is terrified by Zareks "spit in your face" attitude. However, while his words are gruff his actions speak differently and so she struggles to figure out what Asheron sees in him that would deem him innocent.

DANCE WITH THE DEVIL is the long awaited (and wondered) about story of Zarek, the slave become Dark Hunter that killed the village of people he was sworn to protect and was therefore banished to the harsh wilderness of Alaska almost a millennium before. Although this story, I think, is more intense than the previous installments, I would have been disappointed had it been anything less. I was amazed that the intensity Zarek portrayed in NIGHT EMBRACE wasn't lost within the pages of his story. Somehow, buried deep within Zarek is a true hero that has given up on himself even as he fights to protect the lives of others. Astrid is a heroine unlike any other that will have your jaw dropping as she sorts thru two thousand years of gruesome history to pass judgment. And as always, Ms Kenyon has woven her lighted hearted humor with the newest cast members added to the Dark Hunter world as well as one we all love to hate. So, in true Dark Hunter fashion, be prepared for another heart-stopping page-turner from Ms Kenyon with an astonishing ending!

To those of you who have never read a Dark Hunter novel, this is an excellent novel and yes you could read it as a stand alone book, but if you went back to read the other stories, you will spoil some of the endings for yourself.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of the series so far: tortured hero about to die..., March 13, 2004

By 

Dr W. Richards "wmr-uk" (Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dance with the Devil (Dark-Hunter, Book 4) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the third (or fourth, if you count Fantasy Lover, as I do) of Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series, and if you've read Talon's story you'll be familiar with Zarek, the surly, murderous Roman ex-slave. Zarek has been banished to Alaska for the past 900 years for burning down the village he was supposed to protect, and killing everyone in it. Acheron managed to persuade Artemis to give him one more chance, and in Midnight Embrace Zarek joined the other Dark-Hunters in New Orleans. But there he made a serious mistake: killed two police officers in full view of mortals. Now he is back in Alaska, knowing that he won't go unpunished - someone, soon, will be sent to kill him.

And then it happens: he's been tracked down by Thanatos, the killer of Dark-Hunters. In trying to escape, he is hurt and thinks that it's all over, but then he wakes up in a comfortable bed in a warm house, with a beautiful - and blind - woman taking care of him. Pretending that she cares about him and wants to look after him. She has to be pretending, doesn't she? After all, no-one has ever really cared about him. No-one has looked after him. Everyone he's ever known has betrayed him or used him to gain pleasure from his pain.

What Zarek doesn't know is that Astrid is a judge: an Olympian justice who has been ordered by Artemis and Acheron to judge and pass sentence on Zarek. Artemis, of course, wants him dead, but Astrid suspects that Acheron really wants her to find him innocent. And yet, in all her centuries of judging Astrid has never, ever found a single person innocent of the crimes alleged against him. Zarek, too, seems like a hopeless case. He rejects her, threatens her companion (a wolf who is actually a shapeshifter), has no manners or social graces, refuses to answer her questions. And she knows about his past, his murderous acts.

And yet... there's something about him...

Gradually, Astrid begins to learn about Zarek's past. The illegitimate son of a Roman officer, he was the household whipping-boy. His father, his half-brothers and all the servants treated him cruelly and mercilessly. By the time of his death, in his late twenties, his body was so scarred and misshapen that Artemis, without even asking had `healed' his wounds and given him a `normal' appearance. But no-one had ever thought to show Zarek kindness, or teach him how to behave with courtesy. He has been rejected by his own kind, the Dark-Hunters, every bit as much as in his life he had been rejected by mortals.

But, as Astrid finds herself falling in love with him, she wonders how she can possibly find him anything other than guilty for the crimes of his past. Unless... is it possible that they weren't his crimes at all?

Zarek's story is heartwrenching. But in Dance With The Devil we also find out much more about Acheron, so much so that I can't wait for his story. Just who - or what - is Acheron? What happens to him when he loses his temper and even gods quake before him? I both liked and hated him in this book: after all, he's known the truth about Zarek all along and still abandoned him to 900 years of painful exile.

But I see that Kenyon isn't planning on satisfying our curiosity any time soon; the next book in the series is about Wulf, Talon's apparent friend mentioned in Midnight Embrace (I say apparent because, although Talon claimed Wulf as his best friend, he barely thought of the man in most of the book). There's also a very strange extract from something else at the end of this book, completely unexplained in any way - although it's called A Dark-Hunter Christmas, it makes no sense on its own and it's clearly part of a long story, there is no publication date or any other information given.

Loved Zarek; roll on Acheron!

wmr-uk

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kenyon doesn't dissapoint in her newest addition...., November 17, 2003

By 

iheartjackbauer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dance with the Devil (Dark-Hunter, Book 4) (Mass Market Paperback)

Zarek has had more than his fair share of hard knocks in his life, putting it mildly. Being born to a Roman slave, fathered by Roman royalty, Zarek never belonged, but he always knew his place...as a slave. Zarek went through things that no human being should have to endure and has a shell of armor around himself so thick that no one will ever be able to penetrate it. At least that's what he thinks. After nine hundred years living in the Alaskan wilderness, Zarek sets off to New Orleans only to return to Alaska knowing that he'll either die before he gets there, or die in the biting cold that he's gotten so used to. At least that's what he thinks...

In all her years as a justice nymph, Astrid has never judged a man innocent. The closest she ever came was when she though she was in love with the man she was jugding, which she learned never to do again. When Acheron requests that she be the one to judge Zarek, she is stunned. First by what she sees in his eyes, and second by what she is almost positive the outcome will be. She doesn't count on Zarek though, nor the feelings he envokes in her.

In Kenyon's usual manner, she can bring a reader from tears to laughter in a page of reading. Although there is humor, it doesn't take away from the emotional intensity of the book. What Zarek had to endure as a slave brought me to tears, but it showed how strong Zarek is to endure and keep living, even though I wouldn't call what he was doing living. Astrid and Zarek are perfect for eachother and Kenyon has another hit in Dance With The Devil. Don't miss it!!