Customer Reviews

Dark Moon (Nightcreature 3)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dr. Elise Hanover is on a mission. She has to find a cure to stop humans from turning into werewolves. Their lives depend on it. HER life depends on it, because she, too, is a werewolf. The changing disgusts her: the killing, the blood. Elise must find a cure before the next full moon. Only one person knows her secret, but not the love of her life Nic Franklin. Elise left him seven years ago when she first changed, without a word of goodbye or an explanation. Now his job has sent him to her lab for answers. Telling him will reveal secrets best left untold. Seeing him brings all her dormant feelings back to life, but she can't say anything. She has to get rid of him, and quickly, before he sees and learns things he shouldn't.

Nic Franklin had no idea that his newest assignment would bring him face to face with the woman who gave him a broken heart and many sleepless nights over the years. Now he needs answers about his list of missing persons. While questions are being answered, he'd like to know why the woman he loved left him without a word. Seeing Elise again reminds Nic that the flame of love he felt for her never went out.

When Elise's lab is blown up, she and Nic find themselves in the middle of a major mystery. Someone is shooting at Elise, her most dangerous test subject managed to escape the inferno, and there are dead bodies disappearing. Through all of this is the underlying current running between Elise and Nic. It's almost too much. As time goes on, Elise begins to embrace the werewolf in her, and begins to take charge of her power. There are lives to save, answers to be found, and possibly a love to rekindle.

Dark Moon is my first read from the Full Moon series. I have to say, I am sorry I've been missing out! Elise is a woman who goes from having no friends and staying in the shadows to a kicking-butt and taking-names Alpha female werewolf. Elise's vulnerability is almost tangible, but her slow transformation into an assertive I-am-She-wolf-hear-me-roar makes me crow with delight! Nic is a delicious man determined to get answers to every question he has, no matter what. His pain from Elise's sudden departure years ago is still fresh and I feel his pain. His love for Elise is something he doesn't want, but pretty soon stops fighting. The sexual tension between Elise and Nic makes the pages snap, crackle and pop. Nic is the perfect Alpha male to compliment Elise. Despite the deep-seated hurt between them, they still fit together like a puzzle.

The secondary characters are witty and full of personality. The small town of Fairhaven, Wisconsin is eerily creepy, the villains are chillingly evil, and mysterious secrets surround this book like London fog. These secrets can't be uncovered by Colombo or even Sherlock Holmes, only Elise and Nic can unravel them. They search for answers to the many questions, including the one on whether or not their love can overcome these major hurdles.

Lori Handeland does for werewolves what Christine Feehan and Sherrilyn Kenyon do for vampires. Ms. Handeland is now on my favorite author's list. Get a copy of Dark Moon and enjoy a howling good read!

Dee
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

This is about Elise and her predicament as a scientist and a werewolf. She appeared in Blue Moon and Hunter's Moon in cameos only, but she was definitely an "ice queen." Her secret Montana compound has been blown to bits, she's been reunited with her college boyfriend (whom she abandoned at her first transformation), and the biggest, baddest, and craziest werewolf has escaped during the destruction. Elise was born a werewolf and has to take a serum she created to keep the beast at bay. Mandenauer took her in as an orphan and had her raised by staff. Mandenauer's relationship with Jesse and Leigh hurts Elise's feelings as he was always cold to her, even as a child. Elise's former love, Dominic "Nic", is an FBI agent investigating some missing persons reports. (Elise took them out as a werewolf assassin as they were some fairly evil individuals.) Elise ran out on Nic with no explanation when she first changed. As there were the collectively psychotic werewolves in Blue Moon, the cannibalistic super-werewolf in Hunter's Moon, now there are the "witchy-wolves" in this one. Oh yeah, and as in the past...they want to rule the world.

Enjoy this werewolf tale!

I must admit I have really become a fan of the "Moon" series by Handeland. I have to admit that I have read all four to date and find them entertaining and easy to read.

Imagine the possibilities, Doctor (Elise)attempting to cure "lycanthropy", and guess what she has the disease, and she left her lover several years ago for fear of how he would react to her condition, only to be reunited with her lost love (a studly agent) to solve a mystery. It's a wonderful story with a happy ending.

This book came in a lot that I bought on ebay. I had never heard of the author, but decided to give it a try. Several entertaining hours were spent reading it.

The transformation of Elise from a hurt, fragile woman who protected herself by being an "ice queen" to a confident, loving woman was worth the time spent. Nic, the abandoned loved one, and she take up where they left off. I really like this kind of story. They did not take too long to get over the bad period between the time they had originally known each other. He took the whole werewolf thing quite well.

I could have done with less with the whole threating thing by the other characters. Some of the banter got a bit obnoxious. On the whole, this book is recommended. I plan to look for others by the author.

Dr. Elise Hanover works alone. Secluded deep in the wilderness, she searches for a cure to her condition. As a werewolf and researcher, her rare ability to resist killing is all that keeps her alive. She was getting close to a breakthrough when the man she once loved shows up in her office. Nic Franklin is with the FBI now, and a double threat-to her safety, and to her heart.

When the hidden lab is firebombed, Elise and Nic are thrown together on a wild ride where the rules of normalcy are abandoned. More frightening to Elise is the increasing power of her werewolf influence, which could earn her a silver bullet from her boss. Somehow, Elise must survive the two biggest challenges of her life: facing what she is, and facing a forbidden love.

The writing is wonderfully descriptive, bringing the reader deeply into each scene. While Elise possesses a great deal of strength, her employer's promise to kill her if she loses control is a huge onus, which undermines her confidence and strength until she grows into her role.

The only thing that detracts from the reading is Elise's tendency to turn tail and run in the direction her boss tells her to go. Even though she's under his ruthless thumb, it's a turn-off for readers who expect a strong, no-excuses heroine.

Overall, fans of paranormal, specifically werewolf, romance, will enjoy this novel, the third installment of Handeland's series.

Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer
5-11-2006

As usual, like we saw with the previous two books in this series, the third installment in Handeland's "moon" series is gripping, fast paced, by-the-seat-of-your-pants good reading. Elise Hanover is the second-in-command of the jager-suchers, a top secret organization dedicated to eradicating the evil werewolf menace plaguing the U.S. She's also a brilliant virologist trying to find the cure for lycanthropy. So far, she has not been successful. In walks her old flame, Nic Franklin, an FBI agent hot on the trail of a missing person's tip. The last person he'd expected to find was the woman that left him at Stanford, the one that he had thought was the ONE. Through many hardships and bumps in the road throughout this book they manage to overcome their difficulties, come to grips with the past and learn to find a future together.

What drove me crazy about this book was the way Elise was treated by the other members of the jager-suchers! Sure, there was her two-natured personality to deal with, but come on! The two heroines of the first two books, Jessie and Leigh, were totally out of line the entire book through and treated her like dirt beneath there feet. Come to think of it, everyone treats Elise like dirt until almost the end of the book, even Nic. It was increasingly frustrating to read since Elise was obviously a caring individual that wanted to do a good thing by finding a cure. I really came to like Jessie and Leigh while reading their stories, but after this third installment, I can't help but feel a lot of contempt for them. Even in the end, when Elise makes an incredible sacrifice, she still can't get respect from the one person that matters most. Still, all in all, a great read, and I look forward to more from Lori Handeland.

This started out as a four star read for me (which means I was enjoying the first section a lot). Elise started out as a strong and competent heroine. The escape from the blasted lab on an ATV with an FBI agent hanging on the back was -- well, exciting and fun.

Then when they liaison with the other members of the group at Fairhaven, Wisconsin, everything stops and reader gets a big (and unnecessary) infodump from the heroines and heroes of the previous books. At this point I was thinking two star, no more. These characters are all couples and the two women are either threatening to shoot Elise and the FBI agent, Nic, or do each other in. Because I had not read the first two books I had no interest in the couples except as characters and as characters they were irritating. However, luckily, they all go off to do some paranormal investigating elsewhere. At this point it is really, really clear that Elise has some daddy issues with the elderly leader of their group who had adopted and raised her from infancy.

Meanwhile, I would advise the reader not to get too attached to anyone in the next few chapters because the characters will either disappear or die shortly after you meet them.

Next comes the sex0ring. I skipped this bit as soon as realized that it wasn't important to the plot. It takes up a good few pages which shortens the book a bit. It's your standard romance hawt sex so if you like that sort of thing you'll like it.

Then the action starts up again and I started laughing at the telephone calls that Elise and Nic would make where it seems that there is always a fire fight going on involving the people on the other end. I was tying to imagine what sort of cell ring these people had on their phone and who answers the phone when the bullets are flying?

I ended up rating the book three stars because it was good fun in the sections I liked but pretty bad in some areas. the author needs to tighten up the method by which she gives the reader information-- a bit here and there where appropriate in the story would be better than the infordump. I also think that dragging the other couples back into the story was better than having them all come on as an epilogue. However, I think it would have been better to have given the other agents more to do.

This book is a borrow, don't buy, read for me.

I enjoyed the story, but there was not enough heat in this book for me.
The book did hold my attnetion and it did answer several questions (if you are reading the series in order), but not enough sexual tention for me. I will continue to read the series, because it does have an interesting story line and characters. But they are becoming predictable. I hope the next book changes my mind

At first I was impatient with this book because it seemed so simple--sixth grade level, ya know. But keep reading because not only does the female heroine show growth but in a nice twist in this genre the lead male faces an unbelieveable facet of the women he loves and must make a choice. This choice requires a total shift in HIS world view. Is love enough to overcome disbelief, fear and eventually destroy all he knows to be true? Then secondary characters continue to build a strong paranormal story with depth and, as odd as it sounds, reasonable responses to unreasonable situations.

This is the 3rd book in Lori Handeland's Nightcreature series. I was very excited to read Elise's story, and while I enjoyed it very much, I did not enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the first 2 books in the series. There was just something missing from it. The relationship between Elise and Nic didn't seem as intense or deep as the relationships in the previous two books. Also, the mystery of what was happening in the town and the threat they were fighting in this book wasn't as exciting. That said, I still think this is a very good read and a solid book in the series.

I really enjoyed seeing Jess and Will and Leigh and Damien again, as well as finding out more about Mandenauer and his relationship with Elise. The interplay between all of them is excellent and I hope that we continue to see more of these characters in future books in this series.

Kindle edition formatting is good.