Customer Reviews

Dark of the Moon

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

 

 

This book was extremely difficult to follow. There were far to many players to really follow the story line. The heroine was decidedly stupid, I couldn't figure out why she did half the things she did and this was all in the beginning of the book. Clearly this book was missing something, in my opinion, to make it one of Krinard's great novels.

I am not sure what Dark of the Moon wanted to be or who was supposed to be the intended audience. From Krinard's previous works and the prior book in the series I was expecting a 1920's historical paranormal romance and if you were expecting that too you'll be disappointed. Not much in the way of romance here, and unlike Chasing Midnight (The Roaring Twenties Supernaturals Series, Book 1), Dark of the Moon makes very little use of the historical setting.

Probably the biggest problem with the romantic aspect of the story is that the "hero" dark tormented and sanity challenged Dorian Black former Enforcer to one of the vampire mafia-like gangs in N.Y. city is extremely stilted and contained and Krinard doesn't use his 'damaged' psyche to cultivate any type of sympathy for him. Also since Dorian tries to keep Gwen at a distance in order to protect her from the violent madness of his monthly 'episodes' and doesn't express his feelings, we don't really have a very good idea of what Dorian actually does truly feel. It would have helped if we were privy to Dorian's anguish when he is behaving badly to accomplish a noble purpose. Gwen herself is fine as the reporter that is unexplicably drawn to the man who saved her life, other reviewers found her stupid, but I didn't really read her that way -- except in her choice of men-- mostly I thought that she pushed the edge of safety out her ambition to get the story that would vindicate her father, make her career and win respect for herself as the first woman reporter at the newspaper where she worked.

Again due to lack of insight into Dorian there is very little chemistry between the Gwen and Dorian and they don't consumate their relationship until the very end, but since there was no tension built between them I hardly cared at that point. In fact, I found it hard to understand how our "heroine" Gwen found Dorian worthy of loving. Whatever it was about Dorian that captured her heart had to be something that she imagined about him and I can only think that her motivation was some type of codependant thing or a product of the attractiveness vibes that vamps give off to make their dinner more ammeniable. The background plot of a fanatic vampire who preaches peace between vamps and humans while secretly planning Amaggedon for his entire species was interesting enough, but it was only background filler and didn't make up for the missing romance that should have been in the foreground.

So, I don't really know who I could recommend this book to, it is not a romance, not really that much of a historical, it isn't an urban fantasy, its got vampires, but is that enough? If you are curious and find this at a garage sale maybe, but I am guessing that you can easily skip this one and still read the next one in the series. Personally, I'll be checking out the other reviews before I read the next one, because the last few of Krinard's books, unlike her early werewolves, have been a mix of hit and miss in the romance department.

I had to struggle to finish this book. Too many bad guys (it's hard to keep up with all the names and motives); a suicidal hero (more than once); a stubborn heroine with a dead wish; and no romance at all. This was my 1st book of Susan K. and it'll be the last.

I decided to read this book because I had read several of Krinard's books before and I found them all to be very enjoyable, but this one was significantly different. It was a good for a suspenseful book, but as far as a romance book goes it wasn't as great. It started out on a good course for a romance novel, Dorian and Gwen meet early on in the story and it seems as if the romance is going to take off from there, and it does sort of, then it seems as if all romantic thoughts are put on hold and aren't picked up again until practically the end of the story.
Even though I didn't particularly like the romance of the book, the characters were likable, though it was hard to keep up with what was going on at times. Krinard made a habit of starting something and then not finishing it or explaining it until way later in the story.
I don't recommend this book to someone who is looking for an electrically charged exciting romance, but if you are more interested in the suspenseful genre, then I believe you would find this book more enjoyable.

I purchased this book as it sounded like it could be a fantastic book. boy was I wrong. It was a very boring slow book. I never made it past 100. Sorry.

Really enjoyed the twists and turns in this novel. While the book is set in the 20's with no cell phones or other electronics, it doesn't distract from the story line. I liked the struggles Susan Krinard explores in the main characters and the glimpses we see in other characters too. Makes for a more interesting story.
OwlEyez in Ohio

it was ok enough to mread it but it had some drags to it also

In 1926 New York City, Vampire Enforcer Dorian Black saves intrepid (he insists inane) reporter Gwen Murphy from drowning in the East River. He is shocked by his attraction to the human who thinks he suffers from a mental illness and vows to help him as she always pays her debts.

However, though he wants more than a nip from Gwen's delicious looking neck, Dorian has greater concerns than his appetite. Having to kill his master vampire, the Enforcer finds a vampiric civil war between the supporters of Christoff and those of Kyril for control of the city's nightlife. Meanwhile Gwen continues her investigation into the murders of gangsters, whose bodies contain no blood and soon uncovers a vast cell of Manhattan vampires, who learn she could expose them to the newspaper's daylight.

Although the Roaring Twenties New York does not come to full life, readers will appreciate this delightful vampire historical romance due to the lead couple especially Gwen who only Rosalind Russell could play her. The story line is fast-paced from the moment Mr. Black saves the life of Miss Murphy and never slows down as she keeps digging and he keeps enforcing especially after he meets with the Pax. Fans will appreciate this strong paranormal historical as Susan Krinard cleverly includes a caution against religious extremism in which one way is the only way to God with cleansing being the path.

Harriet Klausner