Customer Reviews

Dark Nights, Dark Dreams: Sisterhood of the Sight (Signet Eclipse)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Susan Ann Marie "Sam Chase" is sweltering in Baghdad and anticipating her next assignment. She heard a rumor that she was being reassigned to France and has been daydreaming about Paris and a dreamy Parisian. She is stunned when she opens her orders to discover she is being returned to the states. As she is returning home, she is picked up by two commandos who put her on a plane without her belongings. She has been unwillingly recruited by the CIA and finds herself returned to her home town.

Sam's new boss is an icy albino named Ms. Z. She soon discovers the reason for her abrupt change in occupation has to do with a secret that Sam thought she had kept hidden from the world. Sam has a voice in her head, a sort of guardian angel, that warns her when something is about to happen. However, it's a voice she has never tried to control and has never called upon it before. In fact, she has often tried to deny it's existence. Her new assignment now requires that she not only embrace the voice but that she use it to help solve a bizarre and macabre crime.

Sam finds herself teamed up with three other gifted women who, she also discovers, will be moving into her home with her. They are project AngelWay, but these four amazingly talented women are far from angels. A witch, a voodoo priestess, an animal communicator and Sam join together to solve what becomes a series of crimes all connected to supernatural events.

Sam also finds herself partnered with a gorgeous forensic DOD investigator. Lance "Bear" Rutledge thinks all this voodoo and supernatural stuff is outlandish and he dismisses any mention of it. Their natural attraction to each other only complicates the situation as Sam tries to present "evidence" to Bear without letting him know it's coming from the voice in her head. As they delve into their investigation, unnatural forces are working against them and Sam's very life now depends on her ability to utilize the gift she has always denied.

This story was fast-paced, suspenseful, sizzling and sexy. Savannah did a great job of developing all the characters and making them believable. I was outraged, horrified, anxious, distressed and I fell in love as I got wrapped in this thriller. I was also late for work the first morning and ended up reading into the wee hours to find out how it ended. It was well worth the "no sleep" hangover.

Reviewed at Bitten by Books Paranormal Fiction Review Site by Jaded

I enjoyed the lst book in the series, sisterhood of the sight. It had a lot of twist and turns. I wish that the books had less profanity and less graphic sex. The books would be just as good. Using our imagination helps to make the book more enjoyable. I look forward to the next book in the sisterhood.

Sam Chase is in Baghdad when a voice tells her to get out of her office and she goes right before the building blows up. All her life she has had this internal voice that has protected her and helped her out of sticky situations.

The "agency" CIA has been watching SAM and has recruited her to a special girl team that also has "talents" like Sam to solve a special case of missing bodies from Arlington Cemetery. Sam and her teammates have to work with Bear who like his name is pretty overbearing and obnoxious yet Sam has an instant attraction to him.

Sam doesn't really understand her ability and doesn't really want to use it unlike her teammates who accept theirs and are gung ho about it. Bear totally does not believe in the supernatural and is a jerk. I didn't really get the attraction between Bear and Sam and Yet the book is very fast paced and exciting. Nothing too new in the paranormal genre yet I think adding the character who is a animal familiar will be an interesting book and I look forward to reading that book.

I think this is a great start to the series and I look forward to the next book.

With a shortfall of State Department volunteers willing to work in Iraq, Foreign Service specialist Sam Chase is stunned that she is being loaned to the CIA although she understands why. Sam's ability to see the future and being warned by an inner voice, some say a guardian angel, has kept her safe. The CIA has assigned her to a new Top Secret cell with special paranormal skills.

Sam is assigned to help DOD forensic investigator Lance "Bear" Rutledge, who cannot believe they dump a civilian on him based on a mumbo jumbo fraudulent talent; he scorns psychic ability as either a ruse or a mental case as he believes in the facts. Another cell mate voodoo priestess Rina Martus warns that stolen corpses are being converted into an army of zombies. As Bear, who assumes Rina is a fruitcake, and Sam search for the army of the dead.

Darkwing Chronicles' vampires aside, the first of four "Sisterhood of the Sight" psychic romantic suspense thrillers is a superb paranormal tale as the heroine and her partner confront peril from beyond. The story line is fun from the moment Sam and the bear meet; as she is living proof of what he scorns as ridiculousness. Falling in love interferes with the mission so neither wants to act on their desire, but both need to act on their passion for the other. Savannah Russe opens up her new series with a winner.

Harriet Klausner

I find it hard to give this book a fair review as it has it's good points - plot travelled well, unusual mix of paranormal, mystery, military, CIA, old boys club, misfit/ragtag bunch of women, voodoo. And has 3 really bad sticking points: the 'romance', the feeling of "oldness, and lack of character development. (a) The male lead's first and lasting impression of the female lead is "she seems like a nice woman". (b) And he strikes me as very rigid (although I think the first chapter was spent on how lonely he was, perhaps to give us an idea he is ready to settle down if he met the right little woman). The female lead seemed to stand back from life, or afraid of life, and didn't understand herself or others around her. I didn't get a sense this changed. (c) The last sticking point was the feeling of oldness in the writing. Eg she 'unzipped her slacks'. Only my grandma calls it slacks. But, I finished the story to see what happens to the credit of the author. It was an interesting idea, but with one big flaw - did they ever think they would be able to hide the smell?

Sam Chase, a US foreign agent attached to Iraqi-based embassy, is forcefully transferred to a CIA dark ops group. Plagued for years by her special gift of remote sensing, the US government now demands her to apply the skills she's always to denied to solve a series of strange incidences--grave robberies at Arlington, voodoo, missing dead bodies--that points to the supernatural but of the dark sort. Along with her are three other women, also special like Sam.

To make the situation even more challenging is the intrusion of Lance 'Bear' Rutledge, a forensic investigator for the DoD, who completely rejects any hocus pocus theories, even as strange things happen right before his eyes. As he and Sam, along with the other women, delve deeper into who is behind the dark magic, the dangers increase, from both the living and the dead.

Dark Nights, Dark Dreams is an intelligent and thoughtfully written book and the author is quite skillful but the story itself, and the characterizations, are poorly conceptualized and its execution is disjointed and unfocused. For me, there was no real tension, excitement or that special something, nothing original or different from other books in this genre. I've read this story, and read better versions of it.

The main problem was that Russe couldn't decide what to make this book about and what exactly to focus on, and it reads like it. Others were forgiving but it was just distracting to me. Bear and Sam come off forced when together or flat everywhere else and while there is some character development, it's not enough to make them memorable or interesting. Both are--externally--emotionally vacant and detached, but--internally--lonely searching souls, and it never progresses out of that box. Their differences and similarities are just too disparate and counterintuitive, so their 'attraction'/'romance' is just a big, 'what the...huh???', and its muddled dappling here and there was just inserted in there for reasons unknown to me, Russe, Sam and Bear.

Confusedly, the last quarter suddenly shifts focus, jumps about and includes more of a secondary character's POV, which, I think, was meant to help move the plot along and wrap things up quickly, but also as an unnecessary ploy to introduce the next woman likely to be featured in the 2nd installment. It just feels 'off'. Secondary characters give a little more dimension to a rather lackluster, very slowly building plot and make the main characters less wooden. The mystery/thriller/supernatural element is very detailed, well researched, and somewhat overly complicated with little payoff.

The first in this series is not badly handled, in general, but the plot just crawls along at a.........snail's.............pace. By the middle part, I cared less and less and by the end, I was just glad it was over. I'm not sure I'll continue with this series though it does have promise and could get better. Maybe.

Sam has a secret ability she's been hiding from the world for as long as she can remember. This ability has kept her out of countless bad situations, and even saved her life a few times. Still, Sam is reluctant to trust the visions she has, or the voice in her head. She's even more reluctant to let others know about her ability.

Sam is shocked to find out that the CIA has found out about her ability, and even more shocked to be forced to work for the agency. Without any warning, her whole world is turned upside down. She's removed from Iraq and sent home where she's assigned a case to work, three room-mates who have their own strange abilities, and a DOD liaison by the name of Bear Rutledge.

As the case unfolds, drawing her deeper and deeper into supernatural danger, she is forced to rely on her companions and her own odd ability in order to survive.

Savannah Russe, author of Dark Nights, Dark Dreams, has crafted an intriging supernatural thriller. Her characters are believable, written with depth and imagination. The storyline is fairly original, fitting quite nicely into the niche for supernatural thrillers. For the most part, the novel clips along a fairly fast pace, with only a few "flat" passages throughout the book. It will be interesting to read the rest of the Sisterhood series to see how Russe develops the secondary characters into something more.

If you like Russe's writing style, but would like to read something a little less "dark", check out the books she's written under the name of Lucy Finn.

I really want to give this book 5 stars, but at first I had trouble getting a hook on the story. After reading for awhile, letting go of so much of the intense Middle East stuff, I really got into the pack of the true sisterhood that I think this book was really more about. We women of different abilities in the world really must stick together, fall, and help the other back up. Lets hear it for "woman power" and the strength we have inside us no matter what our male counterparts might think. Thanks for the reminder Miss. Russe. I look forward to another book connected to the first with all four women in another series. book number two comming up please. Oh yeh, "Bear" was a great character, very sexy!

Sam Chase has always known she was different from most other people, just because she sometimes knows things just before they happen. She has tried to appear as normal as possible, but there are times it hard to cover her actions and responses. Sam is a U.S. foreign agent assigned to Baghdad, but she has heard that she just might be up for a much better post. Sam's disillusioned when she gets her orders and then is forced to accept being recruited by another agency all because of her psychic powers.

Lance "Bear" Rutledge is a civilian investigator who works for a general at the Department of Defense. Bear believes only what he can see, touch or logically explain in his investigations. Now his next assignment is to team up with agents from the CIA and he has already been warned it might not be an easy assignment. Imagine his surprised when the agency guys are women and there is one that catches his attention.

Bear and Sam meet in less than sterling circumstances. To their surprise, sparks begin at hello. But how does someone who instinctively follows her feelings or knowledge show a man she is beginning to care for that sometimes you can't always be logical or scientific when solving a case. As the danger surrounds both Sam and Bear, he must believe in what Sam says and feels, or they may not have a chance to see what those sparks may bring.

Dark Nights, Dark Dreams is the first book involving a new special psychic group of agents within the CIA. Sam has never wanted to work for the CIA but sometimes in life there is not a true choice. Bear has worked for the general for some time now and has never doubted his assignments or their source. Sam and Bear have instant attraction and lust but trust and belief take a bit longer. I had a hard time getting into the characters and book to begin with, but once there I found the suspense chilling. Sam and Bear may or may not end up together at the end of the series, but they are still hoping as this villain is taken care of. There were some aspect of Dark Nights, and Dark Dreams that I was challenged to believe but there were other parts that I fell into without any problem. A lover of the unusual and suspense will enjoy Dark Nights, and Dark Dreams. I was engaged enough that I will be watching for the next book in this series.

Jo
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Fast paced and suspenseful my eye! Boring book, boring characters, boring love story, boring period. I could barely drag myself through this coma inducing paranormal. Thank God it's over and I don't have to read anymore. Sam was wishy washy at best and Bear wasn't much better. The other females were way more interesting than Sam. If you like so so stories and very little action, and romance done the same way a thousand times then you will love it. I personally prefer a little more interesting read. This was not it.