Dark Predator (Carpathian) [Hardcover]

Christine Feehan (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 6, 2011 | Series: Carpathian (Book 22)

All New from the #1 New York Times bestselling author.

As brutal as the undead he hunted, Zacarias De La Cruz was a master executioner. Now his stark and savage journey has ended. For his brothers, Zacarias had walked to the edge of madness, but with centuries as a killing machine now left to the past and without a hunt to define him, Zacarias wonders, for the first time in his life, who he really is.

The answer awaits him back home, in Peru, in the betrayal of a woman who is readying her trap, in the vengeance of an old enemy, in the inevitable consequences of a bloody family legacy-and in the deliverance of a lifemate he never could have imagined...

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Christine Feehan and for Dark Predator:

“The queen of paranormal romance.”—USA Today

“After finishing [Dark Predator], I'm still in full hard swoon mode. I feel like I've run an emotional marathon…an amazing book.”—Reviews from the Heart

--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

About the Author

Christine Feehan is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of many romance novels and novellas. She lives in California.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Hardcover; 1 edition (September 6, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425241971
• ISBN-13: 978-0425241974
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (260 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #358,393 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I come from a large family with 13 brothers and sisters. My husband and I have 11 kids, 5 dogs, and lots of grandchildren. They keep me busy.

I've been writing for as long as I can remember. I've been published since 1999 & have over 30 books in print in multiple languages & formats. I usually write 3 books a year.

I have been fortunate to have wonderful readers who have helped me to make many bestseller lists and honors. I'm very grateful to them for their support of my writing.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#6 in Books > Romance > Fantasy & Futuristic

#31 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy

#59 in Books > Romance

#71 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Romance

#6 in Books > Romance > Fantasy & Futuristic

#31 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy

#59 in Books > Romance

#71 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Romance

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

156 of 167 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Only a Few Flaws September 7, 2011

By 30 Book A Month Reader

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

For those who are fans of the "Dark" series, this is the long awaited story of the oldest of five De La Cruz brothers, Zacarias. Unlike a lot of Feehan's books which roam everywhere, this particular story takes place almost entirely on his Peru ranch. After many centuries Zacarias has decided to end it all. He feels that everything he needed to accomplish for the Carpathian people is done. What he didn't plan on was his lifemate finding him and dragging him out of the sun.

Marguarita is his lifemate and cannot speak because of a horrible attack on her throat by a vampire. Due to her inability to talk, Zacarias cannot figure out why this human woman affects him so. While he does not see in colors, he begins to feel things and he initially believes Marguarita may be a mage trying to entrap him. Although there are a couple of serious run-ins with one of the Malinov brothers, Ruslan, and a random drug lord, almost the entire book is the story of Zacarias and Marguarita coming to terms with each other. It's not an easy time because Marguarita is very determined and Zacarias is almost completely savage from his long centuries of hunting and of a deadly secret in his past.

I enjoyed this book by Feehan, and was surprised at the amount of negative reviews. For those of you have read other reviews by me, you probably know I can be pretty critical. However, I thought Feehan did a wonderful job bringing Zacarias forward from his animalistic tendencies and making him a decent lifemate for Marguarita. The book moved along at a good pace, and it wasn't burdened down with too many action scenes.

A few complaints - I enjoyed Marguarita, but I feel we didn't get to know her as well as Zacarias. Feehan didn't do as good of a job developing her as she did Zac.... Because this is Peru, there was very little interaction with previous Feehan "Dark" characters - only one very brief scene with Dominic and Solange. Additionally, I was quite disappointed that we did not get a scene with Zacarias and his other four brothers. All through the South American books, the brothers have been completely and totally concerned about their beloved brother, Zacarias, but we never got to see a scene where they realize he has a lifemate.

And lastly - my main reason for four stars instead of five - the so-called Carpathian foreign language. Feehan needs to drop the constant sayings and subsequent translations from her books. In this particular book the language was used fairly frequently. Even Zacarias had to translate them to himself! LOL! We also had the obligatory 30 pages of Carpathian appendix at the end of the book. It is amazing to me how Feehan believes we would be happy paying for this. However, I guess there is no point in ranting. This language was a huge mistake on her part. I suspect the author knows it, as it has been told to her on forums, e-mails and reviews, but she is obviously too stubborn to let it go. Eventually it may be her downfall, as more and more reviews are mentioning it. Read more ›

142 of 160 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Little Action - Little Dialogue - Lots of Description! September 6, 2011

By Cindy

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

All the dialogue in this book accounts for maybe 10% of the book. Even for a Feehan novel this book has way more description than dialogue or action. Its non-stop diary of what Zacarias is thinking or feeling (even though he doesn't recognize that he's feeling ALL THE TIME).

I was bored by the 3rd chapter but tortured myself by reading all 400 pages. The endless writing of Zacarias' thoughts was so disappointing. He was such an interesting character in other books that I thought for sure his story would be strong.

The previous 3-4 books in the Dark series have been action filled. The interaction amongst the Carpathanians has been wonderful to read. Unfortunately, this book is a step back to a few of the earlier Dark series books that had little to recommend them.

I'm sure I'll be in the minority with this review as folks love the Dark series "world" and while its interesting, I still need SUBSTANCE to entertain me. I don't want to keep reading the "same old same old" and really get very little insight to moving the story along.

For those debating on whether or not to buy this book in the series, if you don't have a kindle to help lower your cost, wait for the paperback, borrow from the library, or borrow from a friend. Don't pay full price!

74 of 82 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Where Is the Magic of the Couple Together? September 7, 2011

By Ella

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

What happened - where was the magic of the couple - that special feeling we get when we read a Carpathian book. Remember Darius and Tempest, and Lucien and Jaxon? They sparkled, we got to know them as individuals and how they interacted with their own and the human side. This was nothing like those books. There should have been all of this chemistry - they were great characters, but nothing.

And, I agree with one review in regards to no interaction with Zac's brothers and their lifemates. It would have made this so much more fun -

These two lacked and as a result the book wasn't much to write home about. I hope Ms. Feehan will not make us wait a year after this book to release another. And, when is she going back to the Carpathian Mountains and letting us know about Ravan and Tempest's babies.

I am sorry, but I can't recommend this one to anyone.

46 of 51 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars A Day...wasted September 25, 2011

By ChiChi

Format:Hardcover

Wow.

Woooooooooooooooooooow.

Wow.

Where do I begin?

First off, I want to say that I'm experiencing a growing sense of detachment when it comes to this serious. I knew Dark Pred was out so I went ahead and reread every single book in the series in a 2wk period. By the time, I hit this book I was semi-bored. So with the background of all those other books preceding it, perhaps I was a little disinterested to begin with.

That said, what in God's name did I just read.

Zac is a character that we were all actually looking forward to, once we realized that the De La Cruz brothers existed. He's dark. He's a dictator. He's supposedly more vampire-ish. He's cold. So what if our author seems to be changing the rules in her own world? So what if suddenly peeps can walk in the sun thanks to Solange? So what if Raven is still apparently pregnant after what, a decade? There's Zac and Zac is INTERESTING. Cool, we were excited.

And then Feehan destroyed him. If I'm reading about creatures who believe in death before dishonor then by God, I'd like TO SEE death before dishonor. Zac is legitimately insane. He can't decide whether he wants to be vampire or Carpathian, funny or boring, loving or cold. This is the first time in all the books that I've ever read of a male physically hurting his Lifemate and NOT FEELING SORRY ABOUT IT. He scared her poopless with his first feeding, tore into her with his talons when he snatched her from the forest, sent her flying across the room with a shove when she was showing him his OWN memories, attacks her when he is displeased to show her who is boss, and he grips her at every opportunity. How this woman isn't permanently black and blue is amazing to me.

I thoroughly disliked him by the end.... His brother Rafael, who I utterly despised for about half of his own love story, is tame compared to the treacherous wishy-washiness of Zach. He's like a severely autistic child faced with a rambunctious crowd... in other words, a mess. The crowning moment for me is the beat down and almost rape of Marguerita and Lea. He's droning on and on about duties to protect Lifemates and how she better not disobey him and get hurt when...

"If you're going to protect me, do it now. I mean, hello? He's just beaten the living $#!^ out of me!"

And then he has the audacity to be angry at her because she was trying to protect herself when HE COULDN"T? Have I been reading the same series? How is it that every other msle Carpathian will move heaven and earth AND their own spirits to protect their lifemates and this crackhead can't?

I stopped reading after that. I just skimmed.

Also side-note, this woman has ghost-writers. Or she must have just gotten progressively farther and father from her own style. That entire scene with Lea about the evil 'we just call him DS' was the most abrupt and poorly written thing I've seen in a while! And she is GETTING ON MY NERVES WITH ALL THE CARPATHIAN LANGUAGE NONSENSE. WE DON'T CARE. WE'RE NOT BUYING THESE BOOKS TO LEARN A NEW LANGUAGE, MUCH LESS A MADE-UP ONE. SO PUT THAT APPENDIX AWAY, QUIT THE TRANSLATION, AND WRITE SOMETHING COHERENT.

Good Lord, what a mess. Read more ›