Midnight Predator [Hardcover]

Amelia Atwater-Rhodes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 14, 2002 | Series: Den of Shadows

Though she was once a happy teenager with a wonderful family and a full life, Turquoise Draka is now a hunter, committed to no higher purpose than making money and staying alive. In a deadly world of vampires, shape-shifters, and powerful mercenaries, she’ll track any prey if the price is right. Her current assignment: to assassinate Jeshikah, one of the cruelest vampires in history. Her employer: an unknown contact who wants the job done fast. Her major obstacle: she’ll have to mask her strength and enter Midnight, a fabled Vampire realm, as a human slave. Vulnerable and defenseless, she faces her greatest challenge ever.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Midnight, the ancient evil sanctuary of vampires and their human slaves that was burned to the ground centuries ago, has risen from the ashes to open its dark doors once more. And it's up to Turquoise Draka, famed human vampire hunter of the Bruja guild, to stop Midnight's founder and vampire most malevolent, Jeshikah. But once inside Midnight's walls, Turquoise discovers that instead of Jeshikah, the surprisingly benign vampire Jaguar is at the helm. Acting as a human slave, Turquoise tries to discern Jaguar's mysteriously kind motives as she works at planning Jeshikah's assassination. Meanwhile, her acting servitude is playing havoc with her memories, as she begins to recall the bleak days when she used to be a human slave herself, the time before her training as an elite Bruja warrior. With bitter memories of beatings and humiliations battling with her present suicidal assignment, Turquoise must do everything in her power to keep from blowing her cover and losing her sanity.

Teenaged horror author Amelia Atwater-Rhodes has successfully hit her writing stride in Midnight Predator, her fourth novel. Finally her burgundy-haired, black leather pant-wearing, revenge-lusting characters (and those are just the humans!) seem less like Anne Rice rip-offs and more like original Atwater-Rhodes creations. Atwater-Rhodes's use of flashbacks is more polished than in previous works, and her characterization is more solid and consistent. Teen vampire fans will eagerly fall upon this vibrant, violent addition to Atwater-Rhodes's intricately woven dynasty of vampires, witches, and shape-shifters. (Ages 12 and older) --Jennifer Hubert

From Publishers Weekly

Assigned to assassinate the evil vampire Jeshikah, Turquoise Draka must go undercover as a slave in the mythical city of Midnight and the experience makes her relive her past spent in servitude. In an ironic twist of fate, Turquoise's master may hold the key to releasing her demons in Midnight Predator by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 248 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers; First Edition edition (May 14, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385327943
• ISBN-13: 978-0385327947
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (109 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,330,900 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Amelia Atwater-Rhodes wrote her first novel, In the Forests of the Night, when she was 13 years old. Other books in the Den of Shadows series are Demon in My View, Shattered Mirror, Midnight Predator, all ALA Quick Picks for Young Adults. She has also published the five-volume series The Kiesha'ra: Hawksong, a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year and VOYA Best Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror List Selection; Snakecharm; Falcondance; Wolfcry; and Wyvernhail. Visit her online at www.ameliaatwaterrhodes.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Tolerable, June 19, 2002

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Midnight Predator (Hardcover)

Prior to this, Atwater-Rhodes' talents were more veiled in mediocrity with each book she wrote. I was surprised that I actually liked parts of "Midnight Predator." Atwater-Rhodes improves several of the weak areas of her previous books, but it was still quite flawed.

Turquoise Draka is a fighter for the Bruja witch guild, in competition for the elite Crimson with her rival Ravyn. After the two hit a stalemate, they are both approached by a mysterious businesswoman with a revelation and an offer. A vampire empire known as Midnight, once burned to the ground, has been rebuilt and repopulated by vampires and human slaves. And the savage vampire who founded Midnight, Jeshickah, may take control of it once more. An unknown employer wants some experienced fighters to kill Jeshickah. The problem is that Turquoise was once enslaved by one really nasty vampire named Lord Daryl, who murdered her parents and little brother, and kept her as his lapdog for a year before a vampire mercenary named Nathaniel helped her escape.

Ravyn and Turquoise soon take the task, and the reluctant Nathaniel sells them to the leader of Midnight. Except the leader isn't Jeshickah, it's a fledgling called Jaguar. Jaguar is strangely kind towards human beings, especially Turquoise and a teenage boy named Eric. Turquoise must confront her past, her fears and the questions about Jaguar's kindness before she can hope to deal with Daryl.

In many ways, this book is far better than the previous ones. Characterization is far superior: Turquoise has more depth than the execrable Jessica or the wannabe-tough-girl Sarah, though her past is too speedily covered. We hear about how horrifying her life under Daryl was, but we only get a few pages worth of flashbacks, most of which involve her getting backhanded. Jaguar is a better character than the defanged Aubrey or the wussy arty vampire Christopher, in that Atwater-Rhodes actually makes him both tough and vicious at times, but capable of kindness, and with a decided darker side that doesn't make him wussy at all. Ravyn is ridiculously two-dimensional; she doesn't seem to have any personality but that of a tough, leather-wearing, blood-licking girl who dislikes Turquoise. Nathaniel as the chic mercenary suave vampire is the only really outstanding character.

The romance is also more tolerable. Atwater-Rhodes shouldn't handle romances until she's had more experience with them; while the last two books revolved around the romantic tension between supposedly-tough human girls and uninteresting vampires, here it revolves around the lead character. The interest in Jaguar is a side subplot. However, Turquoise's adversary Daryl is pretty unimpressive, especially given his snap-hiss-growl attitude; Jeshickah was a far more convincing enemy, especially when one considers how many times we see Daryl getting kicked around.

One of the problems is that Atwater-Rhodes still tends sometimes toward melodramatic trappings; Ravyn's burgundy hair and "cranberry" eyes are one of those problems. The name "Midnight" is another; it's a silly name for something that is supposed to be that ominous. "Lord" constantly tacked before Daryl's name seems pretentious. Character names tend to be a bit hyperdramatic as well; while this is excusable among the vampires, I find it difficult to read consistently about modern characters called "Turquoise," "Onyx," "Frost," and "Ravyn." She also tends to hammer points over and over; some of the ruminations are repeated over and over, as are the constant reminders of how nasty Daryl is and what he did to Turquoise.

Midnight itself is badly-defined; we never get a really clear idea of what it's like, aside from that there are lots of rooms and that sometimes vampires are mean to the humans. I found it extremely amusing that there is an "exercise room" open to humans, free clothes and hygiene-related objects, and apparently good food; this seems less like a vampire citadel with human slaves than an S&M hotel.

The cover is also a problem, featuring a person of ambiguous gender who doesn't really resemble anyone in the book. And finally, any person who appreciates a good ending will be grinding their teeth during the last twenty pages of this novel. Atwater-Rhodes' focus seems to be either wandering or narrowing to a pinpoint; the climax is anticlimactic, the dialogue is dull, the action is duller, and there are about a hundred loose ends waving in the wind. Readers may hit the climax and say, "That's it? Where's the ending? Where's the CONCLUSION?"

I'm relieved to say that Atwater-Rhodes is improving in many areas, especially her weakest points. But to be a really good author, she needs to start polishing and working a little more carefully.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A sub-standard outing for a above-standard author, July 31, 2002

By 

Clayton Bryant (Sandy, Ut United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Midnight Predator (Hardcover)

I was supremely disappointed when reading this book. Amelia Atwater-Rhodes has shown previously to be an astounding battery of potential, with ideas writhing about in each story that are worth the price, even if the cardboard characters and under drawn plot conflicts detract much from what could be.

Amelia suffers from a sad syndrome that I cannot think of a name for. But it has clear symptoms.

- Many ideas and potentials from characters, with no time for any sort of realizations.

- Stiff and ill-fitting endings.
- Protagonists with little clear motivation.

A sad thing about Midnight Predator in particular was exactly how *good* it COULD have been. The beginning starts with an intriguing character, an uncomfortable (for the protagonist) situation, and good character foils (Ravyn in particular). The idea behind Midnight Predator, that Turquoise must willingly rejoin the world of slavery that she has desperately tried to distance herself from for several years, is more than slightly intriguing. You thirst to see the conflict she will have with strong-willed masters, where the entire world is out to get her for the reason that she kills their kind. So you wait, meeting the very interesting character of Nathaniel along the way, and get to the second act where everything she be just wonderful. They are in the building, sold into slavery.
And then it goes downhill from there. Her "cruel" master is a 'bleedin heart' vampire who won't let a hair be harmed. Jeshika, the could-be terrifying sire of Jaguar, who can do whatever she wants to Turquoise, backs off with little or no conflict. After a lame attempt at their job, assassinating the vampiress, Ravyn, the chip on both shoulders, Faith-like (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) Hunter, is given away to another vampire, for some reason not killed, and Turquoise is let escape off into a nice little life. A life just miles away from the vampires that want to kill her (and don't even try, I might add) where the plot, wherever it had been going, completely sputters and dies. Here we get an entirely different book. One about a girl with a troubled past trying to fit into a life she'd given up hope for ever getting. Now, this is a fine premise for a book, just not the one it is thrown into. Turquoise could be a great character, she just is not allowed to.
So, the conclusion, she gets back into the world of vamps, very un-energetically, and the story ends. Your left far unsatisfied. Like biting into the best steak you've tasted in months, and then having it removed from your mouth before swallowed, and handed a McDonald's hamburger instead. It's a sad thing, it really is.

What is even more melancholy is the fact that I'd planned to give an encouraging review, always wanting to support someone I respect as much as Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, but just couldn't spout untruth. The book is worth reading, though probably a lot more wothwhile at paperback prices.

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Abusive Vampires Beware!, April 12, 2004

By 

Joshua Koppel (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Midnight Predator (Den of Shadows) (Mass Market Paperback)

Turquoise is a member of Crimson which is part of Bruja. For the past two years she has been a mercenary hunter. Her prey has been vampires. She and a rival have just been hired to infiltrate a vampire slavery den known as Midnight.

Turquoise was once a slave to a vampire. It has scarred her physically and mentally. Now she must put herself under a vampire's control in order to carry out her contract.

Once inside Midnight, Turquoise learns that not all vampires as a evil as those she has dealt with in the past. They are still predators, but the come in varying degrees.

The ordeal Turquoise goes through reads like a rape or abuse survivor. Unlike many in real life, Turquoise gets a chance to take revenge on her abuser.

This is a very strong tale that deals with some harsh issues (don't let the vampire trappings fool you). This is a story of dealing with abuse and humiliation. This was quite well done.