Customer Reviews

Midnight Reign (Vampire Babylon)

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

 

 

It has been a year since Vampire Babylon Book One 'Night Rising' was released. I read it back then and thought it was the start of a new series I could grow to like. However after reading this second part I still didn't love it.

Ok it isn't bad but it hasn't made me jump around in happiness either. I don't really care when the 3rd part will be released and I don't want to add it to my wishlist. I just don't find this series to be amazing. I found it hard to follow and I didn't like any of the characters at all.

Sure it has a new angle. Superstars becomming vampires hasn't really been done before. Although the whole story failed to capture my undivided attention and I found myself putting the book down every 20 - 30 pages and going off and doing something else. Which for a fast reader like myself isn't a good sign.

I am sure some people reading this book will enjoy it immensely and praise it. I can't. I don't usually give bad reviews because I don't usually give this kind of book the time of day and throw it to one side after 70 or so pages. With this book though I wanted to like it but in the end it just didn't convince me.

Would be interesting to hear what others think of this one. Seeing as it hasn't impressed me at all.

MIDNIGHT REIGN picks up right where NIGHT RISING left off!

Dawn Madison still wants to find her missing father, Frank. The leads have dried up and she is questioning everyone around her. Just who is the mysterious Jonah Limpet? Her two closest allies, Breisi Montoya and Kiko Daniels, are trying to find Frank as well, but Dawn isn't used to having friends or relying on anyone for help. And can Dawn get past the creepy similarities in appearance between her new friend, Jacqueline Ashley, and Dawn's deceased mom, Eva Claremont? A new death occurs... but will it lead to Frank's return and the mysteries of the vampire Underground?

Chris Marie Green takes readers deep into the background and lore of her vampires in the second book of this fascinating trilogy. While the first book focused on Dawn's introduction into the world of the vampires, MIDNIGHT REIGN begins to give us glimpses into the history of how the Underground evolved. Where did the Master come from? What is the tie between the Master and Sorin? Chris Marie Green begins answering all these questions... while revealing some startling secrets in the process!

Character development is crucial to the success of MIDNIGHT REIGN, and Chris Marie Green does a phenomenal job at creating characters who seem real. Dawn struggles with relationships, stemming back to the issues over her parents. Who can't help but feel her anguish as her safe, comfortable world becomes so unsettled? And as for secondary characters... I just can't get enough of Kiko and Breisi!

MIDNIGHT REIGN is by no means your stereotypical vampire story. I have to admit the change of pace caught me off guard at first, but once I settled in, I couldn't stop reading! Chris Marie Green's smooth writing style makes MIDNIGHT REIGN a joy to read.

COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES

Midnight Reign was absolutely fantastic! While Night Rising was wonderful in its own aspects, the second installment was just wonderful. It picks up where everything left off (somewhat) 1 month later. Dawn and the others are tense while they wait for the Underground's next move, but Dawn is still set on finding her father. Plus there's a vampire serial killer on the loose who might lead them to the Underground.

Nothing is what it seems in this story. We receive many many many!!! answers to certain events. I don't want to give any of it away, but Dawn discovers the identity of three people and one that is told to us, but not Dawn. For the three of them, only one is a "hidden" identity, they are who they are and Dawn just didn't know it. For the others, they're character has not been seen and suddenly they appear. That's all I'll say there!

The bad thing is that I can't seem to say what I want to without giving away any surprises, so I have to be vague. My apologies. Overall a fantastic book with an ending that I honestly didn't see coming. There are many many surprises in store for Dawn and not all of them are good. Countdown to September for the third book in the trilogy! Then comes another mini series so to speak!

Dawn Madison is back. With her she brings her new friends - or family, as she is coming to think of them, to search for her missing father Frank. But Los Angeles has a secret - vampires. Lots and lots of vampires. Dawn has become a vampire hunter, preparing to use her skills as a stunt-woman to delve into the Underground to find her lost father. Kiko, the psychic midget actor, is still recovering from his back-breaking encounter with the last vampire they found, and his psychic powers don't seem to work well with the pain meds - especially, Dawn suspects, if he's become addicted to them. Breisi, Frank's girlfriend, seems to be accepting Dawn little by little, but the three of them have to trust one another in order to survive the search. But what about The Voice?

The Voice, or Jonah, runs the show. But Dawn has difficulty simply trusting everyone because they tell her to, so her relationship with Jonah is extremely complicated. Jonah has taken her in (by using Frank to bring her to LA) and given her work and even manages to help her contain her addiction to sex as an outlet for her anger and frustration. Breisi is learning to see her as a co-worker and possible step-daughter, and the two of them seem to be more comfortable around one another, and their mutual concern for their partner Kiko has helped with that a lot. Kiko and Dawn have become like brother and sister, which means a lot to Dawn, but she's still not used to having so many people to answer to. So when a new vampire killing is announced and the perpetrator that was caught after the first one is still locked up, Dawn and the team are back to a lot of footwork after a quiet month.

The mysterious Matt appears on the scene again once news of the murder leaks out, and while Dawn finds him persuasive and attractive, she tries to trust her instincts. When it appears that Matt really wants Eva, Dawn's dead actress mother, she skips. Hurt by that incident, she nevertheless can't help but listen to Matt's request - question Jonah and his motives.

The Underground is seething with activity, but is trying to stay low-key so as not to reveal themselves to anyone set on destroying their Eden-like existence. This new murder was not sanctioned and is drawing unwanted attention, so they must investigate the circumstances without drawing the attention of the vampire hunters.

It's difficult for me to describe my interest in this series. Yes, I like the paranormal, which originally drew me to it. But it is supposed to take place in this world, in this time, which throws me off track a little, I think. But Dawn is a compelling character who has insecurities and faults like everyone else. We watch her struggle with her loyalties and desires as she tries to find the father she loves, but doesn't like very much. But the storyline is deepening, with twists, so I think that I will be on the lookout for Break of Dawn when it comes out next year. The vampire followers will enjoy the books, with a little romance thrown in to confuse things.

I enjoyed the first book in this series well enough to get the second, and will probably get the concluding book as well, but I think the series could be a lot better. First, the books are simply somewhat awkwardly written in spots. I expect this will smooth out as Ms Green writes more books and gains more experience, but it is noticable. Second, I'm not sold on the whole "underground" concept. It seems to me that there are too many holes both in the physical setting, and in the logic of recycling stars. We already have lots of actors who look a lot like other actors, and they rarely go on to anything. (Not to mention that it's repeatedly described as paradise, but the only descriptions we get sound like an orgy that might be nice to go to on Saturday night but hardly where you'd like to spend all week..) Third, I'm not sold on the Limpet associates as competent detectives.

I think though that the biggest thing I would change would be to put the story into the first person and make it entirely Dawn's point of view. It's her story anyway, and the vampire digressions don't add anything that couldn't be handled in another way. If she were the narrator, it would be easier to sell her multiple personality issues and make her likeable in spite of them.

Took over 1/3 of the book before I started warming up to this book, and even then it's not very engrossing. Not sure I'd call it paranormal romance. Without getting into spoilers, I actually found it rather depressing. The author has a very readable style, and the story has possibilities...they just don't blossom.

Book two in the Vampire Babylon series proved to be a wild ride from start to finish! If you enjoy your para's/urban fantasies with a darker edge, you won't be disappointed with the second installment of the series This reader would suggest reading Night Rising (book 1) first in order to get the "full effect", but there is enough recap that it is not necessary.

Dawn is still searching for her father. Meanwhile, she's become fully entrenched with the "The Voice" (aka Jonah) and his team of investigators, known as Limpet and Associates, searching out the inner sanctum of the underground vampire nest in LA. With this new installment, Dawn becomes even more torn and confused with her simultaneous attractions to "The Voice" and Matt, a private investigator who's also supposedly looking for Dawn's father. The reader is treated to a deeper look into the past events that helped create the present situations. We learn more about "The Master" and his "son" Sorin and their rolls within the nest. We hear more about Eva, Dawns movie star mother who was tragically murdered, when Dawn was but a child. Chris Marie Green also further introduces/explains to the audience, supporting characters such as Kiko, Breisi and the "Friends".

At the conclusion of this page-turning installment, the reader is left wanting more of the yet to be fully unexplained characters Jac, a lovely young starlet who bears a striking resemblance to Dawns decease mother, and Jonah Limpet, the "founder" of Limpet and Associates.

Chris Marie Green has written a great set of stories, thouroughy bringing you into their world. This is a set you don't want to put down until you find out what happens next. Great Read.

I get sick of the same old plots and as soon as you open the book you already know how it ends! Well with this series that is not the case! The first book is slow till about 100 pages in then it picks up, but this book is great from page one! There is not alot of excitement this is a more character building but it is worth it! The author just keeps us guessing and I love it!! Can't wait for book 3 and 4!!!

She was lured back to Los Angeles because her father is missing, but stuntwoman Dawn Madison became involved with the P.I. firm Jonah Limpett & Associates due to a prophecy. She was there to find and destroy the vampire Underground but she thought Jonah Limpett was crazy until she beheld a child star turned vampire. Now she is part of the team seeking to kill vampires while also searching for her dad.

When a woman dies, it looks like a vampire killed her; wannabe star Lee Tomlinson is arrested for the murder. The Master of the Underground and his son, the Sorcerer Vampire Soria, are concerned that this homicide will call attention to their species. When another female is killed in the same manner, the Master devises a plan to lure Lippett out of hiding in order to kill or turn him. While Dawn is dealing with the two murders, she also has to face the fact that the man she is attracted to is besotted by her dead mother Eve Claremont and her best friend Jacqueline Ashley has had surgery to look like Dawn's late mom. Dawn fears both are part of the underground, but Jonah insists they are not and he should know.

Chris Marie Green has given her fans an inside look at the underground culture and social class system from the most powerful Elite bitten by the Master to the lowly Guards converted by the Groupies. The murder investigation contains several twists that teach Dawn a key lesson in survival; trust no one as anyone can be an underground slave. Readers will find this fun urban fantasy mystery appealing as Dawn learns life lessons.

Harriet Klausner