Customer Reviews

Nightkeepers (Final Prophecy, Book 1)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

The end of the world is nearing and only a select few have the potential to stop it. They are the NIGHTKEEPERS... but has their heritage been lost too much for them to reclaim it?

Leah Daniels is a Miami Police Detective but she wants revenge on the cult leader she believes responsible for her brother's death. Matty was a victim of the so-called Calendar Killer and his death remains unsolved although Leah strongly suspects the cult leader who preaches the Mayan calendar countdown to 2012 signals the end of the world.

Meanwhile, Striking Jaguar is attempting to assemble the last of the NIGHTKEEPERS, a race he thought lost long ago in the massacre in which his parents perished. Strike is the heir to the throne but visions of Leah are disrupting his quest to save the world. Will his visions spell doom just as his father's did?

Jessica Andersen does a marvelous job at crafting a very credible and intensely complex world. The story is based on the Mayan mythology and the sheer depth of the legends alone would make NIGHTKEEPERS worth reading. Ms. Andersen takes things even deeper however, as she creates new races and powers that are all tied into the Mayan calendar and the fear of the year 2012.

NIGHTKEEPERS is a powerful, sometimes violent, but always exciting tale. Don't mistake the violence for being gratuitous, however, as the plot is true to the core of the Mayan belief system in her book and the lines between good and evil are clearly drawn. The pace never slows down as Jessica Andersen takes off running with the plot from the very first page.

Jessica Andersen introduces readers to a plethora of characters in NIGHTKEEPERS. Her book reads very much like a fantasy novel rather than the typical paranormal romance so I suspect that urban fantasy fans will appreciate her efforts the most. NIGHTKEEPERS requires some extensive world building and Ms. Andersen is only just now scratching the surface of the characters and what paths they will lead us readers down. I must admit that Rabbit really stole the show as his story is so unusual that it is hard not to feel sympathy for him.

NIGHTKEEPERS is an exciting and innovative foray into the urban fantasy/paranormal romance genres. Jessica Andersen simply blew me away with this phenomenal tale. Kudos to Jessica Andersen for a book that truly stands out!

COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES

I admit that I'm a little late reading this book. It was on my shelf in the TBR pile. I picked it up this morning and I can say I've been an idiot for waiting this long.

Jessica Anderson has created an entirely new realm of heroes. These aren't your average shape shifter/vampire heroes but Mayan priests aka Night Keepers.
The story focuses on the son of the King, Strike, and a no-nonsense cop whose brother was killed, Leah.
Within this realistic battle of epic proportions of good vs. evil love seems to have taken root.

Strike needs to man up and take the Scepter of kingship; he also needs to gather the remaining Night Keepers and their Winikins. Leah needs to find her brother's murderer and closure for herself in regards to her brother joining the 2012 Prophecy 'cult.'


When Leah and Strike meet sparks fly (literally across the room) and they immediately fall for one another, but the world's ending in four years (hence 2012) and to release the Night Keeper's god (ancient Mayan serpent) it requires Leah's death.
Ah the problem! The world or Leah's life?

This book was great, and certainly a welcome addition to any avid paranormal reader's collection. After I was done reading it I immediately found myself reading an excerpt from Dawn Keeper and becoming ticked that I have to wait until January 2009 for the story to continue.

Anderson has previously only written Harlequin books and I am happy to say has now left her mark in the paranormal world.

Must read!

i really tried, but could not finish this book. this auhor is too wordy and filled the book with useless facts and forgot about the story. as for romance, i stopped reading this book when the leading man "toed-off" his sandals before having his way with her on the sacrificial alter she recently nearly died on right before almost drowning. the leading man is described more as a hippy than some supposed king-what kind of man wears flip-flops while rescuing women anyway? i hope her next books are better but i won't be reading them.

The Night Keepers novel appeared to be a "labor of love" effort for the author. It was very detailed and the Night Keeper's world very much mapped out. It's obvious the author put a lot of effort, time, thought and research on this offering. Unfortunately, the effort was very evident and this book's detailed history and rituals also made it a slow and laborious read.

In a nutshell, Strike is raised to believe that he is the last of the Nightkeeper's warrior priests. So imagine his surprise when he discovers there are twelve others. He has to reunite them and ascend to the throne. However, with the new revelations, he discovers the woman of his dreams (literally & figuratively speaking) has been marked for death. She (Leah) has to be sacrificed to ummm....basically, save the world. Strike understandably has problems with this. The decisions that he makes to save his beloved... ultimately starts a countdown to the end of the world.

Okay. I really didn't care for this story, even though it was well written. The main characters or character didn't draw me in. While Leah was a very strong heroine, and certainly worthy to be saved, Strike came off as a whiny, petulant kid. He had to be practically forced to "do" his duty and even then, screwed it up. His screw ups resulted in the death of a really loyal Night Keeper. I really have problems seeing how anyone could follow this royal loser. If he could be so cavalier about "end of the world" prophecies, one could only imagine how he'd react towards saving your life, or anyone's life that doesn't include Leah.

I read this story thinking, "Wow! It's way too busy." There were MANY "points of views" which seemed a little like overkill. The author decided to give us insight on just about all of the additional 12 (possibly more) Nightkeeper's thoughts and views. Instead of gradually introducing these additional characters, (maybe in the additional books we'll get) we were sort of thrown into their lives. But irritatingly so, just given little bits and pieces of their thoughts and views. I'm guessing the tidbits were to whet our appetites and get us "salivating" for the additional stories that you know are coming. However, the only other Nightkeeper that seems remotely interesting was Snake Mendez. And he's in jail. The other Nightkeepers just seem kind of "blah." The author also "very nicely" paired the Nightkeepers up for us in this book. So...there's no surprise on who their mates will be. Okay, there goes the element of suspense.

I don't want to give up on this series. But if it takes me 10 days to finish the next book, like it took me on this one, I may have to. Out of sheer boredom's sake.

Yep, me too. I to was unable to finish this book, and I REALLY tried. This book was extremely boring. Mostly because it read like a history lesson on Mayan culture in some places. So much so, that I kept wondering, where fact ended and fiction began. It was a little disconcerting.

I finally went to the author's website, and saw a list of literary references for this book. Wow. Maybe the author should have just written a non-fiction book on Mayan culture. At least then, I wouldn't have been expecting a romance.

Almost a quarter of a century ago Nightkeeper King Scarred-Jaguar and his warrior priests fought a suicide mission to seal the barrier from the demon Banol Kax. Most of the brave people died, but they accomplished the objective. A few children and their Winikin servants survived the terror.

Twenty four years later the Striking Jaguar, son of the courageous late king, who died in the last war with Banal Kax, knows the time for the deadly solace is approaching. He begins to get his force prepared for the upcoming war.

Meanwhile Miami narcotics detective Leah Daniels is tied to a Mayan altar as the priests prepare her for sacrifice. Strike knows who she is, what she means to him and is determined to keep her safe from the upcoming war to re-seal the barrier. However, Leah ends up at his side, both ready to die to keep Banol Kax interred on the other side.

This terrific romantic fantasy builds the Andersonian world around the Mayan doomsday prophecy that on December 21, 2012 global cataclysm will occur. The story line is fast-paced action but centers on Striking Jaguar who must choose between love and the sacrifice. The fascination in this excellent thriller is that the warrior priests including the hero are unsure what to do to save the world; they fear being active might cause the beginning of the end and being passive likewise. Jessica Anderson provides a strong story that sub-genre fans will cherish.

Harriet Klausner

I am a fan of paranormal books, and I was looking forward to reading this book. I struggled to finish it! The author was way to wordy and didn't develope the characters into people we would care about. I will definately think twice about buying her next book, even though I am hoping she will read and listen to some of the comments that were made here. I am surprised that those authors who read her book before it was published didn't make better suggestions to her before her final edition came out. This could have been a very exciting book.

I was very exciting when I snagged the first three books of the new series by Jessica Andersen. The pacing of the first two hundred pages keep me focused on understanding Leah, her relationship with Strike and creating the foundation for the storyscape Andersen was building. I tried really tried not to skim page after page of back story, of endless explanations, of feeling caught in a never ending search for the voices of the story.

The storyline in and of itself is not bad--it allowed too much drag to develop between the interaction of the characters. I'm interested still (I've already purchased the second and third book). Perhaps, as Ms. Andersen advances in her career as an author of paranormal fiction, she will let her characters carry her stories. I applaud the amount of research and dedication to the the Mayan culture in regards to the long-count calendar but really.

I'm not going to rehash the story...plenty of others have done that. Nor, am I going to give a glowing review because it simply is not warranted. I found myself growing more and more frustrated with the lack luster story telling.

World building falls flat if the characters within that world are not really attached to it. Worse when the characters really start to come off as being...well...not really intelligent and somewhat shallow.

I was thinking this was going to be better than it was. Not that the writing was poor, but I could not suspend disbelief enough to really dig it. After reading it though, I've come to the conclusion (correct or not) that Jessica and JR Ward must have the same editor. There are too many very similar or exact phrases used by both authors. After a while, it just got old.
That said, I think it was a valiant attempt to tackle a monumental topic using the Mayan culture to create this story and setting.

The Final Prophesy, Book 1

Detective Leah Ann Daniels of the Miami-Dade Police Department has had enough of cult killings and doomsday fanatics. Dismembered bodies have started piling up in a ritualistic pattern and her brother Matty was one of the victims. When a local informant calls to arrange a meeting, Leah prays it's the break she's been waiting for, but by the time she realizes it's a setup it's too late. Another life is lost and hers may be next.

Striking-Jaguar is the last male of the Nightkeepers' royal house. Twenty four years ago, a supernatural massacre all but wiped out the last of his people. The Nightkeepers -- an ancient civilization of warrior priests existed to ensure the demons of the underworld remain sealed behind a barrier of psi energy where they cannot harm mankind. "Strike" would have been their king, had they survived and now they are no longer needed...or so he had hoped. The spells he's been practicing haven't worked in twenty four years, but on the day of the summer solstice he suddenly feels the power coursing through him. The barrier is back online and a powerful demon walks the earth. The countdown to the apocalypse has begun, ending on December 21, 2012.

When Strike meets Leah it's like a dream come true -- literally. Instant recognition occurs as they have dreamed about each other for weeks, but what does it mean? Leah cannot remain in his world and duty demands that he honors the gods before all others, but Strike refuses to believe that she is not destined to be in his life...even as he tries to ignore it.

Faced with the dubious task of saving the world, Strike learns that there are twelve other Nightkeepers with unique abilities that survived the massacre. Raised in secret, they have been protected by their guardians until the time came for them to assume their roles as Nightkeepers. The time is now and as king, Strike must call his people home to prepare for the battle to come.

Strike wants to protect Leah and feels that the battle isn't hers, but she disagrees. The demon wants to offer Leah up to the rulers of the underworld as a blood sacrifice and she has lost her brother to the evil that threatens them all. Leah is a cop on a mission and she is hell-bent on nailing the person responsible - human or otherwise, thus igniting a battle of wills. There are some Nightkeepers that don't appreciate Leah's "outsider" presence and view her as a distraction to Strike, however she quickly proves herself to be a valuable asset to the group. Undeniable attraction consumes Leah and Strike as they struggle to come to terms with their impossible future. Strike must let her go; The gods have spoken and the prophesy is clear, but in the end will Strike have the courage to make the greatest sacrifice...or will he repeat the same mistakes as his father, bringing about catastrophic consequences?

NIGHTKEEPERS is an amazing novel that you can really sink your teeth into. Jessica Andersen did her research and it shows with rich world-building and extensive cultural history laid down as the foundation for this series. Readers should note that although this book is marketed as "paranormal romance," this first installment reads more like urban fantasy with strong romantic elements. Strike is sexy, but refreshingly realistic as he wrestles with self doubt and the responsibility his legacy has saddled him with; And Leah holds her own as the resourceful detective who refuses to be intimidated. Together they complement each other well, but as a couple they spend a lot of time off screen as several key events unfold.

That said, NIGHTKEEPERS is not a series for readers with a short attention span or those looking for a light "drive- by" read. This book contains a lot of information and there are many characters and subplots to keep track of -- some to be mentally filed away for future books in the series. Andersen's first Final Prophesy installment is jam packed with mythology, religion, and mystery as well as betrayal, violence, loss and romance. If you enjoy books with a little more depth than your average romance, I highly recommend picking up a copy of NIGHTKEEPERS.


~*Courtesy of ParaNormal Romance Reviews*~