Centuries ago, the Naturi nearly destroyed Mira in their attempt to control her and her unusual gifts. Not many Nightwalkers are endowed with powers such as Mira's abilities with fire, an element deadly to other Nightwalkers.
Only a Triad of powerful vampires saved Mira, as well as both the human and Nightwalker races. Sealing the Naturi where they could do no harm was effective, but also temporary - at least if the Naturi who managed to escape that fate can do anything about it.
The Naturi have already broken the Triad and now it is up to Mira to protect the remaining two and find a new third before it is too late. And the only one she can trust to help is her worst enemy - the vampire hunter Danaus!
NIGHTWALKER kicks off the first book in Jocelynn Drake's DARK DAYS saga with a bang! This newcomer to the publishing arena has crafted a rich and powerful world with characters that are as real as imagination can get, and likeable despite their foibles. Well, except for those nasty Naturi, of course.
The Naturi are the major villains of this story. So far, there are just no redeeming qualities about this hateful and destructive race, which is perfect for their role in this battle. With all of the other characters we meet, however, there is a touch of good and evil in each person, no matter if they are human or Nightwalker.
And then there is Danaus. No one really knows what he is, and he isn't talking. Yes, he is a vampire slayer, but this man has more secrets than anyone can guess, and he keeps fairly closemouthed about them. Still, he says what needs to be said, and certainly gets the job done.
Mira is absolutely a kick-butt heroine. Vampire she may be, but she is a woman of honor who takes her responsibilities as guardian to those weaker than herself very seriously. She can kill without blinking an eye, but only those who deserve it. She is strong, yet with her world closing in on her and her worst nightmare determined to recapture her, she needs someone to rely on. Strangely enough, she finds that person in Danaus, the most unlikely of places.
It is interesting to watch the evolution of Mira's and Danaus' convictions concerning each other as they spend time in close proximity, fighting at each other's sides against a greater evil than either can handle alone. They discover that neither is quite what they expected and their preconceived notions begin to waver in the face of the truths they witness in each other. Consequently, they form a grudging mutual respect and eventually there is even a bit of old fashioned chemistry...
If you are looking for a good piece of paranormal fiction, then you should give NIGHTWALKER a try. If you are looking for romance, this is not the book. That said, even though there really isn't any romance in this first story, Mira does have chemistry with a couple of men in her life, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a relationship with one of them develop in a later story. In fact, the book feels much like Laurell K. Hamilton's first ANITA BLAKE, VAMPIRE HUNTER book in that respect. There was no romance in those earlier ANITA BLAKE books, but there were definitely potential love interests and later editions in that series explore those relationships, as I hope will happen in sequels to NIGHTWALKER.
I do have to say that the pacing of NIGHTWALKER was a bit slower than I would have liked. Although it didn't ruin the story, it did detract a bit from my enjoyment of it. For something that feels more like an action-oriented paranormal, the barrage of history, some of which seems superfluous to the plot, bogged that action down.
Also, there were a lot of repetitive words and phrases throughout the novel. In particular, the heroine constantly referred to her bodyguards as her `angels', or variations of that word. Most often she called them her `Guardian Angel' or `my Angel'. It was not unusual to see Mira reference the bodyguards with some form of the word angel many times in a very small section of text, and on one page, she referred to the same bodyguard as `my angel' three times. While I appreciated that the men who protect her during her day sleep were special to her, the repetitive endearment became tedious after a while. It would have been less so for me if the author had substituted an alternate endearment or used the bodyguard's names more often.
Those two disappointments are what made me rate this book a four instead of a five. I really liked the plot, loved the characters, but these issues did keep me from totally loving the book.
That said, it is a very enjoyable read, and I have very high hopes for the next book. For an author's debut novel, I think that Jocelynn Drake has done admirably well and I hope to see more soon from this imaginative author. I certainly cannot wait to see what happens next with Mira and her companions!
**Courtesy of Wild on Books**
