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163 of 178 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A stunning fantasy from a debut author, June 6, 2006
This review is from: Touch the Dark (Cassandra Palmer, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques
Touch the Dark by Karen Chance is a stunning adventure that speeds along to the thrilling conclusion... which is really just another new beginning.
Cassandra "Cassie" Palmer has a gift. She is a Seer, capable of seeing future actions and able to see and communicate with ghosts. Unfortunately for her, these gifts are coveted by many, especially vampires. For years she had been a prized captive of the vampire mafia, until she managed to escape.
For three years she's been on the run but even Cassie knew this "freedom" would likely be short lived. When the vampire don tracks her down, her only hope is to turn to the vampire Senate, who have their own plans for her, for assistance. This seems like the lesser of two evils... or is it?
Then there is the pesky problem of a surprising legacy Cassie doesn't want. With beings from every direction wanting to kill her it seems her only hope is one alluringly sexy vampire. But his price may be too high, costing Cassie her very soul.
Cassie has been on the run for so long that this is all she knows now. Her life was never really her own and as she discovers new levels to her abilities, her desperation to be in control of her own life grows. Determination to make it in a cut-throat world has made her into a strong willed individual with a more than healthy survival instinct. She's not afraid to do whatever it takes to protect herself.
One thing I love about Touch the Dark is the wide variety of supernatural beings found in the story from both the light and dark sides of magic... and the "dark" side is not always the more dangerous. We find vampires, ghosts, were-creatures of all kinds, elves, witches, mages, even satyrs and faeries. Don't forget the talking "shrunken heads." Every individual has its place in magical society and how they all interact makes for some fascinating reading.
Adventure is not at all lacking in this story as readers follow Cassie and company in its wake. Touch the Dark doesn't end, but stops after this leg of the journey. It is apparent Karen Chance still has a lot in store for Cassie and this reader is sure to keep going, looking forward to the next installment of this exciting world.
© Kelley A. Hartsell, May 2006. All rights reserved.
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93 of 101 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
loved it!, June 7, 2006
This review is from: Touch the Dark (Cassandra Palmer, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
I was lucky enough to pick this up a few days before it was released, and after I'd read it, I wasn't sure if I should be glad of the early pickup or not! I'll tell you why. I'm glad of it because I really loved the book. On the other hand, now I have a long time to wait before her second installment of Cassie's story is released! But there is good news--Karen Chance will be publishing the sequel through Roc and it's entitled Claimed by Shadows; look for it in June of 2007. After you read Touch the Dark, I can almost promise you that you'll be equally as eager as I am to preorder a copy.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me tell you what Touch the Dark is about.
Cassie Palmer is being hunted by assassins out to kill her. Why? Well, she suspects it may have something to do with her hated Mafioso ex-mentor, whom she ran away from. Her only chance to survive is to run for her life. Her sexy roommate Thomas won't have any of that though--if Cassie's leaving, he wants to go with her. In the process of trying to escape from said assasins, there is a bloody battle, and when it's over, nothing in Cassie's life will be the same again.
She is taken to the vampire Senate, and surprisingly, they are willing to help protect her. But Cassie's not sure she's willing to bargain with a bunch of untrustworthy vampires. What do they want from her? And will she be able to afford the price?
I had a few minor gripes with Touch the Dark. There was a lot of backstory to wade through, and a lot of history and introduction to the world of vampires and ghosts, etc. that Cassie lives in. However, I enjoyed finding out more about her world and her powers (she can communicate with ghosts). There were also tantalizing bits about her past and her parents which remained unresolved. That's okay, because I feel pretty confident that Karen Chance will take care of these things in the next book. I think the worst part for me was the ending, because it was kind of sudden and left things very unsettled. But please keep in mind these are minor problems I had with the book.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Cassie and her adventures. I don't want to say too much, but there is also a very seductive and delicious character with a strong interest in Cassie. I had to keep a supply of tissues on hand to wipe away the drool that appeared every page he was in.
I highly recommend this book. I hope you pick up your copy soon, because I know this is one you won't want to miss. Karen Chance has a very promising future in this genre.
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34 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Doesn't live up to the raves, June 14, 2008
This review is from: Touch the Dark (Cassandra Palmer, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
I really wanted to like this...I wish I could give 2-1/2 stars because I sort of liked it, but meh, not enough to stand up and say, "I like it." The worldbuilding was quite intriguing--a modern day sybil trying to stay out of the clutches of the vampires, fey, werewolves, and war mages engaged in an otherworldly power struggle. I swore I'd never read another vampire book, but this premise drew me in. Ms. Chance's story "Buying Trouble" in the On the Prowl anthology was also charming, convincing me that she knew how to tell an entertaining action story. Ms. Chance does know how to write, but there are big problems here that kept throwing me out of the story, making me feel like I was wading through soup.
Her characters, even her heroine, read rather generic to me, despite the clever premise. And she has an annoying (really really really annoying) tendency to stop in the middle of action and sex scenes, and dialogue exchanges, to go off on explaining and description tangents. Sometimes these information dumps last a couple of paragraphs, sometimes a couple of pages or more. There were times that somebody would ask a question and Ms. Chance would take off into the scenery or worldbuilding for so long that when the question was answered I had to page back to see what the question had been. This wasn't something that just happened occasionally, but recurred throughout the book. I was skim reading these passages by the end.
Then there's that ending...no spoilers, but let's just say that although she did arrive at a kind of resolution to the present story, there was so much left unresolved that it felt more like a chapter ending than a book ending. This kind of "leave 'em hanging" ending always makes me feel cheated. I know it's supposed to make me run right out and buy the next book, but I'm not sure I'll be doing that in this case. I'm right on the fence about it at the moment. It's a first novel, so I feel I should cut her some slack, but the hanging ending and the annoying writing technique have not left me a happy reader. If I do read the next one, I will do a considerable amount in-bookstore reading before buying just to see if she's improved her bad habits at all.
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