NIGHT LOST

Author: Lynn Viehl ISBN: 0451221028 5/2007 PARANORMAL Publisher: NAL/Signet Eclipse

A NOBLE PRISONER... Gabriel Seran has fallen into the hands of the fanatical religious order known as the Brethren. Though abandoned by his fellow Kyn, he remains honor bound to protect their secrets from his interrogators. Blinded, nailed to a cross, and sealed in a chapel cellar beneath a ruined château, Gabriel faces an eternity of suffering. AN OBSESSED THIEF... Nicola "Nick" Jefferson has been traveling across Europe, looting churches of their precious artwork and fencing the treasures to make her living. At each destination, she liberates the captive vampires, hoping they'll provide her with information leading to the one artifact she so desperately craves: the Golden Madonna. A FATEFUL COUPLING... Gabriel and Nick have met before in each other's dreams. Bound together more than coincidence, their destinies intertwine even as their passions ignite...

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

First off, let me say that I am a huge Lynn Viehl fan. I've read—okay, devoured—all of her Darkyn books, and I've really enjoyed all of them. But with that being said, there are a few things about this book that just didn't work for me.

The biggest hurdle for me when reading this book was that I kept thinking I'd read it before, but it wasn't EXACTLY the same. I am a pretty regular 'lurker' to PBW's blog, and in all my hours of lurking, I've read pretty much all of the short stories she has linked on the sidebar. One of those short stories is about Gabe, who is crucified on a cross behind a false wall in a church where he is rescued by calling out to someone on the other side of the wall—exactly like Gabriel in NIGHT LOST. Another glaring similarity is that Gabe and Gabriel share the exact same power—the ability to call insects. So, I started off thinking I was going to be reading an expanded version of Gabe's story. But NIGHT LOST isn't Gabe's story. It was distracting to think—but THIS is what happened the first time. So, if you've read the short stories on PBW's sidebar, be ready.

Another thing that didn't quite work for me was the lead couple's chemistry—I never really bought their connection. I'm not sure if this was because I was comparing NIGHT LOST to the short story, and as a result, the different female leads, or, if it may have been that a large portion of this book revolved around things other than the central characters.

Quite a bit of this story revolves around the Darkyn's king, Richard, and his struggle with his progressing disease. In the book preceding this (DARK NEED), Richard kidnapped the Darkyn's one doctor, Alexandra, so she could help research a cure, and Michael, her sygkenis or mate, is NOT happy. At first I was a little bothered by how much time was being spent on Richard and the struggles going on in and around his fortress, but as the book progressed, I became engrossed more with these characters than the main ones. Now I'm eagerly waiting for the next book to further develop their stories!

All in all, I liked this book as a bridge to tie up some storylines and get us ready for the next installment in the series.

April Luth