DAYHUNTER

Author: Jocelynn Drake ISBN: 9780061542831 4/2009 PARANORMAL/FANTASY Publisher: EOS

A new day dawns blood red A master of fire, Mira is the last hope for the world. For centuries she has secretly enforced the history-altering edicts of the Triad. Now she and her unlikely ally—the human vampire hunter, Danaus—have come to Venice, home of the nightwalker rulers. But there is no safety in the ancient city, for the threat of conflict is in the wind . . . with unholy alliances and earth-shattering betrayals taking hideous form in the shadows. Banished for eons beyond the world's boundaries, the malevolent naturi prepare to feed once again upon a vulnerable earth—and treachery is opening wide the portal that will enable their dread re-emergence. The great battle that has always been Mira's destiny is looming, and she must remain powerful in the face of a shocking revelation: that Danaus, the only creature she dares to trust, is something more than the man he claims to be . . .

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

First, it is important to mention that DAYHUNTER should not be read without having first read NIGHTWALKER—character development and the events of that book are glossed over in DAYHUNTER and could lead to confusion.

That being said—wow! Whereas I felt the first could be a bit ponderous, at times, DAYHUNTER made sure to keep the action scale high. Though to be fair, Mira’s backstory is also given some fleshing out. Which is nice and kind of funny, (in a dark way) at times.

Unfortunately, with the lots of action there isn’t a lot of movement on character relationships. It's not that they stand still, but seem to take a few steps forward, test that out a bit, then immediately retreat backwards. It can be annoying (especially if you want feelings to develop), but the book also doesn’t let you think too long on the lack of development. Hey, Mira just saved so-and-so—oh no, someone else is coming! Almost episodic, as if a TV show took all the Big Bad fights and tossed them into a book and left out the filler details.

In the end, the book made me happy, certainly helped cure me of some of my more violent leanings for the week, and leaves me eagerly looking forward to the third book, DAWNBREAKER, due out in late 2009. I think as long as you read NIGHTWALKER and DAYHUNTER back-to-back, or within a reasonable time frame together, the two balance each other out nicely.

Alexandra Cenni