EVE OF DESTRUCTION

Author: S. J. Day ISBN: 9780765360427 6/2009 FANTASY, CONTEMPORARY Publisher: TOR

Class is in, but Evangeline Hollis is struggling to get through the requisite training to be a full-fledged Mark. When her class goes on a field trip to an abandoned military base, passing the course isn’t just a matter of pride…it’s a matter of life and death. There’s a demon hidden among them, killing off Eve’s classmates one by one. As the body count mounts, a ragtag team of cable TV ghost hunters unwittingly stumbles into the carnage. Now keeping the Mark system secret competes with the need to keep the “paranormal researchers” alive. With Cain on assignment and Abel on an investigation, Eve must fly solo on her hunt to stop a killer before he strikes again.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

EVE OF DESTRUCTION picks up where EVE OF DARKNESS left off—well, more or less. Welcome to the aftermath of what happened at the end of DARKNESS (well, technically the end of Chapter One, which was set after the last chapter, which led into Chapter One… yeah, I get confused, too).

Poor Eve. I mean she really gets such a rough stick to deal with. As if the older-than-dirt sibling rivalry of Cain and Abel wasn’t enough to contest with (with neither really knowing if they want her for her or to piss off the other more), minions of the evils she helped to vanquish last book, start coming after her; and oh, yeah, her mother. Oh, her mother. Her mother is a hoot, and I can’t say I say that about too many mothers in books.

Things take a turn for the worst—not just in her training, but in her personal relationships. Alec (Cain) and her seem to start to intensify, but he makes a decision with unforeseen effects. I don’t honestly know how I feel about them as a couple; on the one hand, they seem good together, but on the other… well. Reed (Abel) and her kind of cool things off. Not saying that the flirty banter isn’t there, but with everything that happens Eve wants to take a step back, and Reed does as she wishes. He’s not a bad guy—he’s kind of charming at times—but, well, I guess you can’t help who you are.

A shock to no one should be who turns out to be down-and-out evil. The hints were laid in EVE OF DARKNESS, but I don’t think I would have suspected this person over another less-than-angelic one. I mean, he/she (not using the gender because it will give it away) definitely showed a less than good-natured side; but I’m not seeing a whole lot of angelic-ness amongst the cast of supposed Angels to begin with, so I'm not sure what that says.

By the end, her personal relationships are still scattered, Evil is still lurking, and Eve is going to have one Hell-of-a-ride to keep herself sane in EVE OF CHAOS, but she seems like she’s enjoying herself better!

Alexandra Cenni