IN THE DARKEST NIGHT

Author: Patti O'Shea ISBN: 9780765361707 4/2010 PARANORMAL Publisher: TOR

Kel Andrews has spent the last year living with nightmares and flashbacks. Unwilling to share what happened, he's withdrawn from his family and the Gineal council has removed him from his position as a troubleshooter. But when a woman shows up asking for protection from a demon, Kel reluctantly agrees to help—and finds himself facing an unexpected adversary, one he doesn't know how to fight.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

This is O'Shea's fourth book in her Light Warriors series and is directly related to the events of both previous books (IN TWILIGHT'S SHADOW and EDGE OF DAWN).  Seth, everyone's favorite demon-god from SHADOW, has a new target—Farran, the darksider who betrayed and saved Shona from DAWN.  It gets better—Kel, Logan's twin brother who nearly killed him (indirectly) in DAWN, is the guy who Farran runs into to help her.  Honestly, this is a book of tying up loose ends while building more of them, and I loved every second of it.

I can say without reservation that Farran and Kel, as a couple and as individuals, are definitely my favorite duo in the series thus far.  Don't get me wrong; I liked the other couples (Ryne/Deke, Maia/Creed, Shona/Logan), but I either liked them as couples or liked them as individuals, never as both.  Farran and Kel were the perfect mix—both had trust issues to work through, both were damaged, both were desperate for someone they could lean on, but scared of it at the same time. 

The fact that for the first half of the book both of them grow closer while assuming the other one will turn on them at a moment's notice, was intriguing for me.  When a relationship does develop, it isn't the magical solution to all their problems—they both have too much baggage to work through to really connect. 

Their relationship was very organic and built more on trust, mutual desires, and comfort with each other rather than overwhelming lust.  There was lust though, but again, it's not a convenient ''We slept together! All my issues with you are solved!' sort of thing, but a gradual understanding.  Poor Kel tried to do the right thing at least twice, but Farran finally got sick of that.

The action is sporadic for the most part.  Other than Seth, Farran has some Shadow Walkers chasing after her too, and that's more disturbing since there is almost no information on them.  They appear and disappear randomly, can get through Gineal defenses like they aren't there, and they pack one wallop of a punch.  It's because of them, however, that Seth felt almost...superfluous to the plot.  I understood why he was necessary at the beginning, but the rest of the book he either tried to attack Kel and Farran, spies on them, or grumbles about losing his powers.  I'm pretty sure that other than the offhand remark 'Be careful, there's a demon out there,' neither Kel nor Farran were overly worried about Seth and were more concerned with the Shadow Walkers.

By the end of IN THE DARKEST NIGHT, I wouldn't say that Kel and Farran had perfectly worked through their issues, or that everything would be fine now that feelings were out there, but they both made so much progress.  Maybe Kel most of all, when he finally admitted he needed professional help to get through his nightmares.  A couple of loose threads weren't tied up (like why Farran could 'quiet' Kel's nightmares) and there's definitely a set up for another book, but I was wholly satisfied with the ending of this one.

Alexandra Cenni