One Silent Night (Dark-Hunter, Book 13) (edition 2008)

Oh how the plot tickens, and how we learn about our enemies weakness... Very exciting! And I love the fighting scenes :) ( )

Rating: 2.5 starsIt's a novella, really. I liked reading about other pantheons, and about the "other side" (read: the daimons). Not crazy about their treatment of the character Jared, but I liked what he symbolizes and I like the mythology invented by Sherrilyn Kenyon. ( )

An interesting enough romance from the bad guy/girl POV. My favorite thing about the story were the Nick parts. Not up to par with some of her original/beginning books but still okay. Probably a must read in view of the overarching story and mythology. ( )

This book was a bit different than I expected, but I did enjoy it. I liked learning more about Stryker, but it seemed a bit forced in places. As much as I like the happy endings, it seems like they're getting a little forced as well. There has to be some sort of conclusion to this series, but it seems like it's going the direction that they're just going to destroy the world. I will keep reading. Hopefully, there will be something that's not far fetched to end the series. ( )

Each entry in the Dark-Hunter series told of a hunter (were, dark, dream) finding true love and redemption. So, I was thrown for a loop when one of the series mainstay villains found his true love - Stryker. When he releases the primal entity known as War to kill Nick and Ash, he discovers she is still alive and that he still loves her.

More than anything, the purpose of this story seemed to be to introduce a new arc in the overall mythology (rather than a romance), including a new "pantheon" and also to make Nick into a more pivotal player. Nick's not really human; he's the last of the Malachai - uberpowerful immortals created to fight other uberpowerful immortals, the Sephirii, of whom the last is Jared. The groups were soldiers for higher-lever gods who want to rule the world. Blah, blah, blah. Honestly, I think the mythology is getting unnecessarily convoluted, and I'm just not a fan of Nick. Making him half of an innately evil demon race to somehow explain his unreasoning hatred and desire to kill Ash seems like a cop-out. And, it's gotten to the point where the series is no longer about the Dark-Hunters, it's about the ever increasing number of gods. And the "romance" was not romantic, it was strange, to say the least. Stryker wants to kill mankind, and at the end of this story he still does. Only now he has his true love to help him in his war. And for her part, she's a bloodthirsty woman who cruelly tortures Jared when she's not lusting after Stryker. It's difficult to identify with and root for the loving couple who wants to destroy the world.

The mythology has the potential to be interesting, but I'm afraid it's going to take over the series. Overall, this was a weak entry that was already fighting an uphill battle as the book that followed "Acheron," and got lost in the technobabble. It kept me interested and turning the pages, but didn't leave me satisfied. I still recommend the series, but really hope the next book brings the magic back. ( )

An important book within the Dark-Hunter series with plenty of revelations and changes. Too bad the very interesting villain and main protagonist of the story turns into a rather boring read. ( )

This book was actually an enjoyable read. Once I got over the nonsense plot that kick-started the story. And hanging on with a death grip on to the romantic thought that this is Strykerious, the-bad-guy-gone-hero, we're talking about here. Then, yes it was an enjoyable read.

For goodness sake! Nobody can get into Kalosis without express invitation. That is why Stryker has to hold Zephyra's hand to take her to Kalosis.

Then, in the openning gambit, Medea and Zephyra flashed into Kalosis and suprised attacked Stryker!?! So how were they suppose to have done that? I think that needs to be explained properly to the readers. A reasonable explanation is needed so that the readers do not get irritated with plots that don't make sense!!

My review online: http://www.cherrymischievous.com/2009/07/one-silent-night.html ( )

really enjoyed this book, which really surprised me. For most of the Dark-Hunter series Stryker was/is the bad guy and I wasn't sure I'd like this book because of him. But I did and it was interesting to find out more about his past. Stryker and Zephyra are what made the book great. I love Zephyra is kick ass and doesn't take shit from anyone. I don't think there has been a character in this series like that since Tabitha Devereaux. There were quite a few surprise along the way, I'm really looking forward to see how the series is gonna change. ( )

Not much to say other than I really didn't like this book. It didn't work for me other than the parts of the book that were about the group of people that I care about. ( )

I hate it when I go from hating the villain to loving them, and only Sherri can do this...LOL. She did a wonderful job of making Stryker human and actually empathetic to his plight. He and his wife are amusing and watching them interact is hilarious. ( )

Alot of reviewers for One Silent Night didn't think too much of this the latest Dark Hunter novel. I personally rather enjoyed it!

In OSN, Stryker, the leader of the Daimons who have been the hated enemy of the Dark Hunters from the very beginning, gets his HEA.

Long ago Stryker had a wife. But his mercurial father, the god Apollo, decided the low born Zephrya wasn't good enough for his son. In an effort to save her life, Stryker leaves her, unbeknownst to him, pregnant with his child.

Now thousands of years later, Stryker is still alone. His second wife is long gone and all of his children have either died or deserted him. He's not a very nice person for all his misery, and he's concocted a plan to rid the world of the two men who caused the death of his favored children- Acheron and Nick, Dark Hunters extraordinaire.

But in unleashing War, the scourge created by the gods to kill a race of creatures created by their own war-spilled blood, Stryker has set about circumstances that will eventually be the end of his own life as well.

Though the goddess Artemis could care less about Stryker, she still has a warm spot for Ash- the object of her twisted form of love and the father of her daughter. To stop Stryker, she sends the one person who wants him dead more than anyone-Zephyra.

Stryker is shocked to find Phyra is still alive- and even more shocked to find he has a daughter to her! Now he'll do anything to keep them in his lonely life- even join his hated enemies to defeat the hell loosed on earth by his own hand.

OSN has more than a couple strikes against it. First, it is a short novel, despite the price-(Once again they enlarged the font to stretch this story out.)- and there's a ton of information dumping as the author sets up the new arch of the Dark Hunter saga.

Second, Stryker is no noble hero. He's the leader of a gang of vamps and demons who have tormented our beloved Dark Hunters for a long time. He even killed the love of his cherished son's life because he felt betrayed by him. Not very likable.

Add to that the fact that the heroine is a shrew. She's ticked Stryker could not love her enough to stay by her side all those years ago when Apollo threatened them and she's never forgiven him for it.

Still, I lapped up this story in a few short hours.

Because, darn it all, Kenyon made it work! Stryker may've been a pretty bad guy in previous novels, but he made some choices in this book that redeemed some of his past actions, imo. In fact, Zephyra seemed more low down at times, than he!

And speaking of Phyra, I couldn't help but like her too. She believed, falsely, that the love of her life chose his father over her and when she discovered their child was going to die of the same curse that once threatened Stryker- she did what she had to do to save her life. What's not to like about a woman with that much strength?

What really made the book, however, was seeing Ash again. Sure I wasn't completely enthralled with his own story (Acheron)- but man I still love seeing him show up! And Nick Gautier, is FINALLY coming out of his whiny stage- he's also coming into some pretty impressive powers that I believe will put him in the same sphere as Ash as far as beloved DH characters go.

Still, I think it's another character who will be taking Ash's place as most anxsty. I'm sure we'll see more of this Jarad guy in the future and I'll keep reading the Dark Hunters if for no other reason then seeing where she takes him next! ( )

While the world carries on unawares, Stryker, who leads an army of demons and vampires, is plotting an all out onslaught against his enemies--which, unfortunately for us, includes the entire human race. To avenge his sister, Stryker prepares to annihilate the Dark-Hunters. But things go awry when his oldest enemy returns. Enter his ex-wife. Zephyra. Just when he thought nothing could stop him, he's now embroiled in a centuries old war with a shrew who gives new meaning to pain and a shrew who is the only woman he's ever really loved.

Bad boys need lovin’ too!

This is the story of Stryker - yes, Strykerius (tormentor of all things Dark-Hunter, Acheron and Nick Gaultier related). Yet I thoroughly enjoyed reading the bad guy’s side of the story.

In this story we were able to get a glimpse of the romance between Stryker (all around Dark-Hunter nemesis) and his first-wife Zephyra (she’s a total witch). Upon reading this you see Stryker in a whole new light and why he is the way he is. Yes, Stryker, was human at one point. He was a child, he loved, he made mistakes... he was/is a man. I found myself feeling sympathy for him and understanding a little more of the world that Sherrilyn Kenyon has created.

Although it can be a bit confusing with all the Greek mythology she normally intertwines with her storylines, this book (I think) is like a new era for the Dark-Hunter series. Sherrilyn is involving a lot of new and different characters that I can’t help but anticipate the day when we get to read their stories.

For those of you who are fans of the Dark-Hunter series, this book felt like an intermediate point, where she just filled you in on information that she was unable to incorporate into any of her other stories. If you have not read a Dark-Hunter novel before than this definitely is not the book you want to start the series on (definitely read some of her older stuff and I’m sure you’ll get snagged along with the rest of us into this world).

But intrigued I am! With all the new characters that she is introducing I can’t wait to read the next installment. ( )

After the last book, Acheron, this book read very light, there was so much depth to Acheron, Kenyon must have loved writing about him, where as Stryker's novel has something missing. Alot happens in this novel and I can not wait to read the next installment. ( )

It was a little short, but I enjoyed reading something more about Stryker. There is nothing more boring than a one-dimensional villain, and knowing more about Stryker's motivations makes him a lot more interesting. Plus, I loved seeing the coalition that came together -- Nick and Ash especially. I'm eager to see more interaction between those two! Of course, I'm behind on the books, so I may have missed some stuff. LOL ( )

I really enjoy the books that Sherrilyn Kenyon writes. There are very few authors that I can say have captured my attention and she had done this with all of the Dark Hunter books. While I will say that that following Acheron many books would look bad, but I think that what I found hard was that the story was about a villain. I enjoyed meeting some of the new characters in the book, which I won't spoil for anyone but let's just say there is a BIG surpirse to be found inside the story. Learning about Stryker's background had to be done and it wasn't as good to read as some of her other books. I have to say that I disliked Zephyra. She was whiney and spent most of her time acting like a brat. I did like the story but have come to expect more from Sherrilyn Kenyon. Quite possibly the reason many people disliked the story is we wanted to see more of our heroes and not a side trip about the bad guys. ( )

One Silent Night was better than I expected. As I feel that Kenyon can no longer write a good romance, I was not suprised at the lack of chemistry between Stryker and Zephyra. The storyline wasn't too bad and it was nice seeing Ash again. ( )

http://allbookedup-elena.blogspot.com/2008/12/one-silent-night-sherrilyn-kenyon.... ( )

Interesting to have a story about the enemy. Overall, enjoyed it. ( )

This would not rank as one of my favorite Dark-Hunter books. While I enjoyed learning Stryker's story, I must admit that I never truly connected with he or Zephyra. I think it's partly because it's hard to understand how their point of view on humans doesn't change throughout the telling of the story. Stryker's a necessary "bad guy" so I suppose that's why he couldn't change here and, yet, both characters quickly learn that there's more to what happened to them than they first comprehended. I would think they'd apply it to their world viewpoints as well. Even Zephyra's thoughts about Jared at the end don't indicate an understanding that there may be more to his story than she knows.So, while I found it interesting to learn their history and I was rooting for them to end up together, I found myself skimming through the scenes with just the two of them. I never connected to either enough to be more than superficially engaged in their romance. In fact, I cared more about their daughter than either of them.This was a common thread in this story and why I think this book is still a must-read for Dark Hunter fans. I suspect the other characters introduced or re-introduced here are going to be important in upcoming stories and I'm eager to see where their stories go. It was nice to see Acheron and Tory so soon after reading their story and we get a huge reveal about Nick here that explains a great deal and, at the same time, makes me all the more anxious to get his tale.In conclusion, I thought it was a decent book but among my least favorite of the series so far. Since I re-read many of the other Dark Hunter books quite frequently, I'd say this would rate as one of those I'd only re-read if I were reviewing or looking up some of the important details revealed in it. ( )