Nightkeepers

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Nightkeepers
3.5 Stars

Synopsis:
The apocalypse is coming on December 21, 2012 and the Nightkeepers, a race of warriors with special powers originating in the barrier between this world and the next, are the only ones who can prevent it. Detective Leah Daniels is investigating a cult dedicated to human sacrifice and cashing in on the end of the world. She is on the verge of becoming their latest victim when Strike Jaguar, the Nightkeeper prince, rescues her and the two discover that their destinies are intertwined and they must work together to save humanity.

Review:
An intense plot, strong characterization and a well-developed mythology based on the Mayan culture. Nevertheless, the story is a bit drawn out, could have had better focus and been reduced by at least 100 pages. Numerous characters, places and magical abilities are introduced which may be confusing and makes it easy to lose track of the narrative if one is not paying attention. I, for one, enjoy this type of detail and made good use of pen and paper to keep everything organized.

While the romantic leads were interesting as individuals, Leah and Strike’s relationship was lacking chemistry and had absolutely no emotional foundation or impact. They barely know each other but suddenly feel that they are soul mates. The secondary characters were more engaging. Rabbit’s teenage angst was endearing and I truly commiserated with his parental issues. In fact, his father, Red-Boar is one of the very few apparently good characters that I found myself despising. It is a sign of Ms. Andersen’s writing skill that she could evoke such emotion in this reader.

Speaking of writing, the book is obviously well-researched and the prose flows. However, I did find the language and dialogue grating at times with an overabundant use of slang and cliché, and some repetitive wording here and there.

All in all, this is a pretty good read and the series has potential. I will read the next book to see if it improves on its shortcomings. ( )

Nightkeepers is the first book in the Final Prophecy Series by Jessica Andersen. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the book despite the fact that there were some very big complaints from me as the reader.

Things I Liked:
There were a few things that I really liked about Nightkeepers. Andersen has a background in science and you can read more about her bio here. I always love it when you can see a bit of the author's personality and the way they think come out in their writing. This was very evident in her scientific logic to some of the scenes. (If A is true, then B is true, B is true , therefore A is true.) Another thing I liked was the fact that she mingled in a sports reference here and there, especially a Rangers reference being a Texan and all now. She even got in a Extreme Home Makeover reference, with the use of Ty Pennington and who doesn't like a handy man? What I liked the most was her use of Mayan history and the 2012 Prophecy. Having never had an interest in Mayan culture it was great to get a glimpse at what they believe and how their society worked. If a book makes me have to google to find out more about something, then I am obviously staying interested.

My Complaints:
First, I do not like books that cannot clearly explain all the characters and how they connect to each other. It took me quite a while to get past the beginning, but when I did I actually started to enjoy the book. Then, my momentum was put on halt around the sixth or seventh chapter with the addition of approximately ten new characters. This would not have been such a stopping point except for the fact that the only notice given that you will be getting new characters was the change in point of view. One paragraph ended in one person POV, then another paragraph started another POV within the same chapter no less. It was very annoying to me to try to keep up. To the point that I had to pull out a piece of paper and start making a chart of who belonged to who. For many people this would have been a stopping point, but I charged ahead. This is also the main reason it received a three out of five rating. My second complaint is a little petty, but I really really hate the word "Ergo." For whatever reason that word is like nails on a chalk board to me and Andersen used it seven times in the book. Yes, once I see that word I start counting how many times it shows up. She also used the phrase, "if he was an inch" too much. She is the author if the character is six feet tall we do not need to hear that they are emphatically six foot tall. My final complaint is that many scenes were overly descriptive. I do not need to know the pattern of the bed spread in excruciating detail.

Nightkeepers saving grace was that the story was interesting. Andersen kept a good pace, there were not many lulls in action. Now that all the characters are laid out and know I how they connect I believe it will make the second book in this series easier to read. A book should be able to stand alone though and shine in its own right and for this reason it did not ranking very high for me. ( )

Just not interesting. Probably a character thing, but I honestly don't remember. Which I guess confirms it: character thing. ( )

I really loved this book and the whole 2012 Prophecy. Nice mix of fantasy vs real life stuff like 'boy meets girl'. The only thing that made it hard to read was that I wanted to know more of each character. When I read this book, however, it had been out for awhile, so I knew it was a series and having read some of those previews knew what I wanted ...I was gonna get. I can't wait to get to those. Nicely done. Keep 'em coming!! ( )