I've been reading Viehl's work since the first StarDoc came out. Although the Darkyn series is not Sci Fi, it bears her hallmark (intricate plotting with a dash of medical realism) and drew me in immediately.

Second in the Darkyn series, the saga continues, this time with the focus on Thierry, a member of the Darkyn, tormented and mentally unstable after the betrayal of his beloved wife and the torture he endured by The Brethren, dreaded enemy of the Darkyn. (Which occurred in the first of the Darkyn series If Angel's Burn).

Each of the Darkyn have talents and Thierry's is the ability to invade dreams. Thierry finds himself drawn to Jema Shaw, from their first encounter. Jema is an antiquities expert for her family's museum by day, part time independent forensic consultant with the Chicago coroner's office by night.

Convincing himself he is doing it to discover the identities of those responsible for the brutal mutilation of another young woman, Thierry uses his powers to visit Jema Shaw in her dreams and finds himself in a place of healing- and unwanted attraction.

Although Theirry and Jema are clearly the hero and heroine of this story, we do see enough of Alex and Michael from the first book (If Angels Burn, Darkyn Book 1), and other creatures from their world, to make this a book about the Darkyn and Brethern as much as the hero and heroine.

Viehl has created a complicated world with all kinds of threads hanging out there, that, in anyone else but this author's hands, could make one throw the book down in frustration. The intricate pattern she's weaving could so easily get lost on a reader, but man I love the intelligence of it! She writes romance for the thinking woman better than anyone I know, although some would argue that she writes romance at all considering the suspense/thriller feel of her stories.

In the end, things come together in Private Demon to bring a close to Jema and Thierry's story while still leaving things open for the next installment (Dark Need). ( )

Am really enjoying this series. I like the vampire mythology mixed with medicine. ( )

PRIVATE DEMON is the second installment of the Darkyn series after IF ANGELS BURN. Lynn Viehl brings back the characters - Alexandra Keller and Michael Cyprien - as they play an equally important role to capture Thierry Durand, this book's hero.

Thierry centers in on Jema Shaw at a homicide crime scene, believing she can lead him to members of the Brethren, an evil group of monks set on destroying the Darkyn. He enters her dreams in order to discover information, but loses his heart instead.

One thing the book lacks is hot steamy romance scenes. Instead, the reader gets dark snippets inside Thierry mind which explains his past. Also through Jema's dreams a bond is formed with Thierry that goes beyond physical.

One thing that should be highlighted about this book is Viehl's ability to add subplots without disturbing the story. In J.R. Ward's book, DARK LOVER, the extra characters distracted, where as Viehl blends the characters together to perfection.

Staying true to the dark motif, there be no fairy tale, everyone walks away happily ever after ending. I don't want to say more as it might ruin it for the reader. You'll have to judge whether or not you like it or not. I admire the author for not taking the safe road and veering into new territory.

The only problem I had with the story was the same as with the first and that's believability. I just didn't buy the story hook, line, and sinker. Even so, it's one of the best dark fantasy series out on the market. I would suggest you start with the very first book, IF ANGELS BURN.

http://j-kaye-book-blog.blogspot.com/... ( )

I enjoyed If Angels Burn and wondered if Private Demon would be as good and it was, actually in some ways it was better because the world building grows in this story.

This story focuses on Jema Shaw, she's a diabetic and believes that she doesn't have long to live but still she wants to give something to her community and do rather than be passive and she works in the museum founded by her father. Her mother disapproves, in fact her mother disapproves of any sign of independence by Jema. She has ensured some control over her daughter by hiring a full-time doctor to keep an eye on her.
Next door to her lives a vampire, and she doesn't know it, he's been a family friend for years. There's another vampire around though. Thierry Durand was tormented body and soul by his people's enemies and by his wife. He's attracted by Jema and starts invading her dreams.
It's fun, light but I felt myself becoming involved with the characters and rooting for them. The world continues to grow and become more interesting. ( )

This is the second book in Lynn Viehl’s Darkyn series. It follows up If Angels Burn with the same semi-predictable but still very enjoyable plot style, yet there is nowhere near the unsettling feeling that comes from the torture scenes in the first book. This is still a dark fantasy, or perhaps an urban fantasy (the definitions blur a little), but there were no scenes that I will skip when I do a re-read (as there was in the first one).

I enjoyed this book, probably more than the first one. I like the heroine in If Angels Burn better, but she shows up in Private Demon as a supporting character, so that made me happy. In fact, many of the cast of the first book recur in the second. It was an easy sequel to read: a few new characters, the return of old favorites, and not too much re-telling of the previous plot. It had been several months since I read the first book, and Viehl blended the summary with new plot so seamlessly that it seemed I had just finished reading the previous book.

There isn’t a lot of the plot that can be told without giving away things from If Angels Burn, but I can discuss the heroine, who is a new character. She seems pretty realistic to me, yet there were a few aspects of her character that I had to take with a grain of salt. It seemed that she was focused on different parts of her illness than I would have been in her position, and while I can understand it from a plot viewpoint, it did leave me rolling my eyes at her a few times.

Also, there are almost two heroes in the book, which was a twist I found interesting. That part worked better for me than the heroine did. Most people who I’ve spoken to who have read this book favored one of the men as the one who should win the lady, but I found myself disagreeing with them. The “popular favorite” may have been better for her, but the situation was creepy for me. He’d known her and watched her for ages, ever since she was little – he was too much a father figure to her for me to want him to be her lover.

Anyway, it was an enjoyable book. The series flows well, and seems to have plenty of momentum to carry it through the other books which have been written and the couple of others that have been contracted for in addition. The only problem I have with the series is that it’s shelved in the romance section. I don’t see these as romances: they are urban/dark/paranormal fantasy. Yes, they have romance elements, but they are not – to me – true romances. ( )