Awaken Me Darkly (Alien Huntress, Book 1) by Gena Showalter (2005)

Mia Snow is an alien huntress in the near-future working for the New Chicago Police Department. She has a grudge against aliens as at least one of her brothers died at their hands many years ago. She's starting to burn out a little though and her life seems to be one long shooting match with very little down-time.

It's an interesting story that just doesn't quite thoroughly work for me, but wasn't a bad read. ( )

This book seems to lend itself to high-concept pairings. I've seen "Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Alien Nation" and "Eve Dallas meets Anita Blake." Personally, I'll go with Men in Black meets Romeo and Juliet... but without the tragic ending. It's about star-crossed lovers and finding an alien killer.

Mia Snow is an Alien Huntress--she works for the Alien Investigation and Removal agency. It's a future Chicago where aliens live, for the most part peacefully. But due to their unearthly abilities, when aliens become a threat to humanity, it's not possible to simply throw them in jail. Which is where Mia comes in. (hence the Anita Blake comparisons, which, I admit, are apt--at least for the first several Anita Blake books)

There's a murder that Mia determines was committed by a certain kind of alien, and the trail leads her to the Arcadians Kyrin and his sister Lilla. But the more she investigates, the more Mia finds herself falling in love with a man that duty says she should kill.

It's a fun concept--add a star-crossed romance to Men in Black. The mystery is appropriately convoluted. I enjoyed the worldbuilding and the emotional intensity of falling in love with the absolutely wrong person. And I very much enjoyed that Kyrin is written in shades of gray. So often in this kind of book, the alien (or werewolf or vampire or whathaveyou) is not only peaceful but altruistic, and is simply misunderstood. That's not Kyrin.

However, it got a little too convoluted, and at times I was overwhelmed with the details. And there was that back-and-forth with the hero and heroine having the same fight over and over that always drives me nuts. Mia was also a little too willing to use asskicking as a first resort, and a little too undefeatable.

I've been hearing that the second book in the series is a big improvement, and I did really enjoy the concept, but this book didn't wow me, and I have that monster TBR pile.... I haven't decided yet if I'll pick it up or not. Leave a comment and convince me. ( )

Mia Snow is a kick butt, leather clad alien huntress with a disposition colder than her name. She has fought for her position in a male dominated profession and will not compromise in her morals. However, when Mia and her partner, Dallas, begin investigating a serial killer with a fondness for young men Mia finds she'll need all her brains and all her skills to discover who is responsible. Not the least of her problems is the fact that one of their prime suspects is a heart-stoppingly handsome alien named Kyrin whom she is developing an almost otherworldly attraction for. When her partner sustains a deadly injury it is Kyrin who holds the key to Dallas’ life, but the alien’s price for the saving may be higher than Mia is willing to pay.

I'm not a real big fan of the uber-tough, killer chick heroine types which, unfortunately, is exactly what the main character here is. Fortunately, the story itself was enjoyable and interesting enough that I was able to get around that. This particular novel is the predecessor to two young adult books by Ms. Showalter, also set in this world, in which Mia is a side character. It was rather interesting to see how the whole story began, even though I rather liked the YA books a bit better than this one. Although this book did have a respectable conclusion, the entire mystery has not yet been solved and in that respect it is a bit of a cliffhanger. I'm certainly interested enough in this series to keep an eye out for the next book. ( )

This book was a good mix of police procedural and science fiction. It had a futuristic setting featuring aliens alongside humans with a nice dash of romance. I liked learning Mia's history along with her as her powers are gradually revealed. ( )