Nightwalker

I recently got the fifth book in this series and decided I need to start from the beginning of the series in order to truly appreciate book five. So…that is why I started this book and I was very very glad that I did. This book has that kick-ass, high speed action, thrill-ride feel. I couldn’t put it down from page one. I was actually quite surprised and amazed at how much I enjoyed this book.

I enjoyed the characters of this book immensely. They are all very vibrant and the type of characters that stick in your mind for a long time after reading. Mira is a kick ass vampire, Danaus is a kick-ass hmm…something (we don’t know yet) and the Naturi are seriously bad guys! I assume they are going to keep getting worse as the series show more progresses. I also noticed the nice heat that is starting to build between Mira and Danaus…a little Romeo/Juliet situation there.

The writing in this book is dark and broody, the normal kind that is consistent with a paranormal urban fantasy. There is some great imagery used throughout the story as Mira travels here there and everywhere to do everyones bidding. There is also a tiny bit of sensuality, enough to show the reader the author’s skill with sensuality and enough to tease you to read more of the series.

Finally, the plot in this book, as I said before, is pretty much a thrill-ride. You start reading and then get thrown head first on looping roller coaster of awesome. There is always something happening and always something you have to pay attention to. There are some great fights, some awesome sights, and some steamy men. Don’t miss out on this book. show less

I think I just fell in love again. Another author I’ve been hearing great things about, Nightwalker by Jocelynn Drake is a whole new experience and I can’t wait for the second novel in the Dark Days series.

We’re introduced to Mira, a 600+ vampire who has a unique talent among her own kind - she’s a fire starter and is thus immune to fire. Being a vampire, this is really handy talent. However, it makes her very valuable to other people and thus she is found in the middle of a war where she is left with very few choices. Through it all, an odd relationship is formed between a nightwalker and a hunter…two enemies who are fighting side by side in order to be the one to kill the other.

I loved this novel. We’re given a new show more perspective in vampire literature and we’re given a romance that is very Shakespearean. The entire tale is centered on Mira and the choices she must make as she wades through the vampire politics, yet she’s still considered one of the strongest ones out there so she has power of her own. No one considers her weak and she’s a force to be reckon with. You can tell that just from her personality and Drake delivers beautifully when she develops her character. We’re given information about her past and we get to see inside her head while she works things out. The novel is told in the first person and yet it drags you into the story and doesn’t let go. The plot is fabulous with twists and turns in every chapter and it doesn’t leave you waiting for anything. There is some romantic element, but instead of the happy ever after ending type of story, we’re given a more realistic courtship where both parties know where they want their relationship to end up and it’s a place that we’re not all familiar with.

Overall, Jocelynn Drake is an author is getting added to my “buy immediately upon release” list and there are not that many authors on it. If all of her books are as good as this one, then I know I’m going to be in for a wild ride and will be loving every moment of it. I haven’t found an author that I became instantly in love with since Jeaniene Frost, but now I have and I plan to spread the word. Do not go out and borrow this book from the library, but go out and buy it. You won’t regret it.

http://www.literaryescapism.com/2008/08/26/382/ show less

An intricate work that's stunningly complex and compelling. Once I picked "Nightwalker" up, I couldn't put down Jocelynn Drake's tale that (hopefully) is just the start of a series about an alternate reality existing in today's world. This is a dark urban fantasy. It's not a romance even though it has some romantic elements. Even though I finished reading "Nightwalker" a few hours ago, I'm still having difficulty extracting myself from Ms Drake's world.

Mira has been a vampire for over 600 years. She's also known as Fire Starter which is echoed in her wild red hair. She has survived cruelty and acts of torture so horrific, her mind refuses to remember and they only occasionally resurface as nightmares. She left her maker and her show more rescuer/healer to create a home and existence for herself in the New World and she's content with her existence. She doesn't kill when she feeds. She does, however, kill any humans or supernatural creatures who threaten to expose or disturb the comfortable life she's carved out in Savannah. So when a slayer appears in her territory, she decides to extract all the information she can before she kills him. She doesn't know that this slayer is more than he seems, and that his appearance in her life will herald a quest that will change everything she thought she knew about her life.

Mira fascinates me. She's certainly no angel but she's also not quite a demon. She's one of the most human supernatural creatures I've read about in a long time. She really just wants to safeguard the haven she's created for herself. 'Live and let live' would be her motto if she bothered to have one. Her relationship with the slayer who intrudes into her territory is so complex. I still haven't figured out exactly what he is...and neither has Mira. He's sometimes a friend, almost a love, could kill her with a thought, has saved her life several times, thinks she's damned, and is apparently willing to go against the organization he works for to protect her! Fabulous!

If you like your urban fantasies a bit dark, with strong sexual elements but no real 'romance', at least not yet...I can't recommend "Nightwalker" highly enough. There are shadowy mysterious organizations that are only mentioned or hinted at and I can hardly wait until May 2009 for the next release in this series, "Dayhunter". show less

Though this book was written in the first person, a style I really don't prefer for a story, it had a very large world. Drake takes care to include lycanthropes, vampires, witches/warlocks and the fae. The fae in this story are called the naturi and as a group from the antagonist, though they are split into several different clans like animal, and earth for instance. Nightwalker is essentially the story of an ongoing war between the fae and all other supernatural creatures. The fae have the ability to control lycanthropes essentially turning the into slaves and there goal is to open a door to a dimension that was previously sealed by the vampires. Their goal is to rule the earth and eradicate the Nightwalkers.

Mira is alone in her own show more kingdom ensuring that the vampires obey the rules and keeping peace between the vamps and the lycanthropes. She is 500 years old and is the oldest vampire in the Americas. What sets Mira apart from all the others is not only her age, but her ability to start a fire with her mind. As long as she can see someone, or an item for that matter, she has the ability to incinerate it. Mira is also one of the few nightwalkers to win her freedom from an ancient. Her fragile world is ripped asunder when a hunter named Dannus enters her territory killing vampires, and bringing the news that the Naturi are back.

Having once been captured and tortured by the Naturi, Mira suffers from PTSD. It manifests in things like night terrors. I think that this is key, because far too often in urban fantasy, characters suffer absolutely traumatic events and then walk away as though the event itself was as harmless as taking a nap. Drake does an excellent job of making the reader feel Mira's pain and her fear. There is no rising above to conquer the past, it is simply something that Mira must negotiate throughout the story.

We also have a budding romance between Dannus and Mira, though they have sworn to kill each other. At this point, we have no idea what Dannus is, though he belongs to a sect who have been studying the supernatural for centuries. Dannus was alive during the Roman Empire, and is even older than Mira. He is an extremely interesting character. Dannus begins the story seeing the world in a simple binary of Black and White having had much of life's path influenced by religious figures but once meeting Mira, he must consider that the world is filled with greys he had not previously considered. Their relationship suffers set backs of trust and respect is something that slowly earned rather than given. Unlike many authors, Drake avoids the whole love at first woo woo and takes the time to build a relationship.

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Very promising start but ultimately wasn't able to fulfill any of the premises.
There were quite a few direct contradictions of supernatural mechanics that had been explicitly explained previously.
All the writing seemed to get more and more sloppy and lazy the further I read.
The power level of the MC is very inconsistent and very obviously adjusts with the plot's needs.
Plot convenience in general is a huge issue, especially beyond 50%.
The pacing is a mess and caused me to be bored in slow-moving sections as well as in endless stretches of action.

Overall, good concept, interesting premise, bad execution.

Urban fantasy more in the vein (heh) of Anne Rice's "The Vampire Lestat" than, say, paranormal romance a la Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight". Kick-ass female protagonist who is herself a special kind of vampire, and has to uncover the family history mystery around her past. I liked the world-building and the character-building -- the protagonist, Mira, is strong and not under-powered in the least -- but the writing felt a little detached; I never got passionate about this series. I read the first three five years ago, but am only now picking up #4 to see where it goes, so you can see I felt a little less than urgently involved.

I really enjoyed this book. Great female lead - who's a vampire, which I like - who spars (physically and verbally) with a vampire hunter. Some good dark humor and great sexual tension - it's great to read a book where the female protagonist is a physical and mental match to the guy. Can't wait to read her second one!