Book Review: Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Side of the Moon

Posted November 5, 2011 by Kathy Davie in Book Reviews

I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Source: the library
Book Review: Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Side of the Moon

Dark Side of the Moon


by

Sherrilyn Kenyon


It is part of the , series and is a paranormal romance in Paperback edition that was published by St. Martin's Press on November 28, 2006 and has 353 pages.

Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon


Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Blood Trinity, Man of My Dreams, Invincible, Born of Shadows, Retribution, Big Guns Out of Uniform, Tapestry, Deadly Promises, In Other Worlds, Dream Warrior, "One BAD Night", Alterant, The Guardian, Whispered Lies, Infamous, Born of Silence, Aftertaste, The Curse, Inferno, Rise of the Gryphon, Styxx, Dangerous Women, Son of No One, Dragonbane, Born of Vengeance, Deadmen Walking, Stygian

Ninth in the Dark-Hunter and fourth in the Were-Hunter paranormal romance series. This one is set in Seattle, Washington with the couple focus on Ravyn Kontis, a Katagarian turned Dark-Hunter, and Susan Michaels, a disgraced journalist.

My Take

Stryker has a new plan to eliminate the Dark-Hunters and he’s making Seattle the kick-off for their eradication. It’s ideal with his new human allies. Man, Kenyon knows how to hit all the buttons that make people crazy: anger, hate, love, joy, lust, and greed. All while combining the mythos of a range of gods and goddesses along with her own reasonably complex set of cultures and the action never seems to stop whether it’s fighting in the streets and boardrooms or in the bedroom.

The basic formula is the same but it’s always fascinating to see how we get there from here. Part of the attraction is how she brings in characters from earlier installments so we get to see how things are going for them. Most of the attraction is the depth of involvement Kenyon wrings from her readers and the incredible detail she creates without being overly verbose.

I do like Savitar. He’s the most benevolently selfish and straightforward god I’ve ever met!

“Remember, Nick, there are only two people in the universe I care for…and you’re not one of them.”

The Story

If only she could find a job on a respectable paper, Susan wouldn’t have to be checking on lame stories about killer moths invading from South America or this new one that Leo was assigning to her. Vampires? Oh, please. Maybe this call from Angie will be a break for her; she only has to look at the cat.

A quick visit to the shelter, her allergies gone crazy, and her best friend’s husband, Jimmy, has gone nuts. Vampires on his brain. Fine. Fine. She can take the cat home. Wait for Angie to come pick it up. Except it all goes to hell. And Susan finds out that, yeah, there are vampires.

The Characters

Ravyn Kontis is a Katagarian turned Dark-Hunter when his brother, Phoenix, killed him. Now, he’s assigned to the Seattle area with Erica as his temporary Squire. Thank god it’s only temporary! He’s also been assigned to train the newly Dark Nick Gautier. Savitar isn’t interested in teaching Gautier fighting skills. Claims he hasn’t any fighting skills as he simply zaps people at whom he’s pissed. Cael is a Celtic Dark-Hunter married to Amaranda, an Apollite these past four years. The enemy-in-waiting.

Susan Michaels is a former award-winning journalist at the Washington Post; now she’s lucky to have a job on a tabloid reporting on Elvis’ alien love child with Leo as her boss. Angie, works at the animal clinic, and Jimmie, a detective, are her best friends. Her only family.

Acheron “Ash” is the head of all Dark-Hunters. In charge of their training, their morale, and saving their asses when it gets too deep. His “boss” is Artemis, the creator of all Dark-Hunters and the meanest, nastiest bitch you will ever encounter.

Stryker is his opposite number — the head of the Spathi, a Daimon, and he’s made an alliance with the humans to take out the Dark-Hunters in Seattle. Satara is a handmaiden of Artemis and Stryker’s sister spying on the Dark-Hunters, informing him when Ash is with Artemis.

There are a number of other characters on both sides.

The Cover and Title

The cover is a deep red sunset over a nightlit cityscape with Ravyn in a calf-length, black leather coat making a stand on top of a building, staring out at us.

My best guess is that this new war unleashed by Stryker is on the Dark Side of the Moon, which represents all night creatures.