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
Dying Wish
by
Shannon K. Butcher
dark fantasy, paranormal romance in Paperback edition that was published by Signet on March 6, 2012 and has 372 pages.
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Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Dark and Stormy Knights, Living on the Edge, Razor's Edge, Burning Alive, Finding the Lost, Running Scared, Living Nightmare, Blood Hunt, Edge of Sanity, Falling Blind, Kicking It, Rough Edges
Sixth in the Sentinel Wars dark paranormal romance series. The couple focus is on Jackie Patton and Iain.
My Take
Jackie makes me nuts. She’s spent two years being terrorized by demons. They’ve explained till they’re blue in the face that the demons will continue to come after her. And she refuses to believe. She seriously believes that she can start a new life without the Theronai.
I can see her point in that it’s not her business to help save one of the Theronai. She shouldn’t have to give up the rest of her life in gratitude for their rescuing her. It’s their job. What irritates me is that she refuses to even consider this life change. Does she really believe that now she’s rescued the Synestryn will never think of her again?
We do learn Iain’s history and events really speed up. If ever there was a lesson in seizing the day. Ignore what others think you should do, but do what feels right for you, for you know not how long you will have. Dead lovers return, new life aborning, chances for healing.
Logan buys the most incredible gift for Hope.
Most of the earlier books saw the Theronai men behaving pretty crudely. They were Neanderthals in expecting the compatible women to fall all over this “fabulous opportunity” to bond with a Sentinel. And then they couldn’t figure out why the women fought it so hard. It’s one reason why I’ve been hard on the ratings.
I like the concept of the series; it’s a unique twist on demons and Butcher’s version of the vampire. She has really done an excellent job of teasing me along with the underlying theme of the Solarc and the people who are silently rebelling against his rule. I keep wanting to find out what clues she’s dropped this time. And, compared to earlier stories, Butcher is dropping clues all over Dying Wish while upping the action here on earth between the Sentinels and their previously secret Band of the Barren, not to mention Lyka’s little bombshell.
The Story
Jackie has been trying to leave the Theronai compound almost since she was rescued. She finally gets Joseph to promise that if she picks a man, he will allow her to leave. And she knows just which man. He’s perfect because he wants nothing to do with her either.
Meanwhile, Tori is plotting her own plans to lay her own dread down. She intends to capture Zilla. Only everything has changed in what was Zilla’s territory.
An attack on Autumn, of the children rescued, causes Iain to push at Jackie to help. To go with him to see if they can track down the different caverns she was transported between.
And Grace is failing.
The Characters
Jackie Patton had been held prisoner by the demons for two years. Now that she’s been rescued, all she wants is out. She doesn’t care that she is compatible with several of the men; she wants nothing to do with any of them. Nor does she care that Helen (mated to Drake) and Lexi (mated to Zach) are her long lost sisters, she simply wants out, to get back to her old life. Samson is the half-Synestryn, half-human baby Jackie rescued. Dana and Will have taken him in.
Iain Terra is one of the Sentinels and a member of the Band of the Barren whose lifemark is bare and he is hanging on only by sheer willpower. There’s no point in his considering Jackie as a mate since his true lifemate Serena died centuries ago. There will never be another for him.
Joseph Rayd is the leader for the Theronai, and he is getting very tired. Torr is desperate to find a way to save Grace, who gave up her chance to live to save him. Cain is the Sentinel who has watched over Sibyl for her entire life and his lifemark is almost bare. Sibyl is Angus and Gilda’s daughter, suddenly released from the curse she has lived under for most of her life. Madoc is mated to the now-pregnant Nika (see Living Nightmare) and her sister Andra is with Paul (Finding the Lost). Mabel Hennesy is the friend Helen brought to Dabyr to keep her safe (Burning Alive). Nicholas Laith is another Sentinel.
Logan is mated to Hope Serrien (Blood Hunt). She is the ultimate, what the Sanguinar should have evolved into. Brenya is a healer and the Athanasian woman who raised Hope. With luck, she can save Grace. And perhaps Tori. Brenya also sent the daughters of Celentia and Lahrien to earth. Logan’s brother Tynan is their primary medic. Ronan and Connal are more Sanguinar.
Zillah is the demon lord who held Tori, Nika and Andra’s sister prisoner for so long. Poor thing, he’s been called to account by his demon peers for his screw-ups. Raygh is one of the Synestryn lords; Murak is his son and has been granted Zillah’s lands. IF he can find the breeding humans.
Beth is a Synestryn prisoner. And pregnant. Autumn Mason is just a child who was rescued from Zilla and she’s a target for Murak. She and her family moved to Chicago to get farther away from them.
Andreas Phelan is the new leader of the Slayers and he’s desperate for an alliance with the Theronai. Enough that he sent his half-sister Lyka Phelan to Joseph as a hostage. She hates being here, she’s terrified the Theronia will discover her secret. That she’s the result of a union between a Slayer and a Theronai (I’m suspecting she’s destined for Joseph!).
The Theronai are a breed apart. Sentinels. Their purpose to hold back the demons from swarming the earth. Dabyr is the fortified compound where almost five hundred humans and Sentinels live. The Band of the Barren are warriors who have lost their souls. They are damned to go mad. The Synestryn is a generic term for all demons. The Sanguinar are the medics of the Theronai and very similar to what we would consider vampires as they need blood to survive. The Solarc is a megalomaniacal jerk who rules Athanasia and condemned the Sanguinar to starvation.
The Cover and Title
The cover is intense with oranges and blacks and a fiery Iain posing fiercely in tight black jeans, facing away from us so we see the bare branches of his lifemark curving over his left shoulder, his right hand clenching his sword with a backward grip, flashing in the light.
The title is all about Iain’s Dying Wish.
