Klappentext: Susan Michaels was once the hottest reporter on the Beltway Beat until a major scandal ruined her life and left her writing stories about alien babies and Elvis sightings. Life as she once knew it is over, or so she thinks, but then she gets a lead on a story that could salvage her extinct career. She heads to the local animal shelter, expecting a hot news tip, which she gets in the form of a major police cover-up... for a ring of a soulsucking vampires out to take over Seattle. So much for saving her credibility.
And if that isn´t bad enough, she gets talked into adopting a cat and finds she´s allergic to it. A cat that turns out to be a shapeshifter who claims to be an immortal vampire slayer on the prowl for the same corrupt cops. Her first thought: seek professional help.
But as Susan´s drawn into Ravyn´s dark and dangerous world, she comes to realize that there´s a lot more to stake than just her defunct career. Now it´s no longer a question of bringing the truth to her readers; it´s a matter of saving their very lives and soul.
Ravyn´s life was shattered over four hundred years ago, when he mistakenly trusted the wrong human with the truth of his existence. He lost his family, his honor, and his life. Now, in order to save the people of Seattle, he´s forced to confront that nightmare all over again, and to trust another woman with the secret that could destroy him.
In the world of the Dark-Hunters, life is always dangerous. But never more so than now, when a very human woman can shatter their entire world with just one story. The only question is...will she?
lt. amazon:-From Publishers Weekly: In paranormal romance author Kenyon's debut hardcover (after Unleash the Night), her New Orleans–based Dark-Hunters have moved to Seattle, where they continue to battle Daimons who suck both blood and souls from humans. Love doesn't come easy for these tortured, hunky heroes, as shown by Ravyn Contis, a shape-shifting Dark-Hunter, who was betrayed by his first lifemate. Now his newest love interest, reporter Susan Michaels, is allergic to him—or, more specifically, to his cat form. She's also none too happy to find herself thrown into the midst of a war between Seattle's Dark-Hunters and a race of über-powerful Daimons. Tough, sarcastic Susan rises to the occasion and even possesses enough martial arts knowledge to hold her own in a face-off with Daimons. Some readers will question the convenient revelation of her battle skills as well as her bring-'em-on bravado, but most will take this in stride and enjoy the taut action and jaunty humor. Though the story unfolds predictably, it contains a delicious balance of suspense and sensuality and provides a tantalizing setup for the sequel.
Meine Meinung: Das war mein erster Roman dieser Dark-Hunter Serie; und ich muss sagen teilweise habe ich mich schon verloren gefühlt, da es Abschnitte in diesem Buch gab, die ein Vorwissen vorausgesetzt haben... Susan hat aufgrund dieses Nicht-Wissens mal einen treffenden Satz gesagt; den ich nur voll und ganz unterstreichen kann: You know, Susan thought wryliy, it would really help if I had a clue as to who and what they where talking about. Darüberhinaus hat mir das Buch sehr gefallen und ich habe einige Charaktere gleich ins Herz geschlossen.
In diesem Buch erfährt man mehr über Ravyn und seine Vergangenheit; warum er durch seine eigene Familie den Tod fand, und ein Dark Hunter wurde, und bis heute innerhalb seiner Familie als persona non grata gilt. Dank Susan findet aber dieser jahrhundertelang führende Konflikt ein Ende. Und hier kristallisiert sich wieder diese schwarz/weiss Mentalität als nicht-wahr heraus... (ein passender Satz, den ich hierzu im Internet gefunden habe: ...As a result, she (Sherrily Kenyon) is one of the defining authors of the new wave of paranormal romance, in which the good guys wear black and the bad guys are often colored in shades of gray, a refreshing moral ambiguity that is highlighted in this book).
Unter anderem ist dieses Buch herrlich humorvoll geschrieben, wodurch ich dieses Buch noch lieber gelesen habe (sie hat nicht nur sehr viel Humor in ihre Schreibart hineingesteckt, sondern auch im ganzen Kontext ihrer Geschichte: Ihr Held ist ein Wer-Leopard und ihre Heldin ist allergisch zu Katzen).
Darüberhinaus erfährt der ganze Konflikt zwischen den Dark-Hunters und seinen Feinden, den Appolites und den Dämonen, eine neue Dimension, die ich hier nicht wirklich erläutern kann, da mir (wie schon erwähnt) das Vorwissen fehlt. Alte Charakter komme wieder (Skylar und seine Schwester, Savitar bringt Nick wieder ins Spiel, Ash erscheint für ein paar Stunden auf der Bildfläche und wird nicht wirklich von deinen Mitstreitern herzlich empfangen..., und nicht zu vergessen Cael). Mit Cael und Nick hat Sherrily Kenyon was besonderes vor, was sicher in den Folgebänden der Serie mehr Raum zum erläutern gibt...
Trotz allem gebe ich diesem Buch die volle Punktzahl.
Über die Autorin: With more than twelve million copies of her books in print in twenty-eight countries, #1 New York Times best-selling author Sherrilyn Kenyon burst onto the publishing scene with her crossover novel Born of the Night, an out of print novel that now, twelve years after publication, is deemed the Holy Grail by her fans. On the rare occasions when it appears on eBay, it commands more than forty times its original cover price. The rarest of her books is the e-novel Born of Fire (one of the first e-books ever published in the mid 1990's and a launch book for Dreams-Unlimited) which commands well over $400.00 any time it appears at auction.
But it was her groundbreaking Dark-Hunter vampire novels that catapulted her into superstardom, making her series one of the most eagerly awaited in publishing history. Her books were an overnight sensation that have given her an international cult following with devout fans in more than forty-five countries and landed her at the top of multiple bestseller lists including the New York Times, Publisher's Weekly and USA Today. And many of her titles are perennial bestsellers in the US, Germany, Australia and the UK, under multiple genre listings. She's also made international bestselling lists including the Globe and Mail (Canada) in both hardcover and paper back. Her web site has had in the last two years alone over fourteen million visitors total from more than forty countries. She averages just over 200,000 visitors a week (more whenever she has a new release).
A versatile, award-winning writer, Sherrilyn has carved out multiple bestselling series in numerous genres and subgenres (Science Fiction, Romance, Fantasy, Horror, Contemporary, Historical, Suspense, Futuristic, Urban Fantasy, High Fantasy and Time Travel). Writing as Sherrilyn Kenyon and Kinley MacGregor, her series include: The Brotherhood of the Sword, Dark-Hunter, Hunter Legends, BAD, Lords of Avalon, Nevermore and the Sex Camp Diaries.
Along with her work in fiction, she is an accomplished nonfiction author who has contributed to such works as The Character-Naming Sourcebook, Everyday Life in the Middle Ages, The Writer's Complete Fantasy Reference, and essays "The Search of Spike's Balls" in BenBella's Seven Seasons of Buffy, and others in Five Seasons of Angel. Her articles and short-stories have appeared in hundreds of large and small journals and magazines worldwide. She's also written for television, radio and was once a copywriter and SF/F editor.
Abschliessnd noch eine Internetseite:
HP von Sherrilyn Kenyon