Darkness Devours

by Keri Arthur

Published by: Signet Select/ Penguin Publishing

My Rating: 

Half-werewolf, half-Aedh Risa Jones can enter the realm between life and death, and she can see the Reapers who collect the souls of the dead. Now, she is using her gifts—and the investigative know-how of a man who broke her heart—to find a cabal searching for the power to control time, reality, and fate. And this is besides her work for the Vampire Council, half of whom want her dead.

But for now the Council needs her alive. Someone is killing blood-whore addicted vampires, and Risa must find the guilty party. If she succeeds, she may finally convince the council to lift the execution order on her life. But before she succeeds, she must first survive…

My Review:

I really liked the Riley Jensen/Guardian series by Keri Arthur, but I love the Dark Angels series.  This series is set in the same world as the Riley Jensen series, and some characters cross over.  Risa, the heroine, was a minor character in the Riley series and now she’s all grown up.  With each book in the Dark Angels series, Risa’s abilities grow and her life becomes increasingly complicated.  Through it all, she maintains her loyalty to her friends and family.

In Darkness Devours, half-werewolf/half-Aedh Risa seeks the help of Jak, a former flame who broke her heart, to help her find the person trying to gain control of the gates of hell.  Azriel again plays a prominent role in the book, his connection to Risa deepens and they work together as partners.  Azriel is very protective of Risa and his humanity shows up much more in this installment in the series.  Risa’s other love interest, Lucian is in the book, but his actions are suspicious and Risa starts standing up for herself much more with Lucian, and Jak.  While Risa has her hands plenty full trying to stay ahead of the Aedh who hunt her, the Vampire Council is also on her case, asking for help and putting her in more dangerous situations.  Something is killing blood whores, and they charge Risa with resolving the situation.

As you might imagine, Darkness Devours is chalk full of action.  Risa is constantly on the move, working to defend herself, keep ahead of her enemies, and manage her complicated love life at the same time.  One thing I absolutely love about Keri Arthur’s world is that the women have such confidence with their sexuality.  Risa is only half-werewolf, but she has a very healthy sex drive and she does not shy away from it, or feel guilty for having lovers.  I am so thankful that Risa does not have the over-long inner monologues about who she should and shouldn’t sleep with.  She has been hurt in the past by lovers, so she is cautious, but she accepts her nature and does her best to not over-think or over-analyze her sexual encounters.

The plot definitely moves forward in Darkness Devours.  Risa has confrontations with the Aedh, she has to deal with the hurt that Jak caused her, Lucian’s place in her life is still in question, and she makes progress with the vampire council.  I am very happy with Darkness Devours, I am thrilled that Risa is continuing to grow and to learn more about her Aedh abilities.  At the same time, I am eager to find out what happens next.  The Dark Angels series is shaping up to be a series that I will happily follow for years.  As long as Keri Arthur keeps writing the books, I will keep reading them.

I love diving into the Dark Angels world, the setting and world is thoroughly thought out, the characters are well-developed and engaging, the action is thrilling, and there are plenty of steamy scenes.  Readers who enjoy dark fantasy paranormal books will love this series, it’s a series that should not be missed.

Darkness Devours releases soon, so if you haven’t read the first 2 books in the series, now is a great time to pick them up!