DARK IS THE NIGHT
Book #1 of the Dark Justice Series
Brindle Chase
Published by Forlorn Hope
Date: June 22, 2011
ISBN: 0012872229
Genre: Erotic Paranormal Romance
Ebook, 173 pages
Book provided by Author for Review
Brindle Chase Website
Katherine Wells is Cleveland's top homicide detective and she's hot on the trail of the Antoinette killer. The string of burnt and beheaded bodies have little in common, except they keep turning up. In search of clues, she encounters Alexander. His intoxicating old world persona captivates her and she suddenly finds herself in a torrid love affair. The passion is overwhelming and her sense of law falls into blissful chaos.
As an elder vampire, Alexander struggles for anonymity in the modern world. Killing isn't personal; it's to prevent them from becoming the undead. His kind can't be discovered. With Katherine's investigation getting too close to the truth, the other vampires demand he eliminate Detective Wells.
Katherine discovers Alexander's supernatural secret and he learns Katherine's the detective he must silence. The revelations are shocking. He's everything she ever wanted and everything she stood against. Torn between a love like no other and the law she's sworn to uphold, she must choose. Against time, the police and the other vampires, they must destroy the evidence she's collected and join the undead.
Review Ratings
Bitten's She-Wolf Pack's Ratings and Reviews
Laurie’s Ratings:
Review: 5 – An Alpha Howl
Sexual: 4 - Four Alarm Fire
I really enjoyed taking a walk on the darker side of paranormal romance with Dark is the Night. This is a darker vampire romance with the added suspense storyline that author Brindle Chase has brought into the paranormal romance world. If you still like your vampires with bite this maybe for you, but be warned Brindle writes vampires that kills. Oh yeah, that’s what I like most about it. Vampires are predators they need to kill for their livelihood and in saying this they also need a darker tale that puts a little fright into someone and I think this book does a good job at doing this. I do hope Brindle will write more of these because they are hard to find in today’s paranormal romance world.
Alexander and Katherine’s connection starts right off and heats the pages up all the way through. Don’t get me wrong these two have a lot of tension between them you see one doesn’t want to turn the other and the other one wants to be turned, so you get a ride with some strain.
I recommend this one to those who likes the darker side with some *fans self* hot sex. One scene has a little F/F. I myself don’t care for the F/F, but it didn’t bother me that much because it was very light.
Cynthia’s Ratings:
Review: 5 – An Alpha Howl
Sexual: 4 - Four Alarm Fire
If you’re looking for the sanitized, romanticized or even (GAH someone slap me) the twinkling day-walking vampire – thank you Mr. Chase, because you won’t find them here. Mr. Chase has created a world that puts the vampire right back where it all began. In the shadows, at the top of the food chain; peering down at us with those mesmerizing eyes, captivating us with their beauty. Harkens back to the day of the vampire as true predator.
Katherine and Alexander are drawn together by an unquenchable need and lust; their passion the only thing they have in common. Little do they know, however, they do hunt each other in a totally different way. Katherine is searching for the killer in a string of horrendous murders, which Alexander has committed, but only in self-preservation. As Katherine’s investigation closes in on a suspect, and she thinks it may be Alexander, her outlook on life changes. Alexander knows he must take action to prevent his kind from being exposed or he forfeits everything.
From Page One, I was hooked by Mr. Chase’s writing style and world building. Nothing ho-hum, tedious, or lagging. On the contrary, at times I was a smidgeon overwhelmed. DARK IS THE NIGHT will satisfy readers of the paranormal, suspense, and erotic romance genres. There is one short f/f/m scene, but don’t get your panties in a wad Girls.
I would be remiss if I did not caution you of the graphic sex and violence in DARK IS THE NIGHT. Well, the sex you expected, but the violence you may not; this is not for the faint of heart. I feel the violence (and sex, of course) is warranted. They play a very large part in the development of not only the relationship of Katherine and Alexander, but of how Katherine sees herself and to what lengths Alexander will go to protect her.
Some of you may find Katherine’s actions unbelievable (it is fiction), but ask yourself this question: What would you do for love? Where is the fine line? The real, true, ever-lasting, can’t live without, he/she completes me, love. What Mr. Chase has penned is a bit reminiscent of
Etta Place and
Bonnie Parker (just two examples that come to mind). Except that Mr. Chase has delivered it to us wrapped via an uber-sensual vampire in the delicious tale of two souls colliding with each other, overcoming the frightening odds, and having their HEA. BRAVO! After all, this is romance!
Ollie's Ratings:
Review: 3 – One Good Howl
Sexual: 4 – Four Alarm Fire
DARK IS THE NIGHT not only delivers some very hot and intense passionate scenes, but also returns to the concept that vampires are predatory killer driven by the instinct to hunt and feed from their victims. Though I enjoyed the concept and the hot sex scenes, there were elements that threw me off and made it difficult for to connect with the characters.
At the beginning of the book I felt as if I was transported to a 1940's detective movie by how Katherine “spoke”. At first I tried to ignore the imagery that kept popping in my head that I was watching a Humphrey Bogart movie with the Katherine saying (not the exact words but the same feeling) “I was standing in the corner watching the blood slide down the wall while I lit a cigarette” or how she would say something and then say en it with “I said”. It became hard to put myself into the scene and feel as if I was standing on the sideline watching in as I do with other books.
What I did enjoy was the development of Alexander and how he was both a powerful force not only physically but also emotionally. His determination not to draw Katherine into his world was endearing, at the same time it did not take away from his strong persona.
Katherine on the other hand, I had a harder time understanding her personality. Her tough as nail demeanor did not settle well with me. I found that there didn't seem to be a natural progression from Katherine's original persona to accepting and giving herself completely so quickly to Alexander. If the author provided more glimpses into the tender side of Katherine emotional make up then it would have been easier to accept her transition.
Now for times that Alexander and Katherine got it on were hot and intense, but sex scenes alone can't make up for the lack of connection for the characters. During the first half of the book I had to struggle to read through, but by the second half it became easier due to the increase in action. Though there were parts I didn't connect with I still enjoyed the overall storyline and of course Alexander. Now he is vampire I would love to spend my nights with.
WildAboutBones Ratings:
Review: 3 – One Good Howl
Sexual: 4 – Four Alarm Fire
Chase combines vampires, murder, torture and undeniable, irresistible, insatiable arousal in this dark paranormal romance. The story is told in first person from Alexander's and Katherine's points of view.
Usually the domain of the antagonists, the romantic male lead in this story is a vampire in the more traditional vein: cold blooded predator, kills when feeding, turns a victim simply by feeding upon, must behead and burn to kill to make sure victim doesn't turn, to kill must behead and/or remove the heart to kill, no sunlight, etc.
Alexander, a 1000 year old vamp and the male lead, is full of contradictions. He insists he has no morals and yet he feels remorse when killing, feels it is wrong to kill when not hungry or indiscriminately, has a sense of fair play/honor and laments the fact that humans have no chance against the superior vamps. He talks as if he belongs in centuries past ... hasn't bothered to keep up with modern slang or speech patterns (which can make for some difficult reading at times -- like trying to read one of the literary classics from 19th century). Alexander is stunned by the beauty of the goddess who is Katherine. He is aroused by her on so many different levels -- he is afraid. Afraid of what he'll do to her.
"But to not kill her went against my very nature .... To kill her I could not. But to drink of her, I must. She would turn if I did." He finally admits she is his soulmate. He can't be all bad if he makes Kat think of things like "those
"I love you and I’m going to make love to you for all eternity' kisses." Wow.
Chase incorporates some really dry and dark twisted humor in the story which had me chuckling:
"One cannot have their fun and expect someone else to clean up after them."
"Killing is our nature; it’s nothing personal."
"A smart jock. There’s an oxymoron for you. Rare, but not impossible."
"I had a vibrator and a bottle of vodka waiting at home with my name on them."
Katherine, "Kat", is 33, 5'7", a size 6 and relatively good looking. All of which can make her job as the top homicide detective in the city hard. She wears a ring to discourage the come-ons,
"A lot of guys have trouble with the notion of being told no and I was tired of saying it." She avoids romance, she doesn't have time for it.
"If you can imagine the day when a semi-attractive woman can walk into a bar and say loudly ‘I need to get laid. Any takers?’ and strike out, then I’ll mark that day as the end of the world." Kat literally bumps into Alexander and is "mesmerized" as he
"was more beautiful than any man I could have ever imagined". She "stood there gawking like an idiot as he smiled down on [her]. Worse, [she] openly swooned, damn it all to hell." She is humiliated to find she has turned into a stuttering idiot.
Chase can write some seriously hot scenes. Like the scene in hotel, when Alex gets Kat naked, kissing the heck out of her but then has the nerve to back out saying he has no control. And leaves! Excuse me! In that case, why did he take her to the hotel? In the beginning of their relationship, he is such a tease and not in a good way. Another smoking hot scene up on the roof in the snow. A steamy scene in the kitchen in front of the stove while she's cooking - yep, while she's cooking. There is the couch scene while he feeds her mac 'n cheese. Alexander is apparently so good, she blacks out almost every time she comes.
So even though it can be somewhat hard getting used to the way Alexander thinks and speaks, putting aside the dark nature of the plot, this is a very good story. I give it a 3.5 of 5 for content and 3.5 of 4 on the sexy scale. Perhaps a story urban fantasy, horror and vampire fans will enjoy more so than paranormal romance fans who don't care for the dark side.
Warning Spoiler Alert!!!
There is a HEA ending ... kinda ... they are together now in immortality loving each other and she's having the best sex of her life ... well ... unlife. But, she's now a murderer with a beast inside her who needs to be fed and controlled.
