Review: Darkness Rising by Keri Arthur

Posted December 6, 2011 by Carmel in Carmel, Reviews, Urban Fantasy / 4 Comments

Title: Darkness Rising
Series: Dark Angels #2
Author: Keri Arthur
Publisher: Dell
Format: Paperback, 341 pages
Published: October 25th, 2011
My Copy: Borrowed

The sexy, thrilling adventures continue in bestselling author Keri Arthur’s new Dark Angels series, starring half-werewolf/half-Aedh Risa Jones.

Risa will go to any lengths to avenge her mother’s murder—even if it means making a pact with the most evil vampire she’s ever met. Lethal and powerful, Madeline Hunter is leader of the vampire council, and will put her resources behind finding the killer—for a price. The venerable vampire requires the assistance of Risa’s psychic powers. Quid pro quo.

Someone—or something—is targeting the elders of the local council, cursing the immortal vampires to rapidly age, sink into madness, and die. Risa must track down the vengeful being responsible. But Risa’s father, a rogue Aedh priest, also enlists her in a dangerous mission. And not even the great Madeline Hunter may be able to protect her from the shadowy forces that desire nothing less than Risa’s destruction.

Darkness Unbound is a difficult act to follow but Darkness Rising meets the challenge head on. While most reviewers seem to be pining for Lucian after the first book; I couldn’t get enough of Azriel and he’s at the forefront of this tale (Yay!). I still haven’t entirely figured out what his deal is but I’m content to enjoy the ride! Not surprisingly, there’s a lot less Riley and co in this one although I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of disappointment at that. Overall, a solid second installment in Keri Arthur’s new Dark Angels series with a promise of more goodness to come.

After devouring the first book I was just itching to get my fingers on the next one. Arthur was kind enough to time Darkness Rising‘s release date to be one short month later. Talk about spoiling her readers! Risa’s friends made a bigger impression on me in this installment. I really got a feel for them and can’t help but admire the ease with which Keri harmoniously combines characters from diverse backgrounds and makes them “click”. I’m not talking from just a supernatural perspective either; Darkness Rising has a cutesy lesbian couple while as in her Riley Jensen Guardian series there was an equally lovable homosexual duo.

Azriel was love at first sight for me. I can’t explain why; we know next to nothing about him and he’s not exactly the warmest guy but then again, he’s a reaper. Maybe it’s the protector persona combined with a flaming sword that did it for me… Azriel does lighten up quite a bit in this book though. He’s actually quite funny! Although, I’m not sure if it’s intentional or just a side effect of him becoming more human-like. Either way, I’ll take it! Lucian’s nice guy facade from Darkness Unbound slips and he’s starting to turn into a real creeper. I’m not surprised, I knew that there had to be a good reason for his de-winging. The man can not be trusted!

Risa’s less of a victim and more of a fighter in this installment which I was happy to see. She even gets her very own don’t-mess-with-me demon infused sword. Now she has the attitude AND the weaponry to lay the smackdown on her enemies! The story progresses along the same lines as the first book except for a pretty nifty battle towards the end where all hell breaks loose. It was definitely a noteworthy scene and helped to finish things off with a bang!

All in all, a great addition to a promising new series by one of my favorite authors. In the future, I hope that Azriel and Risa’s slow burn will ignite into a full-blown romance. Fingers crossed! I enjoyed Darkness Rising and look forward to reading the continuation of the Dark Angels story even though the wait will be much longer this time around. June 2012, yikes!

Dark Angels Series
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Carmel

Owner, designer and main blogger behind Rabid Reads. Avid book reader, snowboard bunny, video gamer and Supernatural fan. I love all things paranormal, werewolves especially. Oh, and I’m Canadian, eh!