
Dark Descendant by Jenna Black
Narrator: Sophie Eastlake
Series: Nikki Glass #1
Published by Tantor Media
Published on: December 30, 2011
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Length: 8 hours and 45 Minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased




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From the acclaimed author of the Morgan Kingsley, Exorcist books comes the gripping first novel in a new series about a private eye who discovers, to her surprise, that she’s an immortal huntress.
Nikki Glass can track down any man. But when her latest client turns out to be a true descendant of Hades, Nikki now discovers she can’t die...
Crazy as it sounds, Nikki’s manhunting skills are literally god-given. She’s a living, breathing descendant of Artemis who has stepped right into a trap set by the children of the gods. Nikki’s new “friends” include a descendant of Eros, who uses sex as a weapon; a descendant of Loki, whose tricks are no laughing matter; and a half-mad descendant of Kali who thinks she’s a spy.
But most powerful of all are the Olympians, a rival clan of immortals seeking to destroy all Descendants who refuse to bow down to them. In the eternal battle of good god/bad god, Nikki would make a divine weapon. But if they think she’ll surrender without a fight, the gods must be crazy...
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Since the fourth book in this series is coming out this year and it has been three years since I read book three, I decided that i needed to revisit this series before I tackled the fourth book. I remembered really enjoying these series, but I started this series back before I was blogging, so I didn’t have more than a rating when I first read this book. My rating system has also changed a lot since then too.
Anyway, Nikki Glass is a private investigator. She was an orphan who knew her mother, but was left at a church when she was very young. She then moves from foster home to foster home until she is adopted by the Glass family. So, Nikki really doesn’t know much about her ancestry.
Nikki takes a case where she is to help get a girl out of a cult. However, when she is driving up to the mansion where all the cult members live, her client steps out in front of her car and she is unable to stop on the icy driveway and kills him. This is when things really go ary for Nikki. She learns that she is now Liberi. Liberi are mostly immortal. They are descendants of the gods. Only there are only so many of these immortals, and more descendants than immortal seeds. The only way to become an immortal is to kill one of the other immortals.
Nikki is a descendant of Artemis. She now has to convince the members of the “cult” that her client, Emmitt, killed himself and the she isn’t a spy from a different group of Liberi who are known as Olympians. The Olympians see themselves as much better than humans and have a very low moral compass. They also believe that only the Greek gods should be allowed to be Liberi. They will kill off entire families of non-Greek gods to prevent them from ever becoming Liberi.
I really enjoyed this story. I like watching Nikki learn how to maneuver through this new world of immortals. She is also very protective of her adopted sister, Steph, who plays a very big role in this story. Other characters that we have in this story include Anderson who leads the group of “good guys”, Maggie (Zeus), Jack (Loki), Jamal (Kali), Black (Eros) and a some others. There is also the Olympians, who we don’t learn as much about outside of Alexis and Konstantin the leader.
I will point out that there is a ton of action in this book as Nikki helps to search for missing member of Anderson’s team. She also has to defend herself as she convinces the others that she is not a spy. I will warn you. Immortals can take a ton of damage in this world. They can literally not die unless another descendant kills them. They can take a lot of abuse, which is proven several times in this book.
Narration
I listened to this book to revisit it. Sophie Eastlake is a great narrator who I’ve loved for a while. So it was no hardship to pick this up on audio. She does a great job with all the voices. Her ability to voice the sweet Steph and the hot-headed Jamal and the truly evil Alexis was just great. If you’ve never listened to Eastlake, I highly recommend her.
The Nikki Glass Series | ||||
![]() Coming May 16, 2016 |
This sounds like a cool series. I put it on my wishlist. 🙂
I’ve really enjoyed this series. I’m glad to see it come back.
Melanie recently posted…Review: Hell’s Revenge by Eve Langlais (@mlsimmons, @EveLanglais)
I like the sound of the mythology and world building in this one, Melanie. It’s been awhile since I read JBlack but I have enjoyed her. Would you say this is one better read or listened to? Great review! 😀
You could do either. I read it first and I’m not listening. I don’t think that the fourth book will be on audio. The publishers are only putting it out as an ebook. Tantor could still pick it up, but I’m not holding my breath, which is why I decided to review it here and not Hot Listens. This way the entire series is done together. Sophie Eastlake is great. She does Thea Harrison’s Elder Races series among others.
Melanie recently posted…Review: Hell’s Revenge by Eve Langlais (@mlsimmons, @EveLanglais)
Well, I may read it then. And since it’s been eons since I read THarrison, I may refresh my memory of it in audio. 😀
It is always fascinating to see an imagined world created by a writer. I especially like it when they work hard to establish names for the factions they create. Liberis, for one. 😀
Joy// Joyousreads recently posted…[608]: Priest by Sierra Simone
I find it very interesting too. I have a hard time naming my dog. I so admire authors and their ability to come up with these stories.
Melanie recently posted…Review: Hell’s Revenge by Eve Langlais (@mlsimmons, @EveLanglais)
I do have book 1 on my wishlist 😀
I hope you enjoy it. I think the world she built is really interesting.
Melanie recently posted…Review: Hell’s Revenge by Eve Langlais (@mlsimmons, @EveLanglais)
I have the books! Darn it, I wish I have a valid excuse as to why I haven’t read this series yet. But you got me excited for Nikki Glass that’s for sure
Braine recently posted…Loved It: Gifted Thief by Helen @HarperFire #urbanfantasy #Scotland
I hope you start them soon. I’ve really enjoyed the series.
Melanie recently posted…Review: Hell’s Revenge by Eve Langlais (@mlsimmons, @EveLanglais)
I’ve been meaning to try this for awhile now so I’m glad it worked for you!
I hope you get a chance to try it. I love this world with all of the descendants of gods.
Melanie recently posted…Review: Hell’s Revenge by Eve Langlais (@mlsimmons, @EveLanglais)
Ok, I hadn’t heard of this book or series before but it does have some elements that I like. So I’ll have to give this one a loo. Thanks for the review.
Mary Kirkland recently posted…Favorite Picture of the week
It is a fun series. I hope you enjoy it Mary.
Melanie recently posted…Geeky Giving, Giveaway and Charity (@GeekyGiving)
I’d love to go back and re-read some of my favourite series, on Audio! Good to see you still enjoyed this one, second time around. I love plenty of action, so I’m sure I would like this one!
Naomi recently posted…Cruel and Beautiful by A.M. Hargrove & Terri E. Laine ~ Review & Swoon Thursday (@Amhargrove1, @TerriLainebooks)
I don’t get to revisit enough of the series as I would like. I decided to do this once since it had a new book coming out and there was such a large timeframe since I read the series. This is a fun series, so it was no hardship revisiting.
Melanie recently posted…Early Review: A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab (@jessicadhaluska, @veschwab, @torteen, @torbooks)
This one looks good! I’ve never read anything by Jenna Black before but this book sounds right up my alley. I’ll have to give the series a shot soon.
Samantha recently posted…Film Friday: 10 Favorite X-Files Episodes
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did Samantha. I love Jenna Black. This is one my favorite series by her. This one or her Gifted series.
Melanie recently posted…Review: Hell’s Revenge by Eve Langlais (@mlsimmons, @EveLanglais)
Looks like another UF to add to my list. Since I love UF on audio..I am glad you like the narrator.
kimbacaffeinate recently posted…Stone Cold Cowboy by Jennifer Ryan
I really like Sophie Eastlake. She also narrates Thea Harrison’s Elder Races, which is a fun PNR. I hope you enjoy this series. I think it is a great UF series that hasn’t gotten a lot of attention.
Melanie recently posted…Review: Hell’s Revenge by Eve Langlais (@mlsimmons, @EveLanglais)