Review: Beyond the Night by Joss Ware (@Mollykatie112, @colleengleason)

Posted February 20, 2016 by Lorna in Dystopian, Lorna, Reviews / 22 Comments

Review: Beyond the Night by Joss Ware (@Mollykatie112, @colleengleason)
Beyond the Night by Joss Ware
Series: The Envy Chronicles #1
Published by Avon
Published on: January 12, 2010
Genres: Dystopian
Pages: 400
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
One StarOne StarOne StarOne Star
Amazon | Book Depo | Kobo | B&N | iBooks | GoodReads

When doctor Elliott Drake emerges from a cave after a time travel of fifty years into the future, the world as he knew it is gone. Post-apocalyptic cities are now overgrown jungles, and what's left of civilization has been repressed by crystal-wearing immortal beings. But even more unsettling: sexy, strong Elliott has acquired an extraordinary ability--the paranormal, superhuman power to heal.

But even that psychic gift, in a world that lacks the technology and infrastructure of his past, is a two-edged sword for Elliott.

Strong-willed Jade Kapiza, who'd been imprisoned by the immortal beings, has been in hiding for years. But now she's determined to help the human race fight back against the control of her captors. She can trust no one...but when sexy, kind Elliott comes into her life, he pushes at her defenses and begins to tear down the walls she's built so carefully.

Yet the mysterious doctor seems to have secrets of his own. Can Jade
trust Elliott with her heart, even as they risk their lives to save a
band of innocents?

And can Elliott find a new place for himself--a home, a love--in this new, ravaged world?

Dystopian Romance Zombies Thriller



I had never been into dystopian books much until I had some good luck with a couple of different series. Recently I found another series thanks to Melliane at Between Dreams and Reality blog, and the author is Colleen Gleason, although she is writing as Joss Ware. Since I really enjoy this author’s work, it was easy to slip right into a different genre by her.

Most of the world died in 2010 and nobody is really sure why-extreme weather events, earthquakes, and people simply dropping dead for no reason. Since then, a group of people known as Strangers have now inhabited the earth in small numbers. They have a crystal embedded near their clavicle and are immortal. Also new to the earth are a huge zombie type creature that are called gangas, that only come out at night.

When Elliott Drake and some friends wake up in a cave fifty years later, looking just as they did in 2010, it’s a shock to them all. They’ve lost everything and everyone they knew and a couple of them have new found abilities-Elliott in particular. He’s a doctor and now he is able to heal. Healing is not without a price however, and Elliott pays the biggest amount. He and his friends have been trying to get to the town of Envy for six months, since they have been told by other survivors about the large group of people that live there. When they come across a group of teenagers that have been attacked by gangas, they fight to save the group. Jade, a beauty riding a wild mustang, enters the fray as well and Elliott is smitten.

This series is billed as dystopian romance and that’s pretty much exactly what you get. However, I was pleasantly(?) surprised at the amount of intrigue, mystery, action, and violence that is involved as well. The book also introduces us to other females that you pretty much know are going to have their own books, with none other than Elliott’s other friends from 2010-of course I could be wrong, but there’s a pretty perfect set up here for that to happen.

My only problem with this book concerns Jade. She is in hiding due to being sought after by one of the villains. However, she sings in one of the few bars in Envy. I still can’t understand how she is in hiding and does that. It bothered me so I felt I needed to mention it. However, it wasn’t that big of a thing when taking the book as a whole.

I thought the pacing was excellent and as usual with this author’s work, the writing was well done. I really liked the characters that are introduced, and even the villains are well done-and particularly evil. To be honest, I am busy reading other books that I have to read, when all I want to do is dive back into this world and read the next one in this series, because I have had a bit of a book hangover since finishing this one. Recommended to any adult paranormal romance fans, or even urban fantasy readers that enjoy an exciting ride of a story.

The Envy Chronicles Series



Lorna Signature

One StarOne StarOne StarOne Star

I’m Lorna and I live in Maryland. Since retiring, I spend my time mostly reading and reviewing books. My favorite reads are Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, and Young Adult. I read a lot of indie books in addition to traditionally published books. Favorite paranormal creature? Vampires, but I am really liking werewolves more everyday.

Twitter   

Related Posts

Tags: , ,

22 responses to “Review: Beyond the Night by Joss Ware (@Mollykatie112, @colleengleason)”

  1. Stormi  

    I think it depends on the dystopian, as I don’t have much luck with them but there are a few I like. I always say I have a love/hate relationship with that genre. 🙂 I have another Colleen Gleason series on my kindle but not tried it yet. My goal this year is to read some of my own but so far it’s not working…lol. 🙂

  2. Melanie  

    This sounds really great Lorna. I’ve been in a zombie/dystopian mood. I just did one of the Newsflesh Trilogy books by Mira Grant, which is a zombie series, and a Beyond series by Kit Rocha, which is a dystopian erotica, which I love. This looks like another great one. Glad you enjoyed it. I do agree that singing bars is not a good way to be in hiding. Weird.
    Melanie recently posted…Audiobook Review: Dark Descendant by Jenna Black (@mlsimmons, @jennablack, @sereads, @tantoraudio)

  3. Joy // Joyousreads  

    After reading The Passage, I find myself drawn to books like these. I just finished reading Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry, and now, I’m searching for more. I like the sound of this book, Lorna! Thanks for putting it on my radar.

  4. kindlemom1  

    That is weird that she would make a public appearance while in hiding, I can see how that would have bothered you. 😉
    Glad this was a good read though and a good start to a series!

  5. Sophia Rose  

    Oh cool! I enjoy this genre now after giving it a try a little while back. I like what you’re saying that it blends in some other genre stuff.

    LOL! Know what you mean about one little point like her singing in public while supposedly being in hiding.

    Looks like a good series.

  9. Bookworm Brandee  

    Hmm, zombies…you know I don’t really like zombies, Lorna. 😉 The book sounds good though despite the zombies. I’m curious as to why Elliot and his friends were ‘out of it’ for 50 years and I’m curious to know what’s going on in their world now. I get your irritation over Jade doing something that puts her out in the public if she’s in hiding – that doesn’t make sense – but I’m glad it didn’t take away from your enjoyment of the story overall. I have Night Resurrected (got it at a book con) but I didn’t realize it was 6 in the series. Guess I have some catching up to do! Great review, Lorna! 😀