Darkness Descending by Devyn Quinn

Book 1 in the Vampire Armageddon series

http://www.devynquinn.com/

First, I’d like to thank the wonderful ladies at Romance Reviews Today for sending me this book for review – check out their website here: www.romrevtoday.com.  Thanks again, ladies!!!

Alright, down to business. This book was one of them puzzlers. The book started out and I wanted to cry. The book was all tell. The characters were wimpy, not at all kick-ass, their actions were awkward and all over the place and there was absolutely NO build-up of sexual tension so the ‘smoldering heat’ and lust kinda smacks you in the face when it first comes up. I was terribly disappointed because, well, I hate not liking books. And the first third of this book was headed toward a low D grade. But then…

But then the book totally changed pace. I don’t know if the author wrote the first 130 pages, set the book down for a while, and then picked it back up again when she had developed some actual writing and character development skills, but after that 130 page mark the book actually became… decent. Enjoyable. Kinda cool. Not kick-ass awesome… but not bad. And I was overjoyed – really, really excited that I wasn’t going to have to read another 240 pages in the style of the first 130 because I might have taken Maddox’s gun and shot the book to pieces. The book, after page 130, showed that this author had potential – and since the plot was really interesting, I’m hoping that Quinn develops her talent very quickly for the next book in the series – which I will be reading.

So, here’s a quick re-cap of the plot for ya’ll before I dissect the book a little more closely. Jesse Burke is a human infected with a demon – it crawls under her skin and whispers dreams of immortality in her ear at night. However unlike every other human being who has been infected, Jesse refuses to give in to the demon’s demands – and thus hovers between a state of humanity and undead-ness (which is what one turns into when yielding to the demon's demands). Angry and feeling the hopelessness of her situation, Jesse decides to kill as many of the vampire/demons that infected her as she can. After doing some research into vampire slaying, Jesse sets out for a cemetery in the middle of the night and attempts to kill her first undead. Only it doesn’t go so well. And Jesse almost dies. Until some guy named Maddox shows up with his gun and blows the thing to pieces. Maddox then invites Jesse to his home sweet home for some training and sleep – after all, if she wants to be a slayer she has to learn from the best, right? But what happens when Maddox learns that Jesse has a demon inside her – and is on the verge of becoming something he’s determined to destroy?

So, let’s start off with what sucked (vampire pun – get it?). The first 130 pages, as we already established, sucked in very frustrating ways. The characters don’t act believably make really weird decisions, talk like they’re best friends when they’ve really just met, sleep in the same bed even though they’ve known each other for mere hours… it’s all very odd and unrealistic and awkward for the reader. The romance is terrible, with no build-up of sexual tension or even hints at it. The world building is confusing and doesn’t make much sense – there are a lot of holes in the story. People are dying all over the place from strange bites to their body and the police all think it’s because of some rabid animals? I don’t think so. Humans are way too suspicious for that, and we love conspiracy theories. Surely someone has decided on vampires by now. Also, hasn’t anyone seen the attacks or the feedings? No one is that careful. If there are truly that many vampire/demons (that also isn’t explained very well – are they demons that look like vampires, or are they pretty much what we would call vampires except they have demons inside them… it’s bad when you can’t tell what species something is) someone would’ve caught them at something by now and in such a viral world, it would’ve been all over the place. The book makes humans out to be a very non-assuming, kind of stupid race which is pretty dumb. Just sayin’.

But after a while I got used to the shaky grasp I had on Quinn’s world and I got comfortable enough with it to enjoy the story. And the plot was AWESOME. And Jesse was pretty cool, too. I liked how strong she was and how enigmatic her role in the epic battle between heaven and hell’s warriors (on earth, of course) is. I really wanted to know more, and that kept me hooked for a lot of the story. I loved the legends and the action – that was my kind of story. The plot was well-developed, moved at a good pace, and always had a hook to keep you reading. The plot was this book’s saving grace, along with the admiration I felt for the heroine. She’s stuck between two worlds, hurt and hunted by everyone, lied to and very confused yet she’s strong, determined, and ready for action. Boo. Yah. Baby.

Oh, but ladies. One more thing that made this book sink low, low, low. The hero. Was. Pathetic. He does NOT deserve a capital 'h'. He was addicted to a demon’s kiss (otherwise known as a vampire bite) really weird and kinky-odd, he was awkward, out-of-place and pretty depressing. I sincerely hope he gets better because I did not like him. He was the antithesis of Jesse and instead of helping her I feel like he drags her down. That’s a no-no in a romance, so Mr. Hero Maddox better get his broad backside in gear and fast. He’s also inconsistent and a bit of a Debbie-downer. Like I said. Pathetic.

That’s all there is to this considerably long review! Stay tuned to my blog for updates on the series and if it’s worth your while!

Favorite Quote:

No one came near them. In fact, everyone seemed intent on maintaining a respectful distance. It could be that the shotgun Maddox carried jacked his street cred up considerably.

“Sexy”ness rating: is rated hot, however it’s not terribly sexy due to its rather unpredictable nature. No build-up of sexual tension… it was really weird. Just a sex scene plopped randomly into the middle of the book because the author thought she needed one.

Overall Rating: C-

Bottom Line: I can’t give this book any higher than a C-, but the second half of the book shows the author has some real potential. I’ll be keeping up with this series to let you know how it develops and if you should struggle through this one to get to the rest. While the romance isn’t very well developed the plot is pretty cool.

Pages: 353

Published: August 2, 2011

Genre: Urban Fantasy/Paranormal