Nightkeepers
Jessica Andersen
Reviewed by Suzanne Brockmann
Different.
I really like different.
In a summer filled with a raft-load of paranormal releases, I've had the good fortune to read advance copies of two that stand out, head and shoulders, above the rest. (See my review of Virginia Kantra's SEA WITCH, too.)
So many of the paranormals I've seen advertised seem to fall into the "been there, done that" slot.
Not so Jess Andersen's NIGHTKEEPERS, the first book in her "Final Prophecy" series.
Dang, I loved this book.
I loved the crisp, clean, lively, high-quality writing. Andersen's got game when it comes to style and voice. I loved the two main characters, Leah and Strike. (I particularly loved Leah — she's on my very short list of all-time favorite romance heroines.) I loved the wide cast of secondary characters.
But most of all, I loved the kickass series premise.
The Mayan calendar ends in 2012 (really), and there is speculation (really) that this foretells the coming end of the world.
Conflict, anyone?
The ticking time bomb is always an exciting, suspense-creating device, and Andersen uses it skillfully as she takes this apocalyptic premise, and creates a motley crew of surviving members of an ancient group of protectors of both the heavens and the earth called the NIGHTKEEPERS.
Most of the Nightkeepers were massacred twenty years ago, in a battle against the ultimate evil. A handful of their children escaped to safety and have been living in hiding ever since. But now, with the end days fast approaching, earth and its human inhabitants don't stand a chance unless the Nightkeepers' young king, Striking Jaguar, can reunite them and turn them into battle-ready warriors. (And even then, they're terribly outnumbered.)
Strike (despite the silly name — a paranormal standard that Andersen somehow makes work — how did she do that?!) is a brilliantly constructed romance hero, layered and nuanced and compelling and real.
Throw a human heroine — a gutsy police detective named Leah — into the mix, and Andersen's story crackles and sparks.
A fun mix of humor, suspense, mythology and fantasy, NIGHTKEEPERS kicks off a series that's sure to be an instant reader favorite, and will put Andersen's books on keeper shelves around the world.
She's made it on to mine.
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About the Reviewer:
Suzanne Brockmann is the New York Times Bestselling author of over 40 novels. INTO THE FIRE, her 13th installment in her Troubleshooters series, will hit bookstores on July 22, 2008. Visit her website at www.SuzanneBrockmann.com.
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