Saturday, May 22, 2010

Midnight Predator by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Book Details
Midnight Predator by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes
Paperback, 256 pages
2003, Laurel Leaf
ISBN: 0440237971
Series: Book 4 in the Den of Shadows series

Synopsis
Though she was once a happy teenager with a wonderful family and a full life, Turquoise Draka is now a hunter. In a deadly world of vampires, shapeshifters, and mercenaries, she’ll track any prey if the price is right. Her current assignment: to assassinate Jeshikah, one of the cruelest vampires in history. Her employer: an unknown contact who wants the job done fast. Her major obstacle: she’ll have to hide her strength and enter Midnight, a fabled vampire realm, as a human slave. . . .

Review
Midnight Predator should have and could have been better. The idea was interesting and the writing was simple yet engaging. Turquoise is a assassin hired to kill a very bad vampire. In order to gain access to her, she has to return to Midnight, a place where vampires live with their human pets, which she once was.

My main issue with this book seems frivolous. The character names border on ridiculous. Turquoise, Jeshikah, Ravyn, Jaguar. Reading these names is distracting. In my head, Jeshikah sounds like Jessica, with a lisp. The evilest vampire to ever have lived shouldn't have a name that makes me think of speech impediments. This is a glaring issue that prevents me from staying engrossed in the plot and action.

At this point in her writing career, Amelia Atwater-Rhodes was a teenager. While her stories are entertaining and her writing is decent, the fact of the matter is that she was writing like a teenager. Had these books been written by an adult, they wouldn't have been published. I don't dislike these books, but everything about them is average at best.

Rating

3 comments :

  1. The name would annoy me too. Still might read it. I wouldn't normally pick it up because the cover is weird...
    Thanks for another great review!

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  2. Ah man. I adore her Kiesh'ra series but I've never read her earlier books. Guess I won't be... yikes.

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  3. :-)))) That cover kind of creeps me out too!

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