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    Darkness Haunts
    Darkness Haunts
    Darkness Haunts
    Audiobook9 hours

    Darkness Haunts

    Written by Susan Illene

    Narrated by Cris Dukehart

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Melena Sanders faced her fair share of danger with insurgents and terrorists when she served in the U.S. Army, but now she is about to go up against a new threat. Her best friend, Aniya, has disappeared while on a trip to Fairbanks, Alaska-a supernatural haven. Most humans have no idea darker races lurk amongst them.


    Mel knows better. If she wants to get her friend back, she's going to have to go in alone-but not unarmed. Melena has a few special skills the Army didn't provide, but the odds are still against her. And danger likes to play it rough. A war for power is about to rise in Fairbanks, and if she wants to get Aniya back, Mel is going to have to step right into the middle of it.Contains mature themes.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateNov 25, 2014
    ISBN9781494576431
    Darkness Haunts

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    Reviews for Darkness Haunts

    3.5/5

    41 ratings5 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Although I read a lot of fantasy, I don't usually read a lot which contains vampires, werewolves, witches and the lot. Still, I read it for a book discussion, and I really enjoyed it.
      The characters are well developed, and the lead character undergoes some changes in the course of the book. She has some strengths and weaknesses at the beginning, but she fights and overcomes prejudices, and she takes on responsibility.

      It is a fast-paced story that gripped me right from the start. There even is a bit of a romantic interest, although there are three likely candidates, and you'll need to read the sequel(s) to find out who'll make it.

      The narrator was well fitted, and did a good job with this book.
    • 4/5
      Genre: Fantasy (Urban)
      Author: Susan ILLene
      Book: Darkness Haunts (The Sensor #1)
      My Star Rating: 4
      Will I read I read it again? No

      The story description does quite a bit to draw my attention. I'm thinking a soldier-type female main character, that evidently knows something about the supernatural (Supes) race(s) living among humans. She gets drawn into a search for a friend who has "gone missing" in Alaska - a supposed haven for these Supes. And supposedly she has some 'special skills'......

      This is the kind of story I like in a good urban fantasy. I admit, it sounds like the same basic plot that so many of them have, but it is the story-telling of the plot with the details that draw me in. I was so looking forward to getting to this one, that I let it skip a few others I had in my pile before it. honestly, I was a little let down.

      Our main character, Melena, is an orphan, raised by a foster family, which were killed/died/whatever, and she ended up with a "distant family member" to raise her. Around HS graduation age, she joined the Army, and supposedly served in Airborne, though it was as an interrogator. So, not to spoil it, she does have some "supernatural" power, but I'm not saying as it will spoil it for you. The rest of the book description pretty much covers it.

      That all being said, there was no depth to the story, or its characters. Everyone is sexy/hunky for the most part. Every male loves/lusts/wants to be with the main character (and no one else it seems). Thankfully the most "sex scenes" were internal monologues that were very short (thank goodness) made by the main character about musculature features of said males. The story had a few small goodies I liked, and overall completed itself enough to be a stand alone story.

      Cons:
      - MC tried to be a "big girl" and was saved by a hunky male way too many times, and way too obviously coming in the story
      - no depth of character, or story world - this being mostly in Alaska - Fairbanks area - we are kind of left to our imagination

      Pros:
      - Story idea was good, and I liked how it overall came together
      - No cliff-hanger - even knowing there are like six books in the series
      - MC superpower is one (or similar to) I have read about from other authors, and yet has it's own unique 'extra' to it

      Middle of the Road:
      - The lack of description for the story world. I have no clue what the area around the location truly looks like, though I am sure it varies greatly from what I've seen on documentaries of polar bears. But I like that we could sort of form our own impressions of the "layout" from city to cabin to forests, etc. I thought it weird they could be in "downtown" Fairbanks, then five minutes later be at a cabin 200 yards off the main road, that has working plumbing.
    • 4/5
      Interesting paranormal world

      I have mixed feelings about his book. I was intrigued by the main character and her sensor abilities. A different take on a paranormal aspect. Magic doesn't affect her. I liked this paranormal world. The sups, or supernatural beings, seem to band together. Vampires, werewolves, witches, trolls, fairies, pixies, and even nephilim. Some are good and some are bad. The thing that held me captivated and reading to the end were the unanswered questions, which never all got answered. I guess I will be reading more of the novels for sure. There is just too much I want to know about Lucas, Derrick, and Nik. They all have my attention.

      The downside. I found myself doing too much skimming. They say only write the parts that want to be read. For me, I could do without some of the scene descriptions, and some of the internal conflict the character experienced. I wasn't completely drawn in by the plot either. The plot didn't become more involved until halfway through.

      A few too many racy descriptions. Virtuous readers will be turned off by the dance club turned orgy in the first chapter. Though details are vague, it's still enough to emphasize the inappropriateness. No sex, surprisingly. Moderate swearing, so I can't recommend this to my Christian friends.
    • 5/5
      Melena Sanders, ex-military, is planning to attend college in the fall in California but right now she has to track down her missing friend, Aniya. A cryptic message left by her points Mel to Fairbanks, Alaska. There she discovers a war brewing that involves plenty of supernatural folks. Not all are human friendly. Luckily for Mel, she’s a little more than human. She’s a Sensor and that gives her just enough of an edge to be a true threat to these werewolves, vampires, and witches.This is my new favorite urban fantasy series. This book is off to a good start, introducing our main character, Mel, and the paranormal world she deals with. Her dedication to her friends is a key component to the plot for this book. In her search for Aniya, she tries to keep Lizette out of it for her own safety. However, this goes a bit awry and I’m sure these two will have some words for each other later. She also makes some new friends in Alaska, some out of necessity and others out of choice. She needs all the assists she can get as she tries to find Philip Mercer, the last person Aniya was seen with.There’s tons of alliances in this book and some of those alliances pull good folk into bad situations while other alliances pull questionable people into doing good deeds. Things, actions, and people are not always clearly evil or good and I really liked this aspect of the book. It kept me on my toes and engaged throughout the story.There’s a powerful magic user, Variola, who holds several witches and werewolves in fealty. Mel has to make a deal with her and she wants an ancient vampire, Nikolas, found so she can destroy him in some ritual. However, the alpha werewolf, Derrick, isn’t too happy with how things are going down. Then there’s this Nephilim, Lucas, that follows Mel around. Half the time he’s keeping her from harm and the other half of the time he’s threatening to end her life. It’s a complex relationship that involved Lucas killing Mel’s protector, Wanda, several years ago with no explanation. Just because allegiances aren’t convoluted and strained enough, things get shook up once again when Nikolas comes out of his vampire sleep. Oh, yes! Whoever decides they want Nikolas dead is going to have their hands full!One of the main draws for me was Mel’s character. She’s not without training and life experience. She has some years under belt and has had to make her way in the world for some years. She has been honed by both joys and tragedies. In short, she knows her own mind and walks into this story knowing exactly what her goal is (to get Aniya back) and can make her own decisions on how to go about it. She’s knowledgeable about guns and other weapons and not afraid of hurting or killing, if that is what’s needed. Yeah, I want to be Mel when I grow up.On the other side of the coin, there’s a touch of flirtation here and there. Others have told me that there’s a full romance later on in the series, so for those of you who enjoy romance, you have that to look forward to. I found the flirtations of Nikolas amusing and they added a little bit of humor to a pretty tense book.The ending did leave me with several questions concerning Lucas and Mel’s future. She has some hard choices to make, I think, in the next book. So I’m glad that the entire 6 book series is out, ready for me to tear through.The Narration: I enjoyed Cris Dukehart’s narration. She started off a little rough, making bullet statements, but within the first hour she smoothed out. I did like that she didn’t sound all girly, but rather as a grown woman who’s used to making her own decisions – which fits the main character perfectly. I also liked her various accents for some of the older characters. She made a very believable flirtatious 800 year old vampire.
    • 4/5
      Melena is a Sensor, meaning that she’s both empathic and can sense supernaturals from a distance of one half mile, and magic doesn’t work on her. This is something that she can’t let anyone know about because if the supes find out, it’s an automatic death sentence. But when her roommate goes missing after heading up to Alaska with her boyfriend, she makes the trip to Fairbanks, the center of the heaviest population of supernaturals, in order to find her. A world of vampires, werewolves, witches, fairies, pixies, nephilim, etc, that most humans don’t know exist.I found the story arc to be different than other urban fantasies I’ve read, although the fact that more than one guy is interested in her when she’s always avoided relationships is not. This is not a romance; at least not at this point.The story sucked me in with the challenges, decisions and actions Melena must face. Where this story fell short for me was that while told in the first person point of view, not once did I ever feel like I was in Melena’s head. We know she feels emotions because we’re told so, but we should also be experiencing the emotion along with the character. And while we’re given enough reasons to like or dislike some of the other characters, we don’t know much about them. Some of that is obviously on purpose.I did enjoy it enough to download the next book.