Dark Heir

In any long running series there are many things that have to happen and here are a few:

1. The main character has to have growth (you can’t write about a never changing character for 9 books)
2. There has to be interesting secondary characters that are more than cardboard cutouts (this series has them by the basket full)
3. While we need growth, the character can’t change so much that it is not the same character you bought books 1 & 2 and loved.
4. No repetitive plots (this one kills a LOT of good series)

Jane Yellowrock series has all these covered and probably a few more that I have forgotten but they never cease to entertain. The plots are multilevel and there is just enough humor thrown in with the action to keep you coming back for more.

This time you wonder if Jane has finally met her match in one of the strongest vampires alive but she feels it is her job to try to protect the people of New Orleans and marches on regardless of the odds.

About the only thing I can say in the way of negative is it seemed she spent a lot of time involved in self loathing/guilt which after a few times wore thin a bit (pretty much the ONLY thing you will see me write negative about this book). It started to make me think of the TV show Arrow, loved the first season when he was killing the bad guys, then he was “enlightened” to not kill any of the scumbags he runs up on (give me a break) so I left him to his “don’t kill the scum” plots. Jane was giving me those kinds of vibes for a bit there, I am pretty sure she got over it. Means I am still addicted to this series.

Jane and I share a common belief, if you kill them they really don’t bother you anymore and can’t hurt you 🙂

The action is fast and furious, the plot is wonderful, the interaction with other characters was amazingly good. Jane was Jane and THAT is always entertaining and there is never the same bad guy and seldom if ever the same solution to the plot (again, originality in spades).

Bottom Line: 4.5 Stars, rounded to 5 and I loved pretty much every minute of it and the strong points more than outweigh any negatives I may have had about this exceptional novel.

Our favorite badass Cherokee skinwalker and shapeshifter, Jane Yellowrock, is back for another action packed installment in this series. Remember reading about the big, bad, and spooky things in her vamp boss Leo’s basement in past episodes? Well, get ready to get up close and personal with with the newly escaped and very peeved Son of Darkness who is not at all happy about his long imprisonment spent chained to Leo’s dungeon wall.

The SOD carves a bloody swath through NOLA’s human citizens as he seeks blood to heal and leads Jane/Beast on their most dangerous hunt yet. Accompanied by Yellowrock Security partner Eli and his brother Alex on intel, Jane fights a desperate battle against time, intrigue, and vampire politics to find the SOD and stop the body count from rising even higher. Brewing in the background is a potentially catastrophic international incident with the European vampires regarding the disposition of the SOD that could cause an all out war with the American Mithrans. Closer to home, the brutal attacks and resulting deaths are causing public unrest and protests from angry, frightened humans. It won’t take much to set the gathering protesters to violence against the Mithrans.

As these dire events unfold, Jane is also learning to balance her new understanding with Bruiser with both their respective responsibilities. She is not used to having a partner or family, but seeing her growth as Bruiser and the Younger brothers become these things is truly wonderful. Some of the secrets Jane uncovers in her investigation spark her continued internal struggle with her own heritage. We get some really interesting foreshadowing in her evolving relationship with Leo, the Master of the City of NOLA and many of our favorite characters from past installments have pivotal roles as the action builds to the climax.

Another thoroughly satisfying yarn form a darned good author. Great action throughout, personal growth, deadly weapons, tender moments, and scary dangerous foes will keep you reading long past your bedtime.

Note: I had an opportunity to receive an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review. Publication date for this book is April 7, 2015.

I have read all of the Jane Yellowrock series so far and I love fantasy books which means I am used to switching off the logical side of my brain and going along for the ride. This series had a really interesting concept with a great female character. However as the series goes on Jane has inherited so many extra abilities and complications that most of the book seems to be an explanation of a new ability, a new twist in vampire politics or worse a complete rehash of vampire politics. And the long winded narratives about all her weaponry and the security around the vampires seems to go on forever. It takes away from the pace of the book for me and I tend to start skipping over parts that are starting to seem repetitive. Jane seems to get blamed for everything and I found it annoying that she could trace everything that happened back to a decision she made. These are personal gripes though, I’m not sure if I’ll buy the next book, might just wait until it’s in the library. Sometimes a book series just loses its sparkle, and I think that if you cut out all the gun descriptions and explanations the story itself would be quite short (but maybe more exciting)

Loved to read this book. It’s full of intrigue and as story lines go forth and backwards in Jane’s history, the dense weaving of previous books becomes only now obvious.
There is more fanghead intrigue than ever before, it seems and there’s more family building around Jane as well. Curious where this will take the series in the longer run.

I have become completely hooked on the Yellowrock novels. They just keep getting better and I cannot put them down. I only started reading the series a couple of weeks ago and am now on the latest book. Thoroughly enjoyable. If you like the fantasy genre with lots of action, you will love these.

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