Return to the “steamy and dreamy” (Publishers Weekly) world of Christine Feehan’s #1 New York Times bestselling Carpathian novels as thundering passions signal a dark force on the horizon…Buried alive for hundreds of years in a volcano in South America, Dax worries that he has become the abomination that every Carpathian male fears, a victim of the insidious evil that has crept relentlessly … that has crept relentlessly into his mind and body over the centuries. But Dax isn’t the only one emerging from the darkness…
His name is Mitro, and he once stood by the side of the prince of the Carpathian people. Now he is the epitome of malevolence, and perpetrator of one of the most shocking killing sprees known to man. No one escaped the bloodshed, including his lifemate, Arabejila.
Now, between Dax and Mitro, a violent game has begun—one that has marked Riley Parker, the last descendent of Arabejila, as the reward.
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To be honest, I was never sure why this one was written. Yes I enjoyed it, yes more information was added to the back story of the Carpathian’s fight for survival. And it was great to read about another ancient. But it could have been a Novella.
Anyways….
Dax is an ancient, he had been fighting vampires for a long time, and his last adversary was a master vampire, they had fought for what seemed like forever. Seizing his chance Dax locked both himself and the master vampire together under the Carpathian Mountains. He was prepared to give his life up for his people. He couldn’t let Mitro free ……..
Riley and her mother have been coming to the Carpathian Mountain’s for as long as Riley can remember. Her family have been with great magic protecting the mountain’s, there is a family duty that must be done, if not a great evil will be released upon the earth. But time is running out, Riley and her mother need to get there, they know something is emerging ……
Dax has woken, something is different …. something is very wrong ….. Mitro is awake!! He needs to waken and finally destroy the master vampire, but he’s worried that he’s already turned himself!!
Riley is on the run!!! They killed her mother and now they are after her!! She needs to get to the mountain to say the words to keep the monster contained (she doesn’t really believe the legend, but she promised her mother)
The battle between Mitro and Dax is very intense, they know each other’s weakness. But Dax can’t lose, if he does, then an evil will be let lose, and to add to his burden, his lifemate has been found!!!
We catch up with a few old characters from previous books.
It’s a good read, but as I said it could have easily been just a Novella.
A great paranormal series
I really love Christine Feehan, I have read or listened to all of her Dark series and more. Love Love Love her books.
In the twentieth book of the Dark/Carpathian series, Riley Parker and her mother travel to the Andes (not the Carpathian Mountains as the blurb mistakenly states) every five years to perform a binding spell on a particular mountain. Since Riley’s father just recently died and both she and her mom are still grieving, they arrive later than usual. That proves problematic since the mountain is actually a once-dormant volcano that’s now ready to blow.
Carpathian hunter Dax and his mortal vampire enemy Mitro have been trapped beneath the volcano for centuries. Mitro had betrayed his lifemate Arabejila, became a vampire, and killed a lot of innocent people. Dax and Mitro were evenly matched, unable to kill one another, so Arabejila trapped them both beneath the volcano. Now, Arabejila’s descendents must return to strengthen the bonding spell to keep Mitro, and unfortunately Dax as well, in the ground. Finally, the men escape and head straight to Riley, Arabejila’s last descendant.
Riley and Dax got along amazingly well, but they didn’t even met until the end of chapter eight, over 100 pages in. He’s not an over-the-top alpha and is accepting of Riley of who she is. She isn’t a warrior woman, but has a strong affinity for healing the earth—which is a common trait for Carpathian females. Riley, however, is more human than Carpathian but apparently very powerful. Dax, likewise, has evolved while sleeping in the earth and isn’t a normal Carpathian anymore. There is very little drama, angst, or frustration with this H/h. They were of the same mind on almost every subject, which made their relationship a little boring.
Dax and Riley are new characters to the series, not mentioned in any prior books. Sure, previous secondary characters return—I love Gary and Jubal—but I just don’t understand why Ms Feehan wrote about this particular couple without first introducing at least one of them in another story.
There are unanswered questions. Mitro was sick in the head, obviously, but how could he really betray Arabejila and become a vampire (a female lifemate is “light” to the male’s “darkness,” which is supposed to balance each other out)? How did Arabejila survive without him since their souls were bonded? How is Riley connected to Arabejila? Did Arabejila have a child with another man, a human? Also, how is Mitro a Daratrazanoff and related to Gregori, Lucien, and the others?
The scenery, as always, was intricately described, right down to a little bug in the gorgeous jungle. I’ve become accustomed to such description in the series and usually skim over it.
3 Stars
Awesome author and series
I am very much a Christine Feehan fan. Her Carpathian series is outstanding on many levels but this book is phenomenal even within the series. It is a story within a story, within another story and none of them leave you hanging.
Love, love love this series. This book had a slightly different direction. It was great
Love all of Christine Feehan’s “Dark” series. This one did not disappoint!
I love this book. I could not put it down.
Dark Storm the 23rd book in the Dark series was better than the last book, Dark Predator, but not nearly as good as some of the past books. Seeing as this is the 23rd book in this series, and the 23rd review I am writing about this series, I am keeping this one short and to the point. I loved Dax the hero, who by the way was totally new to the series. Dax was an ancient hunter who allowed himself to be trapped in a volcano with the evil vampire Mitro so he could destroy him. He knew nothing of what was happening in the world. He didn’t even know who the prince of his people was. He was a very sexy, playful, and sweet hero. I also really loved Riley the heroine. She was smart, sweet, funny, and brave but not over the top tough. She also didn’t really fight her bond with Dax. She just went with her gut and accepted her feelings for him almost instantly, which I loved. I loved the way Dax and Riley were together. I thought their relationship was very sweet and romantic. The only problem I had with this book was it went really slow in the first 40% or so. It took a while for Dax and Riley to even meet, and at times I found myself becoming bored. I did enjoy Jubal and Gary in this book and I also really liked the hint of a budding romance between Jubal and Jasmine. I would love to see them get together and get their own book. Just sayin’ Overall a good read just a slow build up to the action.