The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sinner brings another hot adventure of true love and ultimate sacrifice in the Black Dagger Brotherhood world.The location of the glymera’s notorious prison camp was lost after the raids. When a freak accident provides Nyx clues to where her sister may still be doing time, she becomes determined to find the secret subterranean labyrinth. Embarking … secret subterranean labyrinth. Embarking on a journey under the earth, she learns a terrible truth—and meets a male who changes everything, forever.
The Jackal has been in the camp for so long he cannot recall anything of the freedom he once knew. Trapped by circumstances out of his control, he helps Nyx because he cannot help himself. After she discovers what happened to her sister, getting her back out becomes a deadly mission for them both.
United by a passion they can’t deny, they work together on an escape plan for Nyx—even though their destiny is to be forever apart. And as the Black Dagger Brotherhood is called upon for help, and Rhage discovers he has a half-brother who’s falsely imprisoned, a devious warden plots the deaths of them all…even the Brothers.
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Good start for a new spin-off series. Strong characters, and enough drama and action to satisfy. The plot-twists weren’t terribly twisty, but they worked fine. A couple of new characters were introduced that were interesting enough that I’m eager to learn their stories too. And it’s always fun to get an outsider’s view to the Brotherhood.
Once again J. R. Ward doesn’t disappoint with her newest addition to the Black Dagger Brotherhood. I’ve loved each and every book in the series and this is no exception. J.R. has a haunting voice that is edgy and sharp that keeps you spellbound as you read.
Great characters, lot’s of action!
The following ratings are out of 5:
Narration:
Romance:
Heat/Steam:
Story/Plot:
World building:
Character development:
The heroine: Nyx – Her sister Janelle is in the hidden prison of the Glymera and has been there for many years. Nyx has learned self defense and fighting skills but has never been able to find the entrance to the prison. One night Nyx and her other sister Posie are driving and they hit something. It turns out to be a young man (pre-trans) who is dying and has information on how he escaped.
The Hero(s): The Jackal (a.k.a. Jack) – He has been in the prison for over a hundred years and was an aristocrat and a kind of architect/builder before he was put in the underground prison. He has learned everything there is to know about the prison and the prisoners. He has learned to become invisible.
The Story: Nyx meets The Jackal not long after sneaking into the Prison. They work out an exchange for him to help her find her sister. They end up in one tense situation after another while navigating through the prison. There are a lot of guards and the one in charge called “Command” who has some evil plans and is holding something over The Jackal. He took over after the majority of the Glymera were wiped out and he has kept many of the prisoners for much longer than their original sentences.
I really liked the whole prison world and the storylines. However, there were so many secrets that Jack was keeping, not only about why he was in prison, but he also keeps referring to the terrible things that happened to him. The more Nyx finds out about him, the more questions arise. I enjoyed the other prisoners as well, Apex, Mayhem, Lucan, and Cain. So many twists and turns
Regarding the narration, I don’t know why J.R. Ward seems to like Jim Fragione so much. His voice isn’t deep and he sounds too old for the characters. Granted he is a great reader and my annoyance went away pretty quickly, but I get in to the story much more when I can relate the narrators to the characters. Also BDB is such a huge selling series you would think she could afford to have both a male and a female narrator.
Lastly, I liked all the secrets, but I was able to guess most of them before the big reveal. It wasn’t that there were too many hints like in some books, I just knew that things that could never happen in real life always happen in books, so I figured some of the main things pretty early on. But there were a few that really surprised me and the story was very good.
The author’s sabbatical away from Caldwell bore good fruit as this return to the world of the Black Dagger Brotherhood shows. The main characters are strong, relatable and imperfectly noble, with supporting characters who bring out the best and the worst of them. Nyx’s and Jack’s unexpected attraction in the middle of their respective trials and tribulations was a bright light throughout this rather dark, gritty and disturbing story. This was a surprisingly sweet romance in the midst of a really dark rendition of “The Shawshank Redemption”. This story fits very well with the author’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series.
Now this is how you start a new series!!!! Loved The Jackal !!!! The storyline and awesome storytelling was JR Ward at her best. With a whole new set of intriguing characters that I loved from the get go. The jackal ( jack) was devilishly handsome with plenty of angst in his back story that had me falling in love with him for his strength, courage and genius while learning to live in a friggin hell hole that was the prison camp. But when Nyx and her sister accidentally hit a young man running from the prison Nyx learns were its hidden she goes in search for her sister who was imprisoned wrongly 50 years ago and that’s were she meets up with the jackal. I loved Nyx! She has balls bigger then most men I know. I knew she was a bad ass bitch when she held a knife to Lucan’s balls because he stepped over the line and no matter what the jackal said she was not leaving til she found out what happened to her sister. Their is a instant attraction between jack and Nyx and it soon leads to a once in a lifetime love. This had many twists and turns and a few WTF just happened and plenty of hot steamy moments with awesome chemistry between these two lovers and a couple of very interesting secondary characters that I need to know more about like the very scary and deadly Apex! He loves to kill, but I feel theirs more to his story and Lucan the wolven is sexy, evil,and dangerous hottie as well. I love this wolfy dude so much! Its a good thing his is the next book in the series!!!! I love JR wards humor that is sprinkled through out the book, but damned if she didn’t make me tear up a couple of different times! She has a way of writing characters that seem like family so when they hurt ,I hurt too!
Until next time Luv’s
One of my least favorites from my fave author
This was ok. Wards previous books were much better.
This is the first book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood Prison Camp series. I don’t know but I struggled with it. It was a very good book like everything J.R. Ward does. I just couldn’t fully engage. I know it was good because it didn’t make me want to stop reading it and DNF it. Yet I found myself needing breaks from it. The Jackal and Nyx were great characters. I think I will go back and try to read it again so I can write a better review.
It’s no secret that I love the Black Dagger Brotherhood series so obviously at some point I was bound to get to this spin off series. This is about the prison that houses the very worse of Vampire society but as the original council who oversaw it has been disbanded somehow it’s very existence has been forgotten by many.
Nyx has spent the last fifty years trying to find out where her sister was taken to when wrongfully accused of murder . A chance encounter with a young Male gives her a clue to the whereabouts of the infamous prison. Determined to get in and find her sister Nyx goes in fully loaded for bear or in this case Vampires ! Getting in might not be her biggest challenge though because she walks right into the Jackal . He’s been a prisoner for so long he’s almost forgotten the moon above but something about the obstinate, brave Nyx reminds him of everything he’s lost and now everything he cannot have.
I think with any other author I would rate this a four and a half because I didn’t care for the instant very obvious and heavy attraction between the couple. However as this is the much revered Warden I certainly expected just a little more. This is a good book, it has a solid story with fabulous twists. Rhage features heavily and as his book Lover Eternal was my first by this author I should be happier. I did enjoy this but think it just seemed a lot shorter than I am used to. We get background on the Brotherhood before it became the organised unit that it’s turned out to be and even new characters that I sincerely hope will be revisited. I think what I didn’t quite believe was that amongst Vampires a very clean smelling Nyx would surely stand out and be noticed which I kept expecting. So for this reader as much as I did get behind the characters and cheer them on it wasn’t my favourite book by this author but I certainly do recommend it because as a story it’s full of suspense, romance, humour and of course those delicious Brothers !
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from my library
I’ve been waiting months for my digital library to pick up this BDB release, and to reach the front of the queue. I was so excited to dive in once The Jackal hit my Kindle!
Why do I eagerly return to this world again and again? BDB is much different than most of my other reading choices these days but at this point, the world of Caldwell and its residents feel like old friends. I always love to visit and see what’s new.
The Jackal, like other BDB spin-offs, features well-known Brothers alongside the new characters. I enjoyed this story overall, despite Rhage not being one of my favorite Brothers and quite a bit of back-and-forth between past events and present-day action. The prison camp setting is quite gritty – there were definitely a couple of scenes that were a tad too graphic for my taste, but don’t let that deter you (I’m a big chicken)!
You’re going to love Ms. Ward’s fantastic world-building, the cameos of various Brothers, and the way she ties this story into the main BDB books. This hero is just as protective, capable, and smitten as all of her others, and he has more than earned his great HEA. Even better? Ward has introduced a bunch of other males, too, that will almost certainly be the subjects of future books in the series.
I already have my favorites and can’t wait to see who finds his female next!
Excellent book with some twists, turns and surprises along the way.
The Jackal was absolutely epic! Everything around me melted away as I got lost in this world, caught up in the emotion, pain, and passion. It was incredibly intense and I hung on every detail and loved how it was woven together with an incredible build. It blew me away!
Readers looking for a new thrilling paranormal romance read with just the right amount of magic and action should pick up J.R. Ward’s THE JACKAL [Gallery Books, August 18, 2020]. In an exciting new companion series to her ever-popular Black Dagger Brotherhood collection, Ward creates a tale of adventure, love, heartbreak, and betrayal with unforeseen twists to keep readers turning the pages.
The first in the spin-off Black Dagger Brotherhood: Prison Camp series, THE JACKAL follows the story of Nyx, a young vampire who has been trying to hold her fractured family together since her sister Janelle’s unlawful incarceration fifty years ago. After a car crash that left Nyx and her sister, Posie in debt to the young man they collided with, along with learning her grandfather’s long-kept secret shortly after, Nyx decides to take matters into her own hands; she has to go to the underground prison where her sister has been kept and bring her out alive. When Nyx meets a massive warrior named The Jackal and finds herself becoming closer and closer to him, her would turns upside down—and she needs to make it right again.
When reading THE JACKAL, there seems to be an ominous fog shrouding each character and preventing the reader from truly knowing what each characters’ intentions are. From Nyx’s first experience with The Jackal to the small community of friends Nyx finds herself surrounded by, readers may find it difficult to trust each of these characters when they are first introduced. They were in prison after all, and Nyx can’t risk her life and the lives of the people she loves in haste. The inner conflict that both Nyx and The Jackal have throughout the novel revealed itself to be particularly enjoyable, due to the immense emotional and physical development these characters go through. Burning questions and character motivations resolve by the novel’s epic conclusion.
Along with the mysterious tone of the novel, THE JACKAL also provides readers with action-packed scenes that promise to push readers to continue turning the page. From the first chapter to the last, Ward keeps her audience’s attention within her grip through the intense fight scenes and elaborate plans Nyx and The Jackal come up with in order to find Janelle and get out of the prison—even if that means Nyx would lose more than one person she loves. With the snarky and strong-willed female protagonist and a lover that leaves room for her to make her own crucial decisions, THE JACKAL breathes new air into paranormal romance novels, which is often deemed “fluff” or “boring” to some readers. The balance between action, tough decisions, and romance really brings this novel together.
While some of the romance scenes may not be for modest readers, the absence such would evidently take away from the completeness of the characters’ developmental arcs as well as the novel’s overall tone. Though some of these intimate scenes add more to THE JACKAL’S core, the sheer frequency of sexual scenes and innuendos became quite redundant. It is made clear in the beginning of the novel that sex and thoughts around sex are a big part of vampire culture in this world. However, the fact that so many aspects of this vampire culture focuses on sex makes it difficult to remain in the serious tone and mindset of the novel. Even though eroticism is part of what makes vampire literature what it is, the novel may have benefitted from some restraint.
Overall, THE JACKAL is a great read for adult readers looking to reminisce on the days where paranormal romance and vampires was the main trend in the literary world. With thrilling action scenes interspersed combined with intimate physical and mental scenes, this novel is sure to please those who are looking for the perfect mix of action and romance.
The Jackal is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of August 18th 2020.
Great new series! I loved the tie-in to BDB. Fast-paced, action packed, spicy and full of surprises.
A little slow at the start of the book, but the rest of the book more than made up for it. Another great book by JR Ward. This book is so different than the rest of them, a whole new setting. Prison life as you could never imagine. Nyx just wants to find her sister who was imprisoned 50 years ago. When she finds the secret passage that leads her to the prison, she runs into someone known as The Jackal, or Jack, as she calls him. He knows she is the one destined to be his, but she can never be his. She is there to find your sister, and he will help her just to get her out into safety. So many surprises, so much danger, and lies. To be honest it takes a lot to surprise me in a book, I am pretty good at figuring things out. But this book had me gasping at the information that was discovered by the characters. And as the love grew between Nyx and Jack, the danger seem to increase. The commander of the prison has a real hold on Jack and a connection to Nyx. Great story, steamy scenes, and a fight for survival. Great Ending. Love seeing Rhage make appearances.
Nyx has been looking for the glymera’s notorious prison camp for years. When she is finally given a clue she is determined to infiltrate the prison to find her sister who was sent there for a crime she didn’t commit. What she doesn’t expect is to be attracted to one of the inmates.
Nyx was probably my favorite heroine in this world. She was strong, resourceful, smart and headstrong. I love a good strong heroine who can take care of herself. The Jackal was an interesting character. His story is a heartbreaking one but in the end he does find happiness with Nyx.
Their relationship is definitely an insta love one. While I do like a lot of insta love, this one felt a little rushed. There wasn’t any soul deep connection between these two, which is sad because I expect that with Ward’s books. I did like them as a couple overall, I just wish there had been more development and depth to their story.
While this is a spin-off series, you definitely need to read the rest of the Black Dagger Brotherhood books to understand what is happening in this book. Especially considering a good portion of this book is sections of Rhage’s past. If you haven’t read the previous series you will instantly be lost and not understand who he is or why it’s important.
Overall, I still liked this book but I miss the deep connection that the original books had with the characters.
Trigger Warning:
– Rape, discussed
Let me start by saying I have read all of the BDB books & others by J.R. Ward & have loved them. However, The Jackal took me awhile to get into, if I hadn’t already read the rest of her books l probably wouldn’t of finished it. The book did pickup & get better but it definitely wasn’t up to par with her other books. I did like the characters & it will be interesting to see where she goes with them. It was a good book but not as well written as her books usually are but I’m still looking forward to the next one!!
I loved it. I am a fan of all the books from this world. This is not a Brother book per se. But it is the same world. I love the new Characters. I can not wait for more from them.
Okay so this was like OG BDB good!
The Jackal was wrongfully imprisoned 100 years ago but when given the chance to escape he has very personal reasons for staying. Nyx’s sister was imprisoned 50 years ago and now is Nyx chance to try and save her. Neither expected to fine love and a new family out of the darkness that was the Glymera’s Prison.
The twisting turns of the prison and the story kept me glued to the audio and desperate to find out what happened to the other prisoners, aside from poor sweet Caine, who helped Nyx and Jack.
Nyx is a tough girl heroine who is strong and determined to do whatever it takes to find her sister even if it means risking her own life or getting stuck in a hellhole of a prison, but she also has a kind heart, sympathizing with Jack when she learns of his experiences there. Jack is a tortured hero who’s been through a great deal but he’s managed to maintain a relatively charming personality. He’s very good to Nyx, proving himself a protector and he’s deeply loyal to those he loves. I enjoyed the flashbacks with Rhage and Darius. Overall, a great start to this new BDB spin-off series.