Monday, January 17, 2011

Review: Night Betrayed (Envy Chronicles #4) by Joss Ware

Release date: January 25, 2011

Synopsis (via Goodreads):
The Change that devastated the earth made Theo Waxnicki something more than human-eternally young and beautiful...but not immortal. When he dies on a mission against the Strangers, he is lost to the darkness...until a miraculous healer brings him back.

Born as the world fell to ruins, Selena has dedicated her life to easing others' pain. Her tender touch awakens new life in Theo-and new desire. But joined together in a world of terrors, the lovers' secret pasts make them vulnerable to danger. And love is the deadliest trap of all.
My Thoughts:  Part of me really liked this book and part of me wished I had read the previous three books in the series because as much as I enjoyed the characters and the idea behind the devastating Change, I was a little lost at some parts.

The world Joss Ware has created is dark and dangerous and infested with Zombie-like critters who are on an eternal quest to find a man named Remington Truth.  The humans who have survived live in walled villages and do their best to survive.  Throw in a shady group of quasi-immortals who are up to something nefarious and a bunch of ruthless bounty hunters who thrive on the chaos the world has descended into and you have something compelling and intriguing.

My problem, if you can call it that, is that I wasn't quite sure how Theo and his buddies in Envy fit into the mythology of the world.  Obviously, Theo had powers but I felt like it wasn't explained why and how he should be using it.  On top of that, his death and resurrection caused his powers to glitch but I don't think it was ever addressed as to whether it was permanent or simply a temporary thing.

Now, despite all that I still enjoyed the book.  The zombies weren't your usual run of the mill zombies.  They were programmed to hunt for Remington Truth and would take anyone with blond hair with them while doing the usual zombie-banquet on dark haired people.  Different, guys.  I kinda liked it.

As far as the characters, I liked Selena.  I liked that she had a crisis of faith after a zombie attack.  I thought that she and Theo were pretty darn hot together.  Her ability to help people transition into death was interesting.  The life she had carved out for herself and the trust issues she had all made loads of sense.

All in all, I enjoyed the book, but I think it would have been a lot more fun if I had read the previous books in the series.  The world here is dark and dangerous and the characters were fun.  Did I mention that I was extremely intrigued by one of the bounty hunters?  I was.  See?  Characters=fun.  Even the bad guys.

More books by Joss Ware

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for this ARC.

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