Saturday, November 12, 2011

Review: Retribution by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Retribution (Dark-Hunter #19) by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Format: paperback
Source: purchased
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Dark-Hunter
0.5. Fantasy Lover
1. Night Pleasures
2. Night Embrace
3. Dance with the Devil
4. Kiss of the Night
5. Night Play
6. Seize the Night
7. Sins of the Night
8. Unleash the Night
9. Dark Side of the Moon
10. The Dream-Hunter
11. Devil May Cry
12. Upon the Midnight Clear
13. Dream Chaser
14. Acheron
15. One Silent Night
16. Dream Warrior 
17. Bad Moon Rising
18. No Mercy
19. Retribution - Paperback | Kindle
20. The Guardian
21. Time-Untime
22. Styxx
23. Son of No One
24. Dragonbane
25. Dragonmark
26. Dragonsworn
27. Stygian

Sherrilyn Kenyon
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Synopsis (Goodreads):
Harm no human...

A hired gunslinger, William Jessup Brady lived his life with one foot in the grave. He believed that every life had a price. Until the day when he finally found a reason to live. In one single act of brutal betrayal, he lost everything, including his life. Brought back by a Greek goddess to be one of her Dark-Hunters, he gave his immortal soul for vengeance and swore he’d spend eternity protecting the humans he’d once considered prey.

Orphaned as a toddler, Abigail Yager was taken in by a family of vampires and raised on one belief- Dark-Hunters are the evil who prey on both their people and mankind, and they must all be destroyed. While protecting her adoptive race, she has spent her life eliminating the Dark-Hunters and training for the day when she meets the man who killed her family: Jess Brady.

A gun in the hand is worth two in the holster...

Jess has been charged with finding and terminating the creature who’s assassinating Dark-Hunters. The last thing he expects to find is a human face behind the killings, but when that face bears a striking resemblance to the one who murdered him centuries ago, he knows something evil is going on. He also knows he’s not the one who killed her parents. But Abigail refuses to believe the truth and is determined to see him dead once and for all.

Brought together by an angry god and chased by ancient enemies out to kill them both, they must find a way to overcome their mutual hatred or watch as one of the darkest of powers rises and kills both the races they’ve sworn to protect.
My Thoughts:  I am so incredibly torn about this book.  Part of me liked it simply because it was a Dark-Hunter novel and part of me was disappointed because it really didn't feel like a Dark-Hunter novel.  Sure, we get to see some of the DHs from earlier books and Sundown's story is sad and poignant (as they all are) but we didn't have a whole lot of Daimon action going on.  I missed Acheron popping in without warning.  I missed the mentions of random Greek gods.  I missed those balls-out fights with the Daimons.  Still, it's a Dark-Hunter book and I do like reading about those guys.

Now, this book looks like it's starting on a whole new set of Gods/Earth Deities.  Actually, it doesn't look like it, it is.  Following the gunsliger Sundown, one of the younger (as in, not made a DH a thousand years before) Dark-Hunters, it delves into Cherokee myths and legends.  Not being as familiar with Native American stories as I am with Greek Gods, this was a whole new beast for me.  While the myths were interesting, there were times when I had a hard time following what was happening in the present vs what was happening in a flashback/vision.

Here's the thing - I have really, really enjoyed how Sherrilyn Kenyon has expanded both her mythology and her world.  In past books she's branched out from strictly Greek Gods to other pantheons and the way she's worked the mythology of different cultures into the Dark-Hunters' story has been awe-inspiring.  I've found that if you give yourself over to the vision of the author, great things can come of it.  So, I'm going to sit back and enjoy this ride.  I'm going to wait patiently to see where the story goes.  I'm going to let Sherrilyn Kenyon entertain the hell out of me with her characters and their lives.

2 comments:

  1. I am so behind on this series. I think I finished book 5. Part of me thinks that after 20 books, though, the series may be losing some of its steam.

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  2. Amanda: Sherrilyn Kenyon has done a great job keeping the mythology fresh by introducing new gods and demons. The problem I had was that I can't quite see where this story arc is heading yet. It wasn't the usual type of DH book and it took me by surprise.

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