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A review by ksmarsden
Daylight's Deadly Kiss by Jay Raven
4.0
Anton is dragged into the middle of another looming vampire war, and has to work out who to trust.
I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is the first book I've read by Jay Raven, but I was told that each book in this series was a stand-alone.
Daylight's Deadly Kiss does work reasonably well as a stand-alone, and does fill in a lot of background, but I think I would have preferred reading Crimson Siege first.
Anton is a somewhat-professional vampire hunter. He works freelance with his small team, stumbling from job to job, because what else can he do? He was nearly turned into a vampire, and now has their speed and strength, along with a certain darkness that reveals itself. Anton is also famous - he's killed enough high-ranking vampires to make them fear his name; and he's pissed off his chain of command and is basically an outcast.
He's dragged into a plan that involves the church and the crown Prince Leopold. They have to travel to meet the man proclaiming to have Daylight's Kiss - a fabled weapon that can reproduce sunlight and kill any vampires.
I liked this story, it's more than a straight-forward baddies-vs-goodies. It keeps you guessing at the motives of all the players that are introduced, and where their loyalties really lie.
As you get further towards the goal, you start to wonder what the bigger picture is, and what price certain factions will pay, to get what they want.
I really liked the character Nadia, as she completely personified this. She kinda reminded me of Irene Adler from Sherlock Holmes - completely cunning and impossible to pin down.
The not-so-good.
Anton was a decent enough character, and I did like him for the most part; but for a so-called superior hunter with supernatural powers... he needed saving a lot. It starts with him being saved by Leopold's men; then by a bear; then by Nadia.
There wasn't a single fight in the first 75% of the book where he didn't need help from someone, even when the odds weren't terrible.
The writing occasionally got repetitive, and Raven has a habit of mixing speech being explained within narrative, followed by dialogue, which I found quite frustrating trying to keep straight what were thoughts, what were 'shared thoughts', what was said and not said.
It was more common in the first half of the book, and faded in the second, as everything became smoother and focussed on the building story.
Overall, I enjoyed the story, and I look forward to Raven's future, possibly more polished work.
I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is the first book I've read by Jay Raven, but I was told that each book in this series was a stand-alone.
Daylight's Deadly Kiss does work reasonably well as a stand-alone, and does fill in a lot of background, but I think I would have preferred reading Crimson Siege first.
Anton is a somewhat-professional vampire hunter. He works freelance with his small team, stumbling from job to job, because what else can he do? He was nearly turned into a vampire, and now has their speed and strength, along with a certain darkness that reveals itself. Anton is also famous - he's killed enough high-ranking vampires to make them fear his name; and he's pissed off his chain of command and is basically an outcast.
He's dragged into a plan that involves the church and the crown Prince Leopold. They have to travel to meet the man proclaiming to have Daylight's Kiss - a fabled weapon that can reproduce sunlight and kill any vampires.
I liked this story, it's more than a straight-forward baddies-vs-goodies. It keeps you guessing at the motives of all the players that are introduced, and where their loyalties really lie.
As you get further towards the goal, you start to wonder what the bigger picture is, and what price certain factions will pay, to get what they want.
I really liked the character Nadia, as she completely personified this. She kinda reminded me of Irene Adler from Sherlock Holmes - completely cunning and impossible to pin down.
The not-so-good.
Anton was a decent enough character, and I did like him for the most part; but for a so-called superior hunter with supernatural powers... he needed saving a lot. It starts with him being saved by Leopold's men; then by a bear; then by Nadia.
There wasn't a single fight in the first 75% of the book where he didn't need help from someone, even when the odds weren't terrible.
The writing occasionally got repetitive, and Raven has a habit of mixing speech being explained within narrative, followed by dialogue, which I found quite frustrating trying to keep straight what were thoughts, what were 'shared thoughts', what was said and not said.
It was more common in the first half of the book, and faded in the second, as everything became smoother and focussed on the building story.
Overall, I enjoyed the story, and I look forward to Raven's future, possibly more polished work.