The second book in this series picks up pretty much where the first book (Full Moon Rising) left off. Our heroine wakes up naked in an alley and must immediately fight off murderous mutants in order to escape a compound she has no memory of entering.
Through a combination of investigation and slowly returning memory she uncovers a plot to genetically engineer the ultimate supernatural warrior. As a rare natural vampire-werewolf cross her genome could hold the secret to perfecting these creatures, making her the target of a very persistent kidnapper.
She survives a variety of attempts on her life and freedom all whilst participating in a number of wild erotic adventures with an abundance of partners.
The one big complaint I had about the first book in this series (the surplus of unwarranted sex scenes) holds true for this second instalment. Conscious of the eroticizing of the story, I read this book as erotica rather than as dark fantasy thinking the change in perspective would make for a more enjoyable reading experience. Sadly, from an erotica perspective, the sex, though there is plenty of it, really does get monotonous quite quickly. The writing is just not quite hot enough to carry itself as erotica. Just as in real life, in literature, quantity is no substitute for quality.
If we could remove all the extraneous sex scenes (and yes I know it’s all part of who and what she is and we can’t judge her by our human standards but if it’s not moving the plot forward then why is it there?) there’s a good novella hidden in here. A little less sex and a bit more character development (because sex is no substitute for character development) would have gone a long way toward redeeming this book. As it is the story tries to be both dark urban fantasy and erotica and ends up doing neither aspect justice.
I will eventually read the next book in the series, simply because I have it here. I’m not sure how I’ll approach it-certainly not as fantasy or erotica.-Lynn
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