Y’all may recall that I was fortunate enough to win a copy of the ARC of Dawnkeepers, Book 2 of Jessica Andersen’s “Final Prophecy” series, earlier this year. And I liked it well enough that I decided it was necessary to go back and pick up Book 1 to see what I missed. Survey says, I’m very glad I did!
As with Book 2, so with Book 1: we have ourselves a decent ensemble cast here, and although sure yeah fine the plot is set up to faciliate the pairings of various interesting couples, the driving force of what’s going on is the Nightkeepers having to rise from the ashes of their own destruction in order to combat the likely end of the world in 2012. Things get underway with the focus on Striking-Jaguar, a.k.a. Strike, the son of the last Nightkeeper king. Strike thinks he and his sister are the only survivors of the massacre of their people. He is, as none of you should be surprised, wrong.
Complicating matters is Miami detective Leah Daniels, who’s busily investigating the cult that brought about the death of her brother, a cult based on Mayan beliefs, and whose leader seems dead set on acquiring power he thinks Leah has. Strike must not only bring together the other survivors of the Nightkeeper massacre and forge them into a team, he also needs to rescue Leah–and figure out fast why a woman with no Nightkeeper heritage whatsoever is showing every sign of being a Godkeeper. And his own destined mate.
All in all good strong fun. The sex scenes are kept down to a minimum, and there’s plenty of action and tension as Strike, Leah, and the Nightkeepers get their magic on. Four stars.