Dark Fever by Karen M. Moning

Dark Fever
Karen M. Moning / Urban Fantasy
Book One in the Fever Series
Delacorte Press / November 2006

MacKayla Lane’s life is good. She has great friends, a decent job, and a car that breaks down only every other week or so. In other words, she’s your perfectly ordinary twenty-first-century woman. Or so she thinks…until something extraordinary happens.

When her sister is murdered, leaving a single clue to her death–a cryptic message on Mac’s cell phone–Mac journeys to Ireland in search of answers. The quest to find her sister’s killer draws her into a shadowy realm where nothing is as it seems, where good and evil wear the same treacherously seductive mask. She is soon faced with an even greater challenge: staying alive long enough to learn how to handle a power she had no idea she possessed–a gift that allows her to see beyond the world of man, into the dangerous realm of the Fae….

As Mac delves deeper into the mystery of her sister’s death, her every move is shadowed by the dark, mysterious Jericho, a man with no past and only mockery for a future. As she begins to close in on the truth, the ruthless Vlane–an alpha Fae who makes sex an addiction for human women–closes in on her. And as the boundary between worlds begins to crumble, Mac’s true mission becomes clear: find the elusive Sinsar Dubh before someone else claims the all-powerful Dark Book–because whoever gets to it first holds nothing less than complete control of the very fabric of both worlds in their hands



There’s something to be said for a book that regardless of how many times you read it, you walk away excited and ready to read it all over again. Once is never enough, a hundred times would never be enough and for me DARKFEVER is one of those books. The first book in the extremely addictive Fever series, it’s well named because it does exactly that – spark a fever in the reader that is insatiable as the story delves into a darker side of Dublin that’s filled with monsters even our nightmares would shriek and hide from. A city where not everything is as it seems and you can’t always trust your eyes. This is a story that instantly grabs you and pulls you in, engaging you fully as you experience every emotion and situation along with the characters – the good, the bad and the dangerous.

DARKFEVER tells the story of MacKayla Lane, a twenty two year girl whose perfect life was thrown into chaos the day her beloved sister, Alina was murdered. Up until that moment Mac led a charmed life that consisted of sunbathing, listening to her iPod and coordinating her outfits to match the different shades of pink nail polish she owned. Fueled by anger and a frantic cryptic phone message from Alina just hours before her death, Mac goes against her parent’s wishes and flies to Dublin, Ireland determined to find her sister’s killer and bring him to justice. Once there however, her life is once again turned upside down with the discovery that her sister kept secrets and as Mac begins to hunt down the answers, nothing prepares her for the horror that she finds. Forced into a working relationship with the mysteriously powerful and sexy Jericho Barrons, Mac learns she is a sidhe seer – someone who can see past the glamour created by the Fae. Much to Jericho’s delight, she can also detect objects of power which makes Mac extremely valuable tool which he puts straight to work. Mac finds herself meeting all kinds of creatures, placed in all kinds of dangerous situations and every choice she makes takes her further away from who she used to be. Unable to turn away, Mac finally has to face the horrifying truth – war was coming and she was standing right on the frontline.

One of the things I liked the most about how DARKFEVER was written was it all came from Mac’s point of view which put me right in contact with her thoughts and feelings. I got to know her really well and loved what I saw. At first glance, Mac comes across as someone with very little depth and I kind of held my breath to see just what kind of character she would be. You need to know, the thought was fleeting because beyond those first few pages I got to see someone I could totally identify with. She had her heart ripped out and world turned upside down and instead of fading into the background, she took action. Mac has an incredible amount of heart and I loved watching the change she went through as each choice she made, turned her further away from everything she knew about herself. For someone in the middle of chaos, she showed a lot of bravery and it couldn’t have been easy being forced to grow up insanely fast. I love how she thought, for how incredibly human she was and it was easy to identify with her. I loved reading all the different insights she offers to what’s going on around her and the humor and sass she brought to the story. I still chuckle over the scene where she goes with Jericho to a vampire dressed as Jericho stated a “perky rainbow” She may not have had a lot of control over what was happening, but she fought for what she could and it made reading the book a great experience.

Excuse me one minute while I wipe the drool from my chin *quickly uses sleeve* Okay, where was I? Jericho Barrons and VLane. *wipes chin again* OMGSH could you get two men any more divine then these two?? Both are incredibly powerful, sexual men who are dangerous in their own ways. I honestly don’t know how Mac showed such restraint because these men were to die for. I loved the dynamics they brought to the story, the raw energy that had oozed off the page making it impossible not to want to keep reading. Both of them offer so much to the story but for me, the book was all about Barrons and I found myself asking all the same questions as Mac- who the heck is this man? Just when I thought I might have some kind of idea, the author throws in a word or an image that had me scrambling again. I love the way he was described as something wild and savage underneath a cultured veneer and couldn’t get enough of his sarcasm. I loved the interactions between him and Mac, his arrogance and mocking attitude driving me crazy. The man takes being “alpha” to a whole new level and I can’t wait to unravel the mystery surrounding him. He was just so forceful, commanding, dominating and I won’t lie – I spent a lot of the time panting over him *wipes chin* But I especially liked the Barron’s at the end – the protector who when all is said and done is man enough to paint fingernails. Yes, you read right – fingernails!! This is just the first book and already the man is turning up the heat. Heaven help my heart and body as I continue to read.

Coming from a person who’s read the books before, this is one of the best urban fantasy series out there. DARKFEVER holds nothing back and gives you an action packed, in your face, “OMGSH I can’t believe that just happened” experience with characters you’d love to do all kinds of things to. I wouldn’t hesitate in suggesting everyone needs to grab a copy for themselves. Just be careful because it’ll definitely create a fire within you and you’ll be joining the rest of us who’ve caught the “FEVER” and are hopelessly and completely addicted. Happy drooling… I mean reading!!

 
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