Tomes of Shadowstalking

Welcome to the land of shadows, where evil is the greatest power, where nightfall marks the birth of terror, where your very soul is at risk. Join me as I investigate worlds filled with black magic and dark souls and encounter the monsters rule these wicked places.

This review does not represent the opinions of the general public. It reflects my personal thoughts and opinions on the book.

That said, on to the review!

One night Maggie Neely's brother, Miles, didn't return home from a hiking trip, but his girlfriend did...and lies about what really happened. Maggie hunts the girl down, but her impromptu investigation--she's still in her pajama top and mismatched socks--traps her in a dark and diabolical slave trade that no human suspected existed. But the origin of this scheme is the Night World, where the vampires, witches, and shape-shifters lurk in the darkness of a society underlying the human one that Maggie knows. Not that she cares. All she cares about is finding her brother, who she's certain is still alive. But then things take a strange and confusing twist: first she falls in with a blind girl who happens to be the Maiden of the Witches. Then she finds her soulmate in a seventeen-year-old youth who just happens to be a vampire. Then she discovers that her soulmate is also the prince of a hidden kingdom in the Night World, and the great-grandson of one of the most ruthless and malicious vampires in the World. And that vampire has plans for this little kingdom and the power his great-grandson possesses. Can Maggie save herself and her soulmate, Delos Redfern, and the rest of the human slaves in the Dark Kingdom before it's too late for the Day World, the world of humans? And what about her brother?

Black Dawn is the second of the Night World books focusing around the four Wild Powers first introduced in Huntress. Once again we have a human and a vampire whose souls are inextricably bound together. What's more, we once again have a member of the many-branched Redfern clan feeling its effects: James Rasmussen met Poppy, Ash and Jade Redfern met Mary-Lynnette and Mark Carter, Quinn (even though he's adopted--sort of) met Cat, and Jez Redfern met Morgead Blackthorn. Gee, you have to wonder what's happening to the Redfern clan, don't you? And when you consider that they're also bound to the Harman clan of witches (who themselves have felt the effects of the soulmate principle), you have to wonder when it will all stop. But don't count on finding out any time soon.

Here we have an interesting conundrum. In a society of people who are practically immortal, what grown adult (who might be at least two hundred) would willingly take orders from a seventeen-year-old prince? And it seems like that's part of the reason for all the problems that pop up in Black Dawn. I mean, things would have been entirely too easy if Delos could actually command his people to do things in a morally just way. But this way he has hardships of his own to overcome. But I'm curious: Delos is Hunter Redfern's great-grandson, so what happend to Chervil Redfern and Tormentil Redfern, the kings that came before Delos? Especially since death by natural causes isn't an option to consider?

While a YA novel--like all of L.J. Smith's other books--Night World: Black Dawn takes a different turn from her other books, transporting us into another world and another time. Okay, so maybe the Night World is another world all in its own. But it's like we get to enjoy a fantasy novel in the midst of a horror novel. Like it? Read it!

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