Review: Rush of Darkness

Raine is half vampire, half psychic... recovering from a kidnapping marked by torture and rape. Her body is back in shape, but her powers have weakened, and she holds on to the anger and need for revenge inside her, to go on. Her plan is to kill the demon-like Cassus who murdered her sister. But every time she goes after one, she risks her own life.

Seth is the human who rescued Raine from her captivity. He works along with the Watchmen --warriors who fight evil -- though he was once a rouge vampire-killer himself. Those were years he spent taking his own vengeance after vamps killed his family and tortured him to the brink of death. But he has realized now that not all vampires are evil. In fact, he has been drawn to Raine ever since he saved her.

He manages to track her down and becomes wrapped up in her mission. She is attracted to him too and it's obvious these two are meant to be together. But here's the thing... the woman was gang raped by a bunch of evil entities not very long ago. Yes, she took her mind to another place for the worst of it, but these wounds are still fresh. It's understandable that she would be wary of giving herself to a man. Yet Seth essentially challenges her... telling her she'll give in to him. This bothered me. But his plan works. He's not a total brute, thankfully. The guy has his own history of being attacked and violated. He has a lot of his own issues to work through.

Together, Raine and Seth learn to navigate through each other's extensive emotional issues, while working together to hunt down the bad guys. There's heavy sexual tension and some solid love scenes as payoff.

In the meantime, there is extensive world-building at play. After all, this is book 7 in the Primal Instinct series. But the author does a really good job, bringing new readers up to speed on the mythology. There were moments here or there where I was little fuzzy, but for the most part I felt like I knew what was going on. It was enjoyable even for me, as someone with no history with the series.  I just wish a little more care had been paid to Raine's post-rape recovery.  Almost 4 stars.

*ARC Provided by NetGalley

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Rush of Darkness

by Rhyannon Byrd

Release Date: April 1, 2011

Publisher: HQN