Awaken Me Darkly [Mass Market Paperback]

AWAKEN ME DARKLY by Gena Showalter confused me as to what kind of book it is. Since I've read two other Showalter novels, both paranormal romances, I had assumed this book was also a romance. However, the book was written in first person (a no-no for romances), and it took more than 100 pages for the hero, Kyrin, and heroine, Mia, to have a substantial scene together. In fact, I stopped reading the book at that point to look at the cover and make sure I didn't make a mistake. The cover shows a woman in slinky black leather holding a knife. The publisher logo also depicts handcuffs and talks about "Naughty Girls." Okay, so maybe it's supposed to be erotica ... but with no erotica to be found. So I went back to reading, wondering what was going on.

The whole story is actually more of a cop murder mystery (a la "Men in Black") in which Mia tries to figure out who is killing human men, with Kyrin the alien (and her love interest) being a possible suspect. There are a couple sex scenes, but as for love scenes ... well, let's just say it was lacking in that department. This book didn't come across as romantic at all. Mia was not a heroine I could (or would) want to relate to: she's crass and violent, and the actions she takes to feel "empowered" as a woman and/or cop are what I consider low class and tasteless. She's also constantly wanting to "kick ass" every five seconds. Kicking ass can get very annoying very fast in this book. I especially got tired of her punching the hero every other scene. A real man would not put up with that. Neither should an alien hero, in my opinion.

Plot-wise, I thought the story was interesting and I finished reading the book cover-to-cover in a matter of hours. Granted, I also thought there were way too many "easy outs" for Mia in this story, especially in relation to her alien hunter buddies and what they let her get away with. I also thought it strange that although Mia is an alien hunter and there were something like 80 species of aliens running around on Earth, there was very little discussion of the aliens themselves or their culture. Kyrin's super-brief description of his home planet just left me with more questions, like why he abandoned it for Earth, etc.

So, all in all, what does this mean? I think I can safely say that AWAKEN ME DARKLY is a lower-end sci-fi cop thriller for women. It has a couple of sex scenes, neither erotic nor romantic, just descriptive. The heroine has violent tendencies and a potty mouth, and the biggest mystery of the novel is how in the world the hero can possibly love her. Still ... I was entertained, I won't deny it. I just don't think I'd ever read the book again, or whatever sequels that might follow.

***Now, if you are interested in reading a paranormal romance with a compelling hero and heroine who are secret agents on a mission to protect humanity from monsters, read the Goblin Town series by Melanie Jackson. In TRAVELER, which is the first book, Jack and Io are both part fairy and travel to Goblin Town to foil a plot by flesh-eating goblins to take over the U.S. The romance is sizzling, the characters are likable and realistic, and the action is nonstop and entertaining. Plus, the author goes into fascinating (if gory) detail about a modern-day world populated with goblins, fairies, and humans. I loved TRAVELER. ***

Although there are certain similarities between the heroine Mia Snow, and the above, but this story is unique enough to stand well on it's own. Mia Snow is a Hunter. She hunts predatory aliens in the city of New Chicago, in an alternate reality. She and her partner Dallas, are assigned to a homicide in an area called Whore's Corner. The victim is male, naked, drained of blood, and has his hand tied to his penis with a blue ribbon. Mia smells Onadyn in the air, a drug used by the alien Arcadians to process oxygen. Her hunt for the alien responsible, leads her to the Club Extasy and Lilla, an Arcadian with strong mind control powers. She escapes. They find her at the house of another A.I.R. agent, and take them all in. The agent's daughter, her mind controlled by an Arcadian, shoots Dallas and leaves him close to death.

Kyrin was present at the club and has been speaking to Mia in her mind. He apparently has the power to save Dallas, but will only help in exchange for the release of his sister Lilla. Mia will do anything to help her friend, but is unwilling to release a supposedly predatory alien without finding the real killer. People are disappearing at an alarming rate, and the only link seems to be a fertility clinic and another Arcadian named Atlanna. Atlanna seems very familiar to Mia.

This was a really good book, though not at all like Showalter's other works. The characters are very realistic and well developed. The relationship between Mia and Kyrin is gripping. Once I started this book, I didn't put it down until it was finished.

In general, I do enjoy Gena Showalter's books. But this book left a bad taste in my mouth from page one.

The main character, Mia Snow, is extremely unlikable. No, not because she's a tough chick. I like tough chick leads in books. It's because she is brutal, egotistical, narrow-minded, and self-righteous. How am I supposed to like our heroine, who, in one scene, was disappointed she couldn't kill some thugs because of all the paperwork such action would create? She really wanted to kill those men, because a little killing would have helped work of some of her tension. Yikes.

Mia leads a team of agents that pretty much work outside of normal law. She can target and murder any alien being on the planet who is even just suspected of having harmed a human. No proof necessary. Just a suspicion is enough for an execution. Bear in mind these aliens are supposed to be in large populations and acting as members of our society. This isn't just a few random aliens hiding out on the planet, like Predator, The Thing, or Alien. Think more like Star Trek or Alien Nation. All I could think of to compare Mia's agency to were the SS from Nazi Germany. How are these folks to be viewed as heroic?

And then I was confounded by the whole history of the aliens on this planet. Apparently when aliens came to our planet, the human race went ballistic and started a war with the aliens. The aliens managed to slap the human rebellion down, so in an attempt to salvage what was left, humans agreed with the alien powers to allow them to stay on the planet. Really? The losers agreed to let the winners get what they want and stay on the planet?..... How gracious of those losers to allow the winners to claim their winnings. So now we have aliens on the planet. Many different species. I guess Earth was invaded by some alien coalition. Anyway, some of these aliens cause problems among the humans, and so the leaders of the aliens have agreed that the humans can form this SS-like task force to go around and kill, without any kind of due process, such evil aliens. What government would allow that? What people would allow their government to allow that? And, as these aliens were the apparent winners of the war, how are the humans able to make such a demand and take such liberties?

Well, since I don't like the main character, I don't like the idea of the team she works for, and I'm not keen on the flimsy core backstory of this particular universe, I have to give this book just one star. And there is no way I'm jumping back into this world. No more Alien Huntress books for me. Ever.

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