Dead of Night [Mass Market Paperback]

This is a paranormal anthology containing four short stories by four different authors.

Eternity In Death by J.D. Robb (Nora Roberts) - A vain and spoiled heiress dates a mysterious man who promises her eternity and then ends up draining her of her blood and life. Eve Dallas, top New York homicide Lieutenant, is on the case and is soon drawn into the seedy underground clubs where people play at being vampires, ordering drinks laced with blood.

Amy and the Earl's Amazing Adventure by Mary Blaney - An American woman in England is given a coin purported to have magical powers. When she meets an aristocratic Englishmen as interested in her as he is in the coin, they soon find themselves in the early 1800's with a mystery to solve.

Timeless by Ruth Ryan Langan - A woman on tour of the castle and Scottish land that has haunted her all her life is whisked away to the 15th century when she lifts up a tapestry oddly familiar to her. The Scottish Laird recognizes her immediately...

On the Fringe by Mary Kay McComas - A woman in a marital rut is given a look at what life would have been if she had made some different choices when she discovers her grandmother's magic carpet.

I bought this book solely for the J.D. Robb story as it is part of a series I am addicted to. I expected to really enjoy that one and only mildly enjoy the rest. The truth is all were entertaining, in their own way. My favorite story in the book was Timeless; it's a romantic story with a slight mystery to solve. I really got wrapped up in the 15th century Scotland and characters that the author created. The only real issue I had was in the story Amy and the Earls Amazing Adventure. While I enjoyed the story, it had some seriously cheesy dialogue in the love scene; it was truly cringe worthy.

As with most anthologies, this one offers some good novellas sandwiched between others of lesser caliber. Naturally, the JD Robb story, "Eternity in Death," is excellent, fast-paced, and devoid of any cloying story elements as recurring characters Eve Dallas, husband Roarke, partner Peabody, and the rest of her usual team go after a dangerous con man and killer who preys on foolish young socialites. This story had a very dark feel and would have set the stage nicely for something in a similar vein.

The other authors lack Robb's skill, however, and the second tale, "Amy and the Earl's Amazing Adventure" by Mary Blayney, is a huge departure as student Amy Stevens is given a magical coin by a shadowy stranger, leading her to an adventure into the past with a bartender. He's the younger brother of a present-day earl, but finds himself in the earl's shoes when he and Amy are whisked into the past to solve a mystery. This story lacked cohesiveness, as well as a smooth and believable beginning. What could have been a colorful trip into the past instead fell flat.

Things start looking up again in Ruth Ryan Langan's "Timeless," when busy career girl Laurel Douglas takes a vacation in Scotland and passes through a ripple in time, surfacing as the missing and much loved wife of a Scottish laird. In his arms, and in the company of their son, she discovers deep and abiding true love, before the intrigue she has landed in threatens to take it all away. This is a richly-woven tale with deep feelings and exciting intrigue, well worth the read.

Everything goes south again in Mary Kay McComas' "On the Fringe." Bonnie Sanderson's marriage has gone a little stale, so she and her husband are taking a break. He's moved into an apartment close by and things are friendly, but Bonnie is too stubborn to be the first to reconcile. Then, a magic carpet in her grandmother's attic sends her into an alternate reality where she's in a dangerous hostage situation with a man she quickly comes to love, but because of their desperate situation they have only hours together. When she is returned to her regular life, she realizes there are some important things she doesn't want to let slip away. I can't come up with a better adjective for this one, so I'll settle on boring.

Though only half of this book is really worth reading, it's still worth the price of a paperback. The stories are all fairly short, as well, so even the most tedious one isn't interminable. I always read the Roberts and Robb anthology stories, but don't always bother with the other stories in the books. Judging by this experience, I haven't missed much. It is nice to have a few novellas around when I'm in the mood for a quick, light read, and at least half of these are worth the time it takes.

Dead of the Night which reunites the oh so prolific Robb(aka Nora Roberts) with her three collaborators from Bump in the Night is a real hodgepodge of paranormals without a real connecting theme to pull them all together.

Robb's story is the only one in the collection that is not a time travel romance. "Eternity in Death" is a suspense murder mystery with futuristic overtones that has a serial killer who may or may not be a vampire featuring Robb's cop heroine, Eve Dallas. Even though I am not a fan of this genre, the story was well done as Eve faces inner demons every bit as scary as the outer one she hunts. (4 stars)

Blayney's "Amy and the Earl's Amazing Adventure" and Langan's "Timeless" were both okay, but both time travel stories suffered from the short format. Blayney's hero went through too many emotional transitions in his feeling for Amy, attraction, antagonistic suspicion and then love. In a short story this was wasted time that kept the characters from achieving any romantic depth and forced a rush in both the solution of the mystery the pair go back in time to solve and the final cementing of their happily ever after. And Langan's story was interesting but again there wasn't time enough to believably have the heroine fall in love in the past, and when she comes back to the future there is the understanding that soul mates are reunited, but I never like that kind of ending. I don't want to imagine that reconnection, I want to see it. ( Both 3 stars)

My favorite of the four stories, Macomas' "On the Fringe" was a sweet effort and the theme really worked for me. A magic carpet gives the hero and the heroine both a chance to learn that "whether the grass is greener depends on which side of the fence you are standing." Some how even in this short format, Macomas' manages to develop the past and future romances and both heroes were wonderful: Cal whose life was ruined by a few bad breaks but still maintains a nobility, and Joe who gives his wife a space to find out that all she needs is what she already has. (4.5 stars)

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 29 reviews  3.9 out of 5 stars