Dream Chaser [Mass Market Paperback]

With Dream Chaser, Kenyon is back to doing what she did so well in the earlier Dark Hunter books, Xypher is a dark and tormented character who stirs your sympathy and Simone is a heroine you truly believe can bring him redemption.

Xypher half demon half god former Skotos has been damned to Tartarus and been left to suffer thousands of years of torture because he dared to love and chose the wrong woman. Now he has been given thirty days in the human world and a shot at full pardon if he can accomplish something good, but Xypher knows exactly what he wants to accomplish in his free month and good has nothing to do with it. He is filled with centuries of rage and plans to wreck vengeance on the one responsible for his suffering before returning to eternal torture. Aware of the danger Skatara, the object of Xypher's wrath, sets out to destroy him permanently, sending an assassin with immortality nullifying magical cuffs. The assassin fails his first attempt but Xypher ends up magically linked to human Simone unable to be more than a few feet apart from each other with out the cuffs spell killing them both, and the cuff's powers also ensure that if Simone is killed Xypher will die. Simone is psychic, she sees ghosts, and as medical examiner for New Orleans she is not totally unaware of the `bump in the night' world of Xypher's hunters. But Simone is much more than she seems and her experiences and life view make it possible to see past Xypher's rage to something more vulnerable. So while Simone's mortality is what makes it possible to kill the immortal Xypher, it just may be that Simone's innate kindness, humor and humanity will be the key to his redemption.

One of the things that makes Dream Chaser work for me where the other Dream Hunters haven't is that Xypher's initial rage shows his potential for a depth of feeling where the lack of emotions in the other Dream Hunters left them sterile and made it difficult to connect or care about them as characters. And once we get Xypher's back story and begin to understand Xypher though Simone's very insightful perceptions, we do actually care for him. There is a sense of a hidden yearning for love even when his attempts to gain it in the past have cost him so much. I also really liked the way that Simone's relationship with Jesse, a ghost that has been Simone's family and constant companion since her family's death when she was a child, helps to build Xypher's trust in Simone and show him that love can be something good and true. As always it is fun to see Kenyon take advantage of the world and characters she has built, and old favorite characters have cameos -- Julian Alexander, Kat and Archeron appear - and new and interesting ones make appearances. Though I admit at this point I am having trouble keeping track of everyone in her vast and complicated pantheon.

After my disappointment with the early Dream Hunters, I hadn't planned on reading Dream Chaser. I disliked the shorts and the first novel, and avoided Upon a Midnight Clear because it sounded like more of the same from the reactions of other reviewers, but I'm on Kenyon's mailing list and the excerpt from Dream Chaser intrigued me enough that I decided to give the Dream Hunters one more try. Boy, am I glad I did!

If you have read DEVIL MAY CRY you have some idea who Xypher is, if not, he is a Phobatory Skotos, one of the Dream Gods, who brings nightmares and eats the dreams of humans for emotion. Zeus has condemned them to have no emotions. Xypher was sentenced to Tartarus for his misdeeds. In DEVIL MAY CRY he helped Sin defeat the dimme demons and for that he was promised a month on earth to redeem himself by doing a good deed.

Xypher didn't think Hades would abide by the bargain but now he finds himself on Earth. He is given only his clothes and strength and memories. He has been living on the streets, finding food where ever he can and sleepiing standing up. But the only thing he wants is to find a way into Kalosis so he can destroy the one who betrayed him and left him in hell.

Simone Dubois is a medical examiner with Tulane, she is a contemporay of Tate who is the medical examiner for New Orleans. Tate is also a squire for the Dark Hunters, he has seen many things that others would not believe, only Simone knows about all the other supernaturals that populate our world. She has the ability to see and talk to ghosts. As a matter of fact a ghost lives with her. She helps Tate when he needs it.

When a body gets up off the examining table and walks out, Tate calls Simone. She goes with Tate to look at the scene of the crime. The woman's throat was torn out. While there they are attacked by daimons, Xypher is trying to force the daimons to open a portal to Kalosis, where Satara has gone to hide from him. He saves Simone but Satara has a plan, she will use Atlantian braclets to kill Xypher, by putting the bracelets on him and Simone if she dies he dies. His brother is a demon and he is the one sent to kill her after the spathi daimons chain them togather.

From here the story justs gets better and better. We meet up with Julian and others from other books. This is the best of the Dream Hunter books so far. I loved it and there are so many surprises. I liked Xypher in DEVIL MAY CRY and I am thrilled to get his story. Do not miss it. Good Reading.

I had waited anxiously for Xypher's story but was worried because the first two Dream-Hunter books were disappointing. But Sherrilyn Kenyon did a wonderful job with Dream Chaser. I just couldn't put it down. Many of my favorite characters made an appearance in this book and several new ones were introduced. I enjoy the world that Sherrilyn Kenyon has created and how she has weaved all these characters into it. It may not always work perfectly but this time, it did. Got to admit, I can't wait for Acheron's book and there is a sneak peek at the end of Dream Chaser.

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