Awaken Me Darkly (Alien Huntress Novels, #1)

by Gena Showalter

Ridding the world of evil, one alien at a time: that’s Mia Snow’s mission.

In a time and place not too far away, Mia Snow is an alien huntress for the New Chicago Police Department. Heading up her expert team of Alien Investigation and Removal agents, Mia's unmatched at battling the elusive enemy among us, and she's the perfect girl for the job. She's seen her brother die at the hands of aliens. She's earned each of her scars. And she'll die before she cries. Now, a series of killings have Mia and her partner Dallas tracking alien suspects—but a sudden blast of violence leaves Dallas fighting for his life.

The chance to save Dallas appears in the form of a tall, erotic stranger. An alien. A murder suspect. Kyrin en Arr, of the deadly Arcadian species, holds the power to heal the injured agent but not without a price. For Mia Snow, that price is surrendering to Kyrin's forbidden seduction...and embracing their electric attraction. She's walking a knife's edge, risking her badge and even her life. The closer she gets to Kyrin, the more Mia learns about her own heart, her human needs—and the shocking secret that will shatter everything she's ever believed.

• ISBN10: 1416510052
• ISBN13: 9781416510055
• Publish Date: 1 June 2005 (first published 31 May 2005)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Pocket Books
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[mitabird]

2.5 stars

[Angie]

Awaken Me Darkly is a book that I've been dying to read for awhile, so I jumped at the chance to read it as soon as I could. I'm glad I did, because I quite enjoyed it. It reads more like an Urban Fantasy rather than a Paranormal Romance, which threw me off at first, but I was drawn into Mia's story quick enough. Mia is an alien huntress in a futuristic Chicago where aliens have come to live on Earth. Some are peaceful and work and live among the humans, but of course, there's also those with nefarious intentions. Those are the ones that Mia and her team go after. There's been a string of abductions, some of the bodies are turning up, and it has evil alien written all over it.

The first thing I really liked about Awaken Me Darkly was the world building. It does a great job of introducing us to New Chicago, which is set sometime in the not so distant future. I wasn't quite sure how far into the future it was set, but since nothing is too drastically different, I would say not that far. Aliens have figured out how to open portals, allowing them to come to Earth. As a result of their arrival, security measures have been put in place to protect humans. I found some of the technology quite interesting, and luckily nothing seemed too far fetched.

As much as I liked Awaken Me Darkly, it definitely could have had improvements in the characterization and plot department. Mia is great. I liked her. She's one tough cookie, trying to prove herself in a man's world. However, everyone else seemed flat, even Kyrin, the love interest. Yes, he is the typical Alpha Male who has had his sights set on Mia forever. I didn't quite believe it though. His alphaness was really the only part of him we get to see, and that he's loyal to his family rather than his race. He also conveniently held all of the answers to the murder plot, but withheld that all until near the end for tension's sake. I also felt like the conclusion was incomplete. We find out who the murder is, what their evil plan was, but we don't find out why they were leaving the bodies to be found or one other important piece that I won't mention because it's a spoiler. One more chapter probably could have taken care of this.

Awaken Me Darkly was still a good introduction to the series though, and I'm definitely interested enough to want to read more. Like I said before, this one felt more UF than PNR, but this is in fact a PNR series. I don't think we got enough of Mia and Kyrin in this book, so I am kind of sad to leave them, since I would like to see their relationship develop. However, I am eager to get know more characters in this world, especially since there are so many different type of aliens roaming the planet.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[Linda]

Very interesting universe, the aliens aren't as bad as I first thought, kind of like people... there is good and bad everywhere :)

Mia is a very cool female lead character, she doesn't take sh*! from anyone, and she kicks ass when it's needed (even sometimes when it's not needed). I loved the way she dealt with shattering information, and also how she tried to continue, even when she was exhausted and scared.

Most of the other characters are multilayered and interesting as well, and the group Mia works with are professional bad-asses. And they all respect her, they do not think that she can't get the job done because she's a woman.

[wyvernfriend]

Mia Snow is an alien huntress in the near-future working for the New Chicago Police Department. She has a grudge against aliens as at least one of her brothers died at their hands many years ago. She's starting to burn out a little though and her life seems to be one long shooting match with very little down-time.

It's an interesting story that just doesn't quite thoroughly work for me, but wasn't a bad read.