Touch of Darkness

Loved this book but, it read like this was the end of the series. Hope not.

A mere handful of days until her wedding to werewolf firefighter Tom, not-prey Kate's life yet again spins out of control. An old enemy resurfaces and is determined to rob Kate of her home, friends and family and finally her life. And if that isn't enough to worry about, Tom's psycho werewolf ex-girlfriend turns up to try and force Tom and Kate apart. Hiding in the background, the parasitic vampire Thrall are again plotting and the plan's a doozey. Like the previous two books, action packed Touch of Darkness keeps Kate moving from crisis to crisis with nary a moment to think and put all the pieces of the big picture together, but an unexpected ally provides the intel which will allow Kate to even the odds when she moves to counter the Thrall's plot. Far more romancey than the previous books in the Thrall series, Kate's relationship with her uber-sexy fiancé Tom is a highlight of the book. Even though there's rough spots for the two due to everything that's happening to them, their relationship -- which is filled with both heat and playfulness -- is a solid partnership and they complement each other's strengths. And for once, Kate is actually getting the support she needs from her friends and family and those relationships are what's going to keep Kate going and give her a shot of actually surviving the danger that's coming at her from all directions. Touch of Darkness brings the Thrall series to a definite climatic end - so don't expect a sequel. This is satisfying in some ways but a shame in others, because Kate's discovery of a cool new power would have added an interesting new dimension to her relationship with the `weres' and her battle with the Thrall. Since Touch of Darkness pulls together many threads from the previous books and ties up the Thrall series with a pretty bow, you really need to read Touch of Evil (Thrall, Book 1) and Touch of Madness (Thrall, Book 2) to get the full enjoyment from seeing everything from those books come to resolution. Look for a standalone novel,Magic's Design, from the Cat Adams half of the Thrall author pair which will be released February 2009.

In Colorado Kate Reilly feels fortunate to still be alive; having survived seemingly endless waves of attacks by the local vampiric Thrall (see TOUCH OF EVIL and TOUCH OF MADNESS). She and beloved werewolf Tom Bishop plan to marry although his pack is not pleased with his choice of a bride from outside the pack. Though he still needs approval especially by his Alpha, Tom assumes no one will prevent his nuptials in a couple of days; now that Kate's apartment building collapsed due to a blizzard and she needs a home he plans to provide her. Tom failed to consider Janine his former lover, who swears Tom is her soulmate. At the same time the loved birds struggle with getting the blessing of his pack, her brother Brian, a former Eden drug addict, is undercover at New Dawn Thrall halfway house in Texas where he learns more of their conspiracy to take control from the humans. The media fails to see beyond the Thrall manipulation of them in which they are the good guys and Kate is a baby killer. The final entry to the delightful Thrall trilogy is a superb urban romantic fantasy as Kate and Tom have extended family/pack issues that make her as the vampire slayer and him as a werewolf seem real. Interestingly, instead of being a hero, the manipulated media paint Kate as a baby killer while the Thrall are described as innocent victims (Karl Rove would be proud of that swiftboating). Fans of the miniseries will appreciate the climax while newcomers will want to "touch" the previous two books first. Harriet Klausner

This trilogy series was excellent. Touch of Darkness is the last in the series and was fabulous. Loved the characters and how the authors were able to wrap up the series so well.

Courtesy of CK2S Kwips and Kritiques Kate Reilly and Tom are finally getting married! Or are they? As everyone knows, life never runs smoothly for Kate, especially with the Thrall still out there and Tom's werewolf pack convinced Kate and Tom's relationship is a very bad thing. Kate is about to head off to Las Vegas to marry Tom before having the big church wedding later on at home. When her apartment building collapses in a blizzard, that's just the beginning of her problems. Tom's pack has a new Acca (alpha) and she will do anything to prevent the marriage from taking place. As of that wasn't enough, Kate discovers the Thrall has reorganized and now instead of having various hives all over the world, they now have one leader over all of them, and that Queen has ties to Kate's past. Still worse, now society thinks of the Thrall as the good guys since they've disguised their plans behind a variety of charity programs designed to put humans at ease and make them trust the Thrall. But wait, there's more... Kate's psychic abilities are being blocked just in time for her to discover there is the mystery project the Thrall are working on. And just to add to the stress of preparing to get married and save the world from the Thrall, Kate has discovered a very deadly plan... The Thrall have rescinded Kate's Not Prey status and now she's just Prey like the rest of the world. Kate sure has her work cut out for her if she still plans to make it to the church on time! Of course, Touch of Darkness wouldn't be a book by stellar writing duo Adams and Clamp without lots of action and adventure and plenty of frightening moments of wondering if our heroine and her team will make it out alive. Several surprises crop up throughout, which leave us breathless with shock. I knew from early on the Thrall were up to some nefarious plan involving the werewolves, all the signs were there, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what it was until about halfway through the book when I started to suspect the truth. I love a good mystery wrapped up in an urban fantasy story so I was on the edge of my seat, with no fingernails left from biting them in nervous anticipation, waiting for the final shoe to drop and the puzzle to be revealed. Forget everything you thought you knew about the Thrall and the werewolves, we have a whole new set of rules here. Several dramatic changes have occurred in both societies since the conclusion of Touch of Madness, and everything is turned upside down. This just adds to the confusion Kate and her friends are feeling as they try to learn the new rules at a time when getting them wrong means death. This also serves to up the ante for we the readers as we feel the pervasive fear that comes from one Touch of Darkness. I've been following along on the adventures of Kate Reilly and company since Touch of Evil and while I'm glad to see the story concluded, I'm a little sad too that I won't get to spend any more time in this world of CT Adams