Saturday, December 15, 2012

Early Review - Black Fallen by Elle Jasper (Dark Ink Chronicles # 4)


Black Fallen, by Elle Jasper, is the fourth book in the Dark Ink Chronicles. It is really the start of a new story cycle that finds Riley leaving behind her Inksomnia business to fight evil in the world.

If you haven’t read Eventide, please ignore the next part of my review.

After reading Eventide, we all know that there is something profoundly different about Riley Poe. She may or may not be human. She’s definitely more strigoi (vampire) than human. She’s faster than before, has an amazing ability to mind control her nemesis, and can hear things from a mile or more away. That, however, is all fine and good. With Riley no longer in Savannah, it means that she has left behind a group of friends and supporters that she has come to rely on like a life saving device.

Riley, Eli Dupre, Noah Miles, and Victorian Arcos have all joined forces with Jake Andorra's group known as WUP (Worldwide Unexplained Phenomenon). There are, of course, other secondary characters like Darius (Immortal), Ginger and Lucian McLeod (werewolves), Gabriel (Immortal) and Sydney Maspeth (Archivist/Immortal). There are tertiary characters as well in Tristan de Barne, and Gawan of Conwyk.

The premise of the story is interesting on a basic level. There are Black Fallen (angels engulfed in the darkest kind of magic) creating havoc in Edinburgh, Scotland. It is up to the WUP team members to locate sacred artifacts and defeat them before they spread their Jodis (evil minions) around the globe. Riley also learns that she has another unique ability that the rest of the group doesn’t have; the ability to crossover onto another plane of existence.

What didn’t work for me was the back story of Tristan and Gawan that were introduced after the group was brought together in Scotland. The back story took up too much time that should have been devoted to finding and defeating the Black Fallen. Maybe it’s just me, but I like to see action, adventure, mystery, suspense, and yes, romance and smexy scenes that are not overly done. What we do get is a lot of smexy scenes, just not between Riley and her fiancĂ© Eli.

I was shocked that Jasper actually wrote two characters off. One at the height of their search for the Black Fallen. We really have no clue where they went, or what actually happened to them. Talk about a swift kick to the ass! I’m sure it was done for a reason so that readers will be looking for the conclusion of this particular story when it’s released August 6th 2013.

I would be remiss in my duties as a reader/reviewer not to say that I'm a bit disappointed in this book. It had a lot of potential. Then again, I was slightly reserved about my thoughts on the previous book (Eventide) as well. As always, my reviews are slightly personal in nature and may or may not be compare to what you believe about this series, or this particular book.


Title - Black Fallen (Dark Ink Chronicles # 4)
Author - Elle Jasper
Genre - Paranormal Romance
Publisher - Signet Eclipse (December 31, 2012)

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