TLDR recap:
The war with Dragos is in full force now and the warriors of the Order are feeling the stress even in their secure underground command complex. Hunter, still adapting to an independent existence after living his entire life as an enslaved assassin for Dragos, volunteers to escort the traumatized breedmate Corinne home to her Boston Darkhaven… but all is not as it seems, for Corinne and Hunter, for the warriors of the Order, or for the unsuspecting humans surrounding them.
- Title: Deeper Than Midnight
- Series: The Midnight Breed series – book #9
- Author: Lara Adrian
- Prominent Characters: Hunter, Corinne, Chase Sterling
- Recommended reader age: 16+
- Sexual content level: light-to-moderate
Thoughts:
Hunter is an enigma. We know very little of him, and what we do know is that he’s strictly bound to his military training and upbringing… seemingly more machine than man. Corinne is, at first, a fragile flower of a breedmate who you expect to crack at just the slightest provocation, but she definitely has backbone and determination. Their relationship is one of mutual discovery, trust, and tenderness, and is a pleasure to be able to experience with them as it blooms and develops.
This book has more intermingling of other story plots (besides Hunter and Corinne) than previous novels have, but I think that’s actually a boon considering a) how little we actually know of Hunter going into this one, and b) how all the subplots are starting to come to fruition at about the same time. I don’t know that Hunter and Corinne could have pulled off a solo story, but mixed with the rest of the Order’s continuing developments, we get a more complete and satisfying collective piece, much like the later Black Dagger Brotherhood novels.
The interaction (including the sex) between Hunter and Corinne in this book is tender and explosive, written so that the reader experiences every nuance of their strong but fledgling bond. Like the other Midnight Breed novels, it’s steamy without being vulgar and the sexual content does not eclipse the story.
The ending is a hell of a cliffhanger! Normally I wouldn’t say something like that for fear of accidentally spoiling the experience, but I know some readers avoid cliffhangers, so if you’re one of those give-it-to-me-all-at-once kind of peeps, I recommend you put off reading this one until Chase’s book is released. The tenth book in the Midnight Breed series featuring Chase Sterling will be called Darker After Midnight and is slated for a January 2012 release, so you’re in for a bit of a wait if you choose to read them back-to-back for the first time.
Memorable quotes:
Not really a lot of quotable one-liners in this one. Here’s some insight into Hunter’s upbringing…
When asked what type of music he preferred…
He’d never thought about music one way or the other, never paused to consider if any of it appealed to him. What would be the point in that?
If you like Deeper Than Midnight of The Midnight Breed series…
If you enjoyed Deeper Than Midnight and the rest of the Midnight Breed series for its arcing storylines and composite cast, you may also like the Black Dagger Brotherhood series (starting with Dark Lover) by J.R. Ward. Both series generally follow the one-book-one-couple format, with some cross-weaving of plotlines throughout the entire story arc, and the BDB stories are rich in emotional conflicts and physical confrontations. Highly recommended read!
If you liked Deeper Than Midnight and the Midnight Breed series for its urban setting mixed with the allure of modern romantic vampires and their more fragile female counterparts, you might enjoy the Argeneau Vampire series by Lynsay Sands and the Dark Series (starting with Dark Prince) by Christine Feehan. Both series are less intense and have more singular-plot style stories than linked ones, but appeal to readers who enjoy the more traditional romantic vampire mythology. The Argeneau series does have some plot-mingling amongst its later novels, but there is so much history in the first half that I recommend starting in the early books. NOTE that I personally advise you to SKIP the first Argeneau novel (A Quick Bite)! In my opinion, it is badly edited, repetitive, and overall just annoying to read. I can now no longer look at a cucumber the same way… >.<
Final thoughts:
When I first heard that Hunter’s book would be the next in the series, I was a little skeptical. Here’s a guy who has spend his entire life being subjugated into being a killing machine controlled and trained in the most heinous ways by a psychotic madman. Doesn’t really sound all that emotionally stable, right? Realistically, someone who has successfully endured that kind of treatment is more broken than whole, and definitely not a good candidate for a romantic relationship. However, Ms. Adrian gives us just enough forecasting and insight into who he is in the earlier novels that it plays out nicely. It comes across as Corinne being his emotional savior, and that’s a pleasant perspective to contemplate as a reader. Still not 100% believable, but hey… this is vampire lit and I read it to escape, so who cares! =)
I like Hunter. He’s a good strong-dominant-stalwart-male personality, and mixed with his upbringing he’s also a sympathetic hero. I like Corinne less. From her initial introduction in Brock & Jenna’s book (Taken By Midnight), Corinne comes off as immature and a little selfish. That said, most of what we see of her is from Brock’s memories where she’s a very young and sheltered 20-something. Her role in Deeper than Midnight is after a grueling half-century in the bowels of Dragos’s labs, so she has more substance and relatability as a character. She’s still not one of my favorite heroines, as I prefer the chicks who kick butt, but she’s a good match for Hunter. If you’re a fan of the Midnight Breed series, Deeper Than Midnight will not let you down – it definitely delivers!
| Rating: |
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| 4.25 fangs: BITE IT! |
Related links:
http://www.laraadrian.com/ (The Midnight Breed series website)
http://www.jrward.com/ (The Black Dagger Brotherhood series website)
http://www.lynsaysands.net/ (The Argeneau Vampires series website)
http://www.christinefeehan.com/ (The Dark Series website)
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