by Terrance Mc Arthur

BE WARNED THERE ARE SPOILERS! AND DON’T MISS OUR GIVEAWAY OF DARK HEIR-DETAILS AT THE END OF THE REVIEW!

Dark Heir is the ninth book in Faith Hunter’s Jane Yellowrock series. Does the series hold up after so many outings? Yes. Oh, yes indeed.

Jane is a Cherokee skinwalker connected to a mountain lion she calls Beast, and Jane hunts vampires. Of late, she’s been working in New Orleans for Leo, master vampire of the city, but she’s put on loan to the police when a really-really-old witch/vampire (known as the Son of Darkness) stops being a glorified-but-ironic wall ornament, breaks out of Leo’s L-5 basement and starts draining everything in sight. She won’t be allowed to kill him because of delicate relations with the European neck-biters, but she will be allowed to cut out his heart (Huh? Oh, that’s right; vampires aren’t as easy to kill as humans).

Jane has her partners, Eli and The Kid, former Seal and reformed hacker, to provide support, and her new love, Bruiser (who has some enhancements from his years working for vampires). A light-toned shadow from past books also helps (Reading some earlier books in the series would help understand that part and why the origin of the Son of Darkness). Jane’s best-witch-friend tries to help, but “some kinds of help are the kind of help we all can do without” (Shel Silverstein).

Besides the Son of Darkness, there are some vampires that are more trouble to have around than an avowed enemy. They manage to make life more difficult for Jane, even though she already has more problems than she needs.

Hunter has been developing her vampire mythology and history for quite a while, and this book brings a lot of those threads together, explaining why the New Orleans bloodsuckers are as weird as they are. The religious, profane and occult mix into a strange brew. Even elements that appeared to have been stabilized in past books, like her relationship to Beast, take on new swerves.

Jane blames herself for some things that are not her fault, but she uses those concerns to investigate and find a way around or through the problems. I read and review a lot of urban fantasy and horror novels, and the Jane Yellowrock series is one that I really look forward to continuing. Go, Jane, go.

To enter to win a copy of Dark Heir, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “Heir,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen April 18, 2015. U.S. residents only. If entering via email please include your mailing address.

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Use this link to purchase this book & a portion goes to help support KRL & it supports indie bookstore Mysterious Galaxy:

Dark Heir: A Jane Yellowrock Novel

Terrance V. Mc Arthur is a Community Librarian for the WoW! (WithOut Walls) Division of the Fresno County Public Library, roaming the Valley to meet the public’s information needs.