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The Darkness Beyond (2011)

by Alexis Morgan(Favorite Author)

4.2 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1439176051 (ISBN13: 9781439176054)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Pocket Star

series

Paladins of Darkness

review 1: I really really love Alexis Morgan's Paladins. They're strong silent types (except that they're not so silent with each other -- they yell, throw things, have temper tantrums and brawls...) who protect our world from the crazed Kalithians who attempt to cross over a barrier between their dimension and our own that exists deep in caves along the faultlines of the Earth. (Not that all the Kalithians are crazed, but the bulk of the ones who try to cross the barrier are.) Kalith is a dying planet. And apparently, the Paladins share some DNA with them. They're warriors, and they're always male. And just to make it *that* much better, they can, for an indefinite period of time, come back to life after being killed -- although each death and resuscitation (resurrection?) takes s... moreomething out of them, and eventually they go crazy and have to be killed.D.J. Clayborne is a Paladin and a computer genius/hacker who is *famous* in the cyberworld as the hacker Knightwalker. Regina (Reggie) Morrison works for a company that is hired by other companies to track hackers. She's been tracking Knightwalker anyway because she's curious and can't resist a challenge, but lately, her company was actually hired to find him. Part of her's reluctant to admit that she's found him, because she enjoys their little game of barb-and-prod, cat-and-mouse. But on a side trip while trying to confirm details, she accidentally stumbles into the system of the Regents, who manage and fund the Paladins, and finds, downloads and prints a history of the Paladins. Also, I should mention there's been some internal unrest in the management levels between the Regents and the Paladins (security, finance, medical...all that fun stuff). I'm gonna stop there because I tend to get all involved in synopsis stuff and don't want to tell the bare bones of the story in under six paragraphs. Ms. Morgan has managed to write a series that is just as interesting and compelling in the 8th book as it was in the first, or the fourth (which is actually where I first picked up the series and started glomming. Seriously glommable.) We get some time with past characters, and just enough of some new and interesting ones, and some of the bad guys too--but just enough that we know a little about where things are going rather than so much that we begin to wonder just who the series is about. But the primary focus of the book is D.J. and Reggie. They get moments of fear and joy, anger and love. And, of course, the bad guys get got. Spectacularly. AND we get a new Paladin out of the whole thing--Reggie's friend and coworker Cory, who grew up in the foster system and always amazed and freaked out his foster parents with his amazing healing abilities and crazy energy and metabolism. I just can't wait to see who's next of the Paladins to get his HEA!!
review 2: Paladin DJ Clayborne, computer whiz and hacker extraordinaire, finally gets his turn in the spotlight with a woman who not only can match him in cyberspac,e but who also appeals to him just as much in the flesh. When Reggie who hunts hackers for a living manages to track down the illusive 'Knightwalker", and decides to play with him a bit before turning him in, she cracks the Regents website and ends up shanghaied to the alien world of Kalitha by those involved with the 'Others' conspiracy. Knowing that it is his fault that Reggie is danger, DJ mounts a rescue mission and despite being the most fun loving and playful of the Paladins, DJ is also formidable warrior who won't stop until he's brought Reggie back across the barrier.I really liked The Darkness Beyond. I loved Morgan's favorite Paladin DJ (it's his blog you sign up for on her website) and I really liked Reggie too. DJ is just the right mix of cocky and caring and Reggie is both smart (on the whole) and sensual enough to appeal to both DJ's brain and body. I also really enjoyed the parts of the story that followed Reggies' fellow hacker Cody, he was quite likeable but what really 'made' this thread is that it allowed for lots of interactions with the supporting cast of past Paladin leads and mates which wouldn't have been possible with Reggie and DJ off in another world.My only nits with The Darkness Beyond were the 'how' of how Reggie ends up in the bad guys clutches and the 'why' of why the human bad guys give her to the Kalith 'Others' - I can see stashing Reggie beyond the barrier, but giving her to the Kalitha for a little 'fun time' to make her more cooperative, not so much. Even though I didn't think either of these things made a lot of sense, I just just went with it because the end result was Reggie and DJ in peril in Kalitha which gives them a chance to form a bond.Well, with The Darkness Beyond and the previous book Beyond the Darkness Morgan has overcome the mid series slump and the Paladins are going strong. With the exception of a Paladin short this summer, I am not sure what's in store for us next, but if you need something to hold you over until then and haven't checked out Morgan's website, you are missing out on a whole slew of after the HEA story snippets for past Paladin pairs. less

Download links for: The Darkness Beyond

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