OMG, you guys, this book. This book was so good. I know I say that about every book that I review. After all, why am I going to review a book I don’t think is good? But this one wowed me. It took me in, swallowed me whole, drained me, and then refilled me.
I’ve been looking forward to Nightmare Rising ever since I heard Cari and Nicolette first started talking about it on FB, and then they posted the prologue. That prologue did me in. It is an incredibly dark scene. Intriguingly so. While the book is within the dark category, it isn’t completely black, more like dark gray with great black streaks. However, with the ending of this one, the knowledge of what these two talented ladies write, and being the first book of a series called The Nightmare Trilogy, I see very, very dark clouds on the horizon.
The prologue sets the stage for the rest of the story, which is an eternal battle between immortals, the Nightmare King and the forces of good, including the Cucitrice.
Fast forward many, many years, and we get to the start of the story.
Zara is a woman who came from the middle of nowhere. As a teenager, she was thought to be crazy because she told everyone her friend Yvaine was taken, but no one could find any proof of it. Yvaine’s family were wanderers and when she disappeared, so did they. Years later, Zara is trying to stay one step ahead of her stalker, who sends her letters and postcards. Those postcards give hints that her stalker killed Yvaine and others associated with Zara. Because of that, she keeps to herself, and only has one friend, Chester, who she mostly talks to by cellphone. He is a computer genius and helps her out as much as possible. Zara has done everything she can to keep herself safe, including carrying a gun with her. If her stalker ever comes for her, she’s ready to take him down.
Valor is a soldier who has survived war and loss, including his son being blown up in a terrorist attack. Valor carries a small teddy bear of his son’s around with him everywhere he goes, as a touchstone. These days, he’s a member of a very deep, dark, dark ops CIA team. He and his team are tracking terrorists on American soil. They are surveilling a bomber one day. They think they get him, but there’s another bomb. It goes off near a school bus, killing Valor’s partner, and knocking Valor out.
Zara is at work when the bomb goes off and she rushes out, just in time to see the Cucitrice (which is a fancy word for seamstress), using a knife and stabbing something into Valor’s arm, over and over. Then the Cucitrice gets shot, drags herself over to Zara and downloads as much of herself into Zara as possible.
And this is where we cut away. This book is just so amazing. Zara and Valor have a hard time trusting themselves let alone each other, which sets up so much conflict in this book, it’s totally awesome. Their partnership, when it happens, makes them stronger, but they have to make it that far first.
Like I said, this book tends toward the dark side and the series will only be getting darker. There is violence and language, and you immediately get dropped into the deep, dark end of the pool and never quite get to the shallower end. There is hate and angry fucking galore, and it’s glorious. And forget the idea of a happy ending. If this isn’t your shot of tequila, definitely avoid it. You’ll be happier.
This book is seriously good. I mean so good. I was so pulled into it, so immersed, that just the fact that the book ended traumatized me almost as much as the ending. It gave me a massive book hangover and it took me awhile to find something else to read. Even once I did, Zara and Valor, and can we just mention how great a name that is, followed me into the next book.
Valor is hiding the Nightmare King inside his head. He knows it’s there, but he hides it from Zara, even after they have become lovers. At the start, he doesn’t really stick with Zara so much for the fact that Zara is nifty neato and more for the fact he wants to access the Cucitrice’s memories to figure out how to get the Nightmare King out of his head.
The Nightmare King’s name really fits him. Not only does he control all the nightmare creatures that came into our world, he is nightmarish. Every thing that he wants Valor to do in general, and to Zara specifically, is right out of someone’s nightmare.
The search for Zara’s stalker goes to places that she never expected, especially after Valor points out that the latest postcard she got is a faked up card. Valor kind of thinks that she may be faking it at first, but then changes his mind as proof shows up. But, I didn’t expect that storyline to end up the way that it did. What happens with that ending directly affects the way that the book ends.
The story has a hell of a cliffhanger. Fuuuuuck, I really hated Cari and Nicolette for a minute. Then I remembered that I loved their writing, and I know better than to expect a HEA from them, especially from a book called Nightmare Rising in a trilogy called Nightmare.
I’m willing to do a deal with the devil or associated demons in order to get the next 2 books sooner, but Nightmare Rising pretty much destroyed what little soul I had left.
If anything I’ve written makes you want to check it out, go visit Amazon. It’s on KU right now, but I recommend buying it so that you are ready for when the next one comes out. I’m going to be sitting in the corner, suffering the DTs until it does. Meanwhile, happy reading!
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