Realm of Shadows

Rating:
Summary: Average Story
Review: I have to admit, I love vampire novels, but I am not the biggest fan of Ms. Drake, and it may be because this was the first Drake novel I read. The characters in this novel were not very developed, and in fact the main heroine, Tara, I found to be annoying. Tara goes to Paris to visit her grandfather who may or may not be going senile. He asks her to go and check on an archeological dig, and even though she just arrived, she decides to go to make her grandfather happy. While there of course archeologists dig up a vampire and the killings began. At this point Tara meets Brent, who may or may not be the killer. Tara is not sure if she should trust Brent but at the same time she is attracted to him. This story has many other characters and many other mini plots, but the book never seems to come together. It was an "average" story and I can only give it three stars.

Rating:
Summary: Average Story
Review: I have to admit, I love vampire novels, but I am not the biggest fan of Ms. Drake, and it may be because this was the first Drake novel I read. The characters in this novel were not very developed, and in fact the main heroine, Tara, I found to be annoying. Tara goes to Paris to visit her grandfather who may or may not be going senile. He asks her to go and check on an archeological dig, and even though she just arrived, she decides to go to make her grandfather happy. While there of course archeologists dig up a vampire and the killings began. At this point Tara meets Brent, who may or may not be the killer. Tara is not sure if she should trust Brent but at the same time she is attracted to him. This story has many other characters and many other mini plots, but the book never seems to come together. It was an "average" story and I can only give it three stars.

Rating:
Summary: Liked the story but was disappointed with the ending!
Review: I really started off liking this story and I did like the story but I was disappointed in the ending. I thought it could have been developed better. Sorry!

Rating:
Summary: Not a bad edition to the genre...
Review: I waited impatiently for this book to come out, for months (like most of us probably do ), and while I found it to be a good book, I didn't think that it explored the characters, or their relationships, sufficiently to really be as gripping as some of the others in the series.

It was great seeing some of the characters from the previous books, such as Lucian and Jade, and Rick Boudreaux, but there were a lot of new characters added, and I think they needed to be fleshed out a little more, for those who had, perhaps, not read the previous three books in the set.

All in all, it was a quick read, and I enjoyed it, however, I had hoped it would be as fast-paced and engaging as the previous books.

But would I recommend it? *Definitely,* no question about it, and I'm still looking forward to the next book in her vampire series, which is due out around this time next year.

Rating:
Summary: A LITTLE UPSET...
Review: I WAS SOOO DISAPOINTED IN THIS BOOK.. I HAD TO MAKE MYSELF FINISH READING IT, AND I'M ONE OF HER BIGGEST FANS...

Rating:
Summary: BAD!
Review: I WAS VERY DISAPPOINT. THE BOOK WAS BORING AND TIRED.THERE WAS NO ROMANCE OR HEAT BETWEEN THE MAIN CHARACTERS. I FEEL THAT SHANNON DRAKE IS TRY TO HARD.BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME

Rating:
Summary: What a waste of money
Review: I've never read anything by this author before, and I seriously doubt I'll lay out the cash for anything else by her. The characters in this book are very 2 dimensional. The story jumps around giving the reader no time to really get their bearings on what is going on, when, and with who.

Rating:
Summary: Hard to get into; hard to follow
Review: Normally I don't, but in this case I must agree with most of the other negative reviewers of this book. It was very hard to follow because of scenes where you don't know who's perspective you're getting until the last 50 pages. Drake tries to make the story mysterious, but it doesn't pan out in the end - you still don't really understand everything. Character development was nill. Feelings between Brent and Tara were underdeveloped. The plot wasn't that engrossing. Rangor was thrown in for two sentences - I like reappearances of past characters, but at least make it worthwhile. Also, the issue with Jade - is she or isn't she? Make up your mind.
I also found this book very hard to get into. Usually I read a book in 1-2 days, but it took me at least 3 days just to get interested enough to finish.
I don't know if I'll continue with Drake's horror series. My favorite vampire authors are Christine Feehan, Maggie Shayne, and Amanda Ashley.

Rating:
Summary: Very choppy, No suspense, No romance
Review: On a positive note, the plot of the novel had a lot of potential. Two cousins (Tara and Ann) fear that their aging grandfather (Jacques DeVant) is becoming mentally unstable when he starts insisting that vampires exist and that an archeological dig at a local church must be stopped before a terrible evil is unleashed on the world. Jacques convinces Tara to visit the site and soon after, she becomes embroiled in a nightmare she cannot accept or control.

The first few chapters of the book were interesting. Lots of mystery and things popping out of nowhere, but after a while the action became repetitive and the story got stuck in a rut. The majority of the scenes revolved around Tara denying that vampires exist even though she is stalked by shadows and fluttering bat wings. There was no gripping suspense, no goose bumps, no nerve-racking tension. There was also no romance between the main characters of Tara and Brent. The author spends a lot of time expressing Tara desire for Brent, but I could not decide if the desire was real or just something that the vampires were hypnotizing her into feeling.

Another major problem I had with the novel was the way action hopped from scene to scene. You would be right in the middle of the drama, a monstrous creature looming up behind you, when WHAM the focus would be altered and you would be yanked to a total different location and a different set of character. A few pages later the focus would return to the looming monster, but by then the tension was broken and the suspense gone.

So in conclusion, good plot but poor execution. Choppy writing, mediocre suspense, and a disappointing lack of romance.

Rating:
Summary: Very Good Read
Review: Realm of Shadows was a very good book. The twists and turns were original and left the reader wanting to continue until you found out what was going to happen. The character of Brent was very masculine and sexy with a world of intelligence that was always evident. Just from the description of him you could tell that this was no ordinary man and he was even more mysterious than the fine Lucian. Tara was a nice heroine, but I did think that she fought too hard in trying not to believe in the reality of vampires. Her struggle became monotonous and did drag on, but I thought that she was a brave character anyway. The mystery of the dig and the evil villians made the book and took it to a whole new place. I really liked that it took place in France. That just made the book even better.

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