Midnight Predator

Rating:
Summary: Puts the series to shame( Really a 15yr girl,not 12)
Review: I usually love Amelia's work, she is very gifted. But after shatterd mirror, i notice most of her books are all the same.The lead girl is a wannabe tough girl, or thinking she is the toughest thing in the world.Falls in love with the bad guy,who turns out to be good.(expect the first book which is amazing).They annoy me after a while,(excluding the first book)they brood too much on the past.Another thing is the characters names.For a modern book the names were annoying to read.There to annoyingly exotic.I mean how many people do you know with the name Ravyn.Why couldn't it be spelt Raven?. And im kind of getting the feeling shes ripping off Anne Rices characters.Also I notice some of the names of charactcers are similar to the names of characters to the Anita Blake series.(read it amazing).Finally how come in every book "the most strongest" vampires or witches or hunters ect. are in them.I mean in every book they say that thats the strongest vampire line, or thats the strongest witch line and in this case hunter line.I mean you can only have so many "most powerful" vampire. Though it would be cool that in one book there was actually the most powerful vampire of them all.Bet you all 20 dollars next book is about some wannabe tough as nails girl has to go up against the most powerful vampire, but falls in love with him or his minion and then she ends the book with out telling us what happens.

Rating:
Summary: Good book, bad ending
Review: Midnight Predator was a good,flowing book about vampire mercenarie, Turquise Draka who's trying to get into Crimson. She fights off mostly vampires(not humans)for a right price.After the vicious battle with Ravyn,not really a enemy but not a friend either meet a anomynous lady(a witch)who will pay half-a-million if they kill the cruel vampire ruler of Midnight, Jeshikah(???spelling???)I really liked this book but what bugged me was that only a few characters were described(very few.)When parts of the book came to Eric(a fourteen adopted kid)or Turquises long-time-ago boyfriend Greg.I imagined them from some movies I guess.*Stupid*,I know. Also,the ending confused me.Did the Triste kill Jeshikah?(bleh)Will Turquise die from her REALLY gashed wrist?If she decides to take Jaguars job offer,is she going to dump Greg?But anyways,my favorite characters were Jaguar and Eric because J.A.helps alot and he's really strong but stands up to his beliefs and Erics the kind of "don't worry about me" kind of image person and likes to explore and help around and be useful.Anyways I really like this book and I love fantasy with action and drama and if you do,read this book.

Rating:
Summary: A sub-standard outing for a above-standard author
Review: I was supremely disappointed when reading this book. Amelia Atwater-Rhodes has shown previously to be an astounding battery of potential, with ideas writhing about in each story that are worth the price, even if the cardboard characters and under drawn plot conflicts detract much from what could be.

Amelia suffers from a sad syndrome that I cannot think of a name for. But it has clear symptoms.

- Many ideas and potentials from characters, with no time for any sort of realizations.

- Stiff and ill-fitting endings.
- Protagonists with little clear motivation.

A sad thing about Midnight Predator in particular was exactly how *good* it COULD have been. The beginning starts with an intriguing character, an uncomfortable (for the protagonist) situation, and good character foils (Ravyn in particular). The idea behind Midnight Predator, that Turquoise must willingly rejoin the world of slavery that she has desperately tried to distance herself from for several years, is more than slightly intriguing. You thirst to see the conflict she will have with strong-willed masters, where the entire world is out to get her for the reason that she kills their kind. So you wait, meeting the very interesting character of Nathaniel along the way, and get to the second act where everything she be just wonderful. They are in the building, sold into slavery.
And then it goes downhill from there. Her "cruel" master is a 'bleedin heart' vampire who won't let a hair be harmed. Jeshika, the could-be terrifying sire of Jaguar, who can do whatever she wants to Turquoise, backs off with little or no conflict. After a lame attempt at their job, assassinating the vampiress, Ravyn, the chip on both shoulders, Faith-like (from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) Hunter, is given away to another vampire, for some reason not killed, and Turquoise is let escape off into a nice little life. A life just miles away from the vampires that want to kill her (and don't even try, I might add) where the plot, wherever it had been going, completely sputters and dies. Here we get an entirely different book. One about a girl with a troubled past trying to fit into a life she'd given up hope for ever getting. Now, this is a fine premise for a book, just not the one it is thrown into. Turquoise could be a great character, she just is not allowed to.
So, the conclusion, she gets back into the world of vamps, very un-energetically, and the story ends. Your left far unsatisfied. Like biting into the best steak you've tasted in months, and then having it removed from your mouth before swallowed, and handed a McDonald's hamburger instead. It's a sad thing, it really is.

What is even more melancholy is the fact that I'd planned to give an encouraging review, always wanting to support someone I respect as much as Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, but just couldn't spout untruth. The book is worth reading, though probably a lot more wothwhile at paperback prices.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but there are things I'm getting sick of.
Review: "Midnight Predator" The book itself is good, but has an ending that will leave a horrible taste in your mouth. The author has improved in descpription, and plot. But I absolutely am getting sick of her characters. There's about six basic people for her,
Meanie Vampire: "A vampire that lacks in strength, but is a jerk to those weaker," Ex: Daryl, Fala, Ather
Cruel Vampire: "A vampire that is strong and a jerk about it," Ex: Jeshika, Nikolas, Jager, Aubrey (In the forests of the night)
Evil, but in some wierd way good: "Feels all emotion... And stuff, but is supposedly strong Vampire" Ex: Jaguar, Christopher, Nikolas (3rd quarter of Shattered Mirror) Aubrey (Demon in my view)
I'm so cool, human: "Thinks is tough, but is weak when it comes to the real world. And is kinda mean... At times, Human" Ex: Ravyn, Jessica, Sarah, Dominique.
Hug the world person: "A thing that likes... People and believes that we all should get along. This concerns vampires (sometimes) but ALL people." Ex: Caryn, Eric, Hasana, Nissa.
Tortured soul: "Feels sad about the past all the time, and can't really just move on from... Anything," Ex: Turqouise, Sarah, Risika, Jessica.
You see? Very few characters were original, and I can't swallow almost any character Amelia shoves down my throat. And what the hell is up with her and people with Dark skin? Let's count. Jaguar, Jager, Nathaniel, Fala. Characters are similar in almost every way, from looks to attitude. Again, she's a GOOD writer. But she needs to explore NEW character outlines, I suggest that she READ more books.

Rating:
Summary: Amelia Atwater-Rhodes strikes again!
Review: This new story introduces Turquoise Draka. She is a mercenary and a top member of the Bruja guild. While getting ready to go rest after a battle with the fiesty Ravyn for top honors as leader of Crimson, the highest of the Bruja guilds, she and Ravyn meet Jillian Red. Jillian has a job for them from an unknown employer. Jillian tells them about Midnight, a building that once was the center of an empire of slave trade. It was run by the ruthless and deadly Jeshikah. But after time Midnight disappeared. Now 200 years later Mignight has risen again and is now run by Jaguar, a slave trainer in the old Midnight. Turqouise and Ravyn's mission: infiltrate Midnight and assassinate Jeshikah who is hell bent on making Midnight once again her own. Their reward: A LARGE sum of money. But this job also requires them both to conquer their fears and remember their pasts of when they were once slaves. This is especially hard for Turquoise who finds that one of the vampires in Midnight is Lord Daryl, her previous master, the man who stripped her of her humanity as a young innocenct girl named Catherine. They both except and enter the world of Midnight. There we meet Jaguar who despite what they've been told has a soft and tender side to him. Turquoise must finish her mission while keeping her cover and her sanity which threatens to break with her rising memorys of her days as a slave.

This book was pretty good though not as enjoyable as Demon in My View and Shattered Mirror. Some of the charecters were pretty basic but some do shine through such as Nathaniel and Gabriel. The book was well written and carried through nicely until the end where it leaves you hanging on wondering "Ok, now what?" Still another great addition to your reading list of vampire novels.

Rating:
Summary: Good start, but disappointing
Review: I really liked Amelia Atwater-Rhodes's other books. Demon in My View was my favorite. I think its really cool that she's a teenager and a published author. I was really excited to see another of her books. There's a forward thingie, that says how she realized the first hundred pages could be summed up in sentence. I thought that meant she changed it, but no. I like the characters, but the story's potential is wasted. The book has no resolution whatsoever. Turquoise becomes a human the vampires can't kill on sight, and decides to leave the hunting guild she belongs, too. However, the target for assassination is still alive, but not unthreatened. And Turquoise has no idea where she's going. I hope Amelia's next book will be much better.

Rating:
Summary: Predictable but interesting...
Review: As one of the original following of Atwater-Rhodes readers, this book came as a bit of a shock. While Atwater-Rhodes has dealt with many of her weak areas, this book brought light to the ones she has not yet dealt with or aquired recently.

One of Atwater-Rhodes' original weak areas was the fact that most of her characters were two dimensional and unoriginal. In MIDNIGHT PREDATOR, she has dealt fairly well with this weakness:
~ Jaguar is mysterious and fierce, yet gentle in his own manner; past scars are evident in his actions.
~ Turquoise is strong, and her "toughness" comes from years in the Bruja and isn't faked.
~ Jeshickah is portrayed as a truly formidable enemy, one that is worthy of the title "villain". In the past, antagonists have been rather wishy-washy (Nikolas? What was THAT all about?), although they did have their strengths. (Aubrey was completely and utterly ruthless in IN THE FORESTS OF THE NIGHT.)
~ Nathaniel is more than likely to be readers favourite character, and for good reason. Nathaniel is a mercenary and a vampire, but money hungry with a dark past.

This was the only weakness that I truly saw a drastic change in; the others are getting better, and Atwater-Rhodes needs props for that. She has come a long was since IN THE FORESTS OF THE NIGHT, her debut.

There were some things about MIDNIGHT PREDATOR that struck me as odd, though. Why have we never heard of Jeshikah, Gabriel, Jaguar, Nathaniel, and company before? I can understand why Nathaniel hasn't been mentioned before, as the former characters never dealt with a mercenary; I can't understand why we haven't heard of Jeshikah, Gabriel, and Jaguar, considering their power.

...As much as that, I felt as if Midnight was not as developed as it should have been, since much of the story takes place there.

My only other complaint is about the ending of MIDNIGHT PREDATOR:...

Rating:
Summary: Once upon a Midnight dreary...
Review: "Dreary" might be a bit of an exaggeration for this book, but it could be argued as a dreary book. The somewhat tedious plot consists of a 'hunter' from the guild of Bruja(unters we have heard little about before in these books, little or none, and it was confusing because I thought a hunter was a vampire at first, and I have also heard the term 'Bruja' used before in Vapire stories) named Turquoise (an interesting name, but what do you expect for a 'hunter'? There was a lot of talking about how Turquoise's former name and self died when she became a hunter, which seems awfully familiar to what Risika said happened when she became a Vapire in In the Forests of the Night, by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes) who is sent along with a rival partner to kill a vampire who lives in the rebuilt mansion of Midnight. Midnight is never fully explained as to what its purpose is. A needless romance forms between Turquoise and the leader of Midnight which easily could have stayed a regular friendship. The title of Midnight Predator seemed to have excellent potential, but was a let down. The poem in the front of the book seemed unrelated to the story, and felt out of place.

Deserving of three stars, for, while a disappointment, it was a good book.

Rating:
Summary: Very well-written, but not what I was expecting....
Review: If you go back to Atwater-Rhodes other three books and see my review, you will see that I am a big fan. This book truly let me down, though.
The story is that Turquoise Draka, a top member of the Bruja hunters, who mainly kill vampires as their business. She and her opponent for a top spot in the organization, Ravyn, are approached by a mysterious business woman. She tells of Midnight, a building that was the center of one of the largest slave trading organizations in history. It was run by vampires, and almost all of the slaves were humans. It had been run by two vampire sisters, but the one that really run was Jeshikah, a cold and viscious vampire with immense power. Midnight had burned to the ground almost 200 years ago, but now it had been re-erected by one of the slave trainers, Jaguar. The mysterious business woman's employer gave them Turquoise and Ravyn instructions to infiltrate Midnight as slaves, and it just so happened that both of them had had nasty experiences in the slave trade before. They did the assignment for the large amount of money offered to them, and they infiltrate this dangerous place, and from there Atwater-Rhodes spins a convincing story of a young girl's triumphs over her fears, and shows new characters in a style that only Atwater-Rhodes could do. There were a lot of flaws, thoug.

First of all, for some reason Atwater-Rhodes thinks that she should view this world through a witch and human perspective, when I believe that a story is told most effectively in a vampire book by the vampire himself.

Second, she talks of these powerful vampires, such as Jeshikah and Jaguar, who are described to be very powerful. But don't you think it is odd that they had never been mentioned in one of her other books?

And third, Atwater-Rhodes was a bit overdramatic with this book. She played too much into the friendship between Jaguar and Turquoise, and why is it that now Turquoise seems not even able to go about her daily life because of her reminiscings of her past with the vampire Daryl.

The good points were that she brought together the characters well and convincing, giving the readers a true sense of who they are.

Altogether, a very good book, but disappointing compared to her first three books.

Rating:
Summary: Midnight Predator
Review: this book I have enjoyed the most out of her books. It kept you wanting more. Atwater-Rhodes is a very good writer, and she's a young novelist. I recommend everyone to read this book, and also the other books she has written.