Book Reviews of Touch the Dark (Cassandra Palmer, Bk 1)

Another decent but not great book. I liked the characters but the ending was stupid. I was very angry when I got to the end. I cant say why its stupid because I dont want to spoil it for others but in my opinion it made the book less than good. Its a 3 out of 5

I agree with the other reviews in that Chance could have done less telling in this entry and revealed more backstory and mythos over what is obviously going to be a series. I also found the constant use of famous historical figures as vampires a bit irritating and felt she used that to "cheat" on some character development. That said, by the end I was enjoying the book enough to keep the second on my WL and I disagree with those reviews that felt the ending was a "to be continued" - there was a complete story set above an obvious series arc. There are sex scenes, they are actually in context and, unlike LKH, Chance at least understands what is interesting and anatomically possible.

I'm a huge vampire fan, but this one didn't quite meet my expectations. It had all the ingredients, but just fell short. The plot doesn't never really gets going, because the author keeps interrupting the flow with another fight scene, and never quite explains what's going on until near the end. And the end was too abrupt, even though I know it's because this is the beginning of a series, the ending just sort of...hit, and then you were left standing there. I like a bit more of a conclusion, even with my series novels. However, the urban setting is in right now, and this is very urban, and the book has some good characters to redeem it. It certainly is worth a try--you might find you like it more than I did.

Strong beginning to what looks like a new series by Karen Chance! This is a very fast-paced book with interesting characters and almost nonstop action. The world is solidly thought out, which is a nice change from some of the other new paranormals I've been reading lately, and it packs a good amount of plot into its 307 pages. There's a sequel, Claimed by Shadow, and I'm very interested in seeing how Cassie deals with the next phase of her life!

I've seen several comparisons of this book to Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series. While there are a few surface similiarities, overall they're quite separate. I'm pleased to report that Cassie has a much firmer grip on herself -- and is thankfully much more decisive! -- than Anita ever was, even in her earlier books.

This book is a fairly solid opening in what is obviously a series. The main characters are well drawn and the plot is intriguing. Unfortunately the author swamps those factors with an overload of useless (at this point in the series) information. There are too many extraneous characters and sub-plots splitting the reader's focus and drawing away from the main story.

The world and the characters have potential, but Chance needs to learn how to pare down her work so readers are pulled in, not drowned.

Too much rabbit chasing at first. If you can stick with it, the story picks up and becomes much easier to follow about halfway through the book.

Like any sensible girl, Cassie tries to avoid vampires. But when the bloodsucking Mafioso she escaped three years ago finds Cassie again with revenge in mind, she's forced to turn to the vampire Senate for protection. The undead senators won't help her for nothing, and Cassie finds herself working with one of their most powerful members, a dangerously seductive master vampire—and the price he demands may be more than Cassie is willing to pay.

I liked the story itself, though the author's writing could use a little work. The chapters got kind of long at times, without the use of even any division breaks within. And at other times I found myself confused by what the author was saying, and trying to go back to reread didn't help. In these cases, I found that just continuing on, I'd usually figure out what she was getting at, but it was a bit disconcerting at times. This is her first novel though so I'll cut her a break, especially since I really enjoyed the story.

Besides a good story, the character development was done well. Cassie was an interesting character; her ability to communicate with ghosts, and handle Vampire politics as well, endeared her to me. I also really liked Mircea, one of the Senate Vampires, as well and look forward to seeing more of him in the sequel, Claimed By Shadow, coming out in April 2007.

Cassandra Palmer has a very unique situation - she is a seer who was raised by a vampire mafioso from a very early age. When she was old enough, she escaped and at the start of this book she is in Atlanta and her old boss has found her. It also turns out other vamps are looking for her too and slowly throughout the book you find out why so many are taking an interest in her. The story is very fast paced but there were many times where it felt like in the middle of a fight and action, Cassie pauses to have a long conversation with someone so we can learn some backstory or more about whats going on. It felt a little bit disconcerting that knives are being thrown around and I'm pretty sure that Cassie is just standing there in the middle of everything with a dazed look on her face and shes talking to a ghost. At least tell me shes hiding or behind some barrier and has time to talk. Even with this distracting habit by the author, the world and characters are interesting enough for me to want to read the next book.

I really liked this book. It took a couple chapters to get into, then it really took off. It is action packed with a nice romance developing.

Very fast paced & somewhat confusing. This author does have a great imagination though. I just felt it was a bit difficult to 'keep up' with her descriptions. I guess it's her style of writing.

However, it left me wanting to read the next book.

I couldn't warm up to this book at all! I have noticed that with contemporary fantasy/horror novels, there is often too much explanation about how their world "works", and I find myself losing interest even before the story has barely started. The main character, Cassie, also didn't convey much of a personality for my interest to stick, etiher, so I gave up early on in this book.

first in a new series. Storyline is too complex and more gruesome than most in this genre, but still an entertaining read and strong character development. Sometimes it seems like the author is throwing in the kitchen sink in terms of supernatural characters just to have them there (doesn't add to story line at all)...but I still rushed out and bought the second installment! Enjoy.

Great start to a new series. Vampires and psychics.

Vampires, mediums, ghosts and ghoulies---with a little sex thrown in. What more can you ask?

I really enjoyed this book. Similar in style to Laurell K. Hamilton's early work.

Very good book. Starts with a bang and ends with a cliffhanger. Don't read it when you have something else to dO!I was suprised with who she ended up with and I usually am not. I highly recommend.

Don't read this one at night. Excellent.

Good read. Interesting world she has created. A good addition to the paranormal reading world. Looking forward to the sequel.

Way too much action for me to keep up with. I just read the first few chapters and lost interest. I read the second book in this series first and that one I liked alot. This one was very disappointing.

This is a really good series,I definately recommend it!

I liked this enjoyable series, and keep it on my shelf to re-read. Vampires and superpowers, great character development and story progression.

I actually listed to this one on unadbridged cd. I am glad I was able to do so, because it has a lot of political aspects that would have made me disinterested in the book. It's just not my favorite subject, vamps or no vamps. Overall it was a good book. (3.5 of 5 stars)

I loved this book (and hated that it ended so soon). It moved so incredibly fast, the characters and the scenes just moved non-stop. And what characters! The addition of mages and clairvoyants to the usual vampire/werewolf/Fey crowd is very cool, and the ghost that hangs with Cassie reminds me so much of Jenks from The Hollows series; he's funny and flirty and just a lot of fun. I literally flew through this book, it was so hard to put down. The concept of updating the Oracle legend is a nice way of saying thank you to the mythgologies that these books all draw from, and that we all loved reading as children, and is done very well. I'm really looking forward to the next chapter in the series, I have a feeling I'm going to fall for all these guys real hard.

It was a good book, but during the beginning the action became quite confusing and I felt as though I had missed something... as if I came in the middle of the story rather than the beginning. The book seemed to fix this toward the end by all the explanation the main character got. At times, even though the information Cassie got was interesting, it could be frustrating. Even so, I did enjoy this book and I'm looking forward to the next in the series.

When I read this book I found it enticing and a thriller. Although I do not recommend this book to anyone who is not an adult. It does have a very inappropriate scene at the end of the book. So, adults only!

Not enough back story, but overall not bad.
Definately want to check out the rest of the series.

Liked this book. Bought the second when it came out.

Like many other reviewers I felt this book had a lot of promise but unfortunately ended up falling a bit short. There wasn't enough interaction between the characters and the majority of the book is a race between one death defying action seen to the next. The times when the authored slowed down enough to feature some interaction between Cassandra and the Senate vampires was enjoyable but all too short. All in all I will read the second book in the series in the hope the author gets a little better but this book wont be remaining on my "keeper bookshelf."

Hated it!!! I could NOT get into this book no matter how hard I tried. A no go in my bookshelf.

Loved it!!!! interesting excellant addition to all
who love the paranormal Genre

Allright so apparently i'm in the minority. I enjoyed this book. I thought it was a fun read with an interesting storyline. I didn't find the historical figures a cheat since they weren't the 'main' characters just things that made me chuckle along the way.
All in all it is the main character that I liked. More than any other thing in a book if I find the protagonist interesting and enjoyable then I can forgive other tiny things in the narrative. And Cassandra Palmer is interesting.
I think everyone else has been too harsh and I cannot wait to get book 2 and ocntinue on.

There is a lot of action, characters who appear and disappear, seems like it could have been a good read but because so confusing that I just gave up. The ideas were good, but I could not keep track of who was doing what to whom, or why she didn't get killed in the first chapter.

This book is constant action, although sometimes it's a little too much action. She tends to spin off in the middle of something that's happening into a whole different story. Now, that said, don't let that stop you from reading this book! I still really enjoyed it. I kept picking it back up whenever I could get a chance, and went out 2 days after I finished it to buy the next in the series.

I couldn't finish this book. I read about 45 pages, and the author just did not capture my attention...too much backstory, in long and dreary paragraph after paragraph. I found myself not caring about the character at all. Also, the grammar and word usage were atrocious as was the proofreading. Bad enough to draw me permanently out of the story! I picked it up for 50 cents at a Half Price Books tent sale, and happily pass it along mostly unread to someone who may enjoy it more than I did.

A fun, fast read!

Cassandra Palmer can see the future and communicate with spirits-talents that make her attractive to the dead and the undead. The ghosts of the dead aren't usually dangerous; they just like to talk...a lot. The undead are another matter.

I really liked this book and look forward to the next one!!! I hope someone else will too!!!

Like any sensible girl, Cassie tries to avoid vampires. But when the bloodsucking Mafioso she escaped three years ago finds Cassie again with revenge in mind, she's forced to turn to the vampire Senate for protection.The undead senators won't help her for nothing, and Cassie finds herself working with one of their most powerful members, a dangerously seductive master vampire- and the price he demands may be more than Cassie is willing to pay.

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