Gwen’s review of Eve of Destruction (Marked, Book 2) by S.J. Day
Urban Fantasy released by Tor 2 Jun 09

As you know by now, Sylvia Day is one of my fav erotic romance authors, so this entry into the UF genre is something I read with avid interest. Few people can twist passion and emotion the way she can, wringing out every last erg of energy from the words and my feelings.  I just go along for the ride when I read her and I’m seldom disappointed. 

I reviewed the first book of this series, Eve of Darkness, a short while back. It was a good first book and introduced a new and different world of evil hunters, good guys, and villains.  The hapless humans caught in the middle are largely ignored, but that’s par for the course in most of these kick-ass-heroine urban fantasies.

The heroine in these novels is developing into quite the woman.  In this second entry, she’s trying to balance her personal life, her family, and her new profession.  All while being trained to kick ass and take names. Her love affair(s) take a back seat to the suspense plot, all while still being an important part of the storyline. Very fun tension is maintained and you never really know who to cheer for when she’s being wooed by one or the other hero.

The heroes are still scrumptious and wholly edible.  Some interesting things happen to the both and you’re left wondering what the hell is going to happen next when the book ends.  It’s all very tempting and satisfying at the same time.

Eve is still largely clueless to the larger machinations going on the Marked/Archangel ranks and her part in them, though she is starting to get an inkling that there’s something going on that’s deeper than what she’s seeing.  This all serves to ratchet up the intensity and tension in these books.  One day we’ll discover the purpose of all the moves the plot’s chess pieces are making.  Some resolve themselves in this entry, but there’s still some very tantalizing pieces looming on the horizon.

I’m not going to recap any of the plot in my review – too much can be given away and the blurb is spot-on with the description.  Just know that this is another terrific entry into Day’s UF world.  I enjoyed this Book 2 more, perhaps because I didn’t feel so behind the learning curve as I felt with Book 1. It’s full of good action and storytelling with great tension.  It has an excellent story arc that leaves us wanting more from the next book (coming soon, thankfully).

I highly recommend this book to fans of the author or fans of Urban Fantasy.  I recommend reading Book 1 before diving into this entry.

Grade: A-

Read more about this series by following its tag here.

Summary:
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When you’re learning to hunt demons, homework can be hell…
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Class is in, but Evangeline Hollis is far from being the star pupil. She’s struggling to get through the required training to be a full-fledged Mark — one of thousands of sinners forced to hunt demons for God. When her class goes on a week-long field trip to an abandoned military base, passing the course suddenly isn’t just a matter of pride… it’s a matter of life and death. There’s a demon hidden among them, killing off Eve’s classmates one by one.
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As the body count rises, a ragtag team of ghost hunters from a cable TV program unwittingly stumbles into the carnage. Now keeping the Mark system secret competes with the need to keep the “paranormal researchers” alive. With Cain on assignment and Abel investigating a new, terrifying class of demon, Eve must fly solo on her hunt to stop a killer before he strikes again.
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Read an excerpt (scroll down).

Other books in the series: