Devon’s review of Night Falls Darkly by Kim Lenox
Historical Paranormal Romance released by Signet Eclipse 7 Oct 08
I love Victorian England. While by no means an expert, I took my share of Victorian lit courses in college. Full of repression and a society in tumult, the Victorian period certainly lends itself to a dark and dramatic paranormal. Night Falls Darkly, the debut from Kim Lenox, captures the Victorian atmosphere well, and sets an interesting romance against the backdrop of one of the greatest unsolved crimes ever—the Jack the Ripper murders.
In 1888, Londoners are increasingly frightened by the violent acts perpetrated by “the Ripper.” A young amnesiac works as a nurse in a Whitechapel hospital, helping the poorest of the poor despite the fact that she is the ward of a wealthy and mysterious nobleman. When her guardian, Archer, Lord Black, returns unexpectedly, Elena Whitney’s whole world is turned upside down. Archer is a man of many secrets, and Elena is attracted to him even as she resents his interference in her life. Lord Black is determined to fight his own attraction to Elena, but he is also determined to keep her safe. Archer is actually an immortal “Shadow Guard” charged with hunting Jack the Ripper down and banishing his soul, and his feelings for Elena may put her, and his mission at risk.
The world of Victorian London was entertainingly depicted in Night Falls Darkly: the dim, dirty streets full of dangerous characters, and the buttoned up entertainments of the rich. Bram Stoker makes a brief appearance, as does the Queen herself, and other famous Victorians are mentioned, like Oscar Wilde and Charles Dodgson. There are some amusing touches worked in, like how Archer’s secretary got his ideas about proper young ladies, and the odd habits of Selene (another Shadow Guard). Elena was a charming heroine, intelligent and strong willed. Archer was the solitary, angst-ridden sort. I liked him well enough, but he needed a little something extra to make him stand out more. Nonetheless, the chemistry between them was quite good. I looked forward to their HEA.
The pacing of the book did not work very well for me. The world of the Shadow Guards took a long time to be developed. I had a lot of questions as I was reading, things like: Who can become a Shadow Guard? How does one become one? What exactly can they do? Whose souls can be reclaimed? Something happened with Archer’s appearance at one point, but it wasn’t described very well, and I wondered why it happened and what he looked like. By the end of the book, a lot of my questions were answered, but I felt frustrated along the way.
The endgame was very rushed with a lot of stuff shoehorned in. Elena’s amnesia had remained in the background for much of the book, then was explained away rather briefly towards the end. There was also a story about Archer’s past that didn’t really add anything. So many things needed to be resolved, and were done so very quickly and neatly. It felt different from the earlier development of the characters, romance and plot.
Although there were issues, it was a good read. The Jack the Ripper mystery is a familiar one, but always interesting. When characters were introduced, it was like uh-oh, she’s gonna get it. But the characters in the story don’t know it. So you’re just waiting to find out when. This is an atmospheric story, well suited to an October night. While some aspects of the storyline need to be tightened up a bit, this was an intriguing start to a new series. Those who like historical paranormals or Victoriana should check it out.
Grade: B-
The summary:
A cunning immortal who’s been called upon to reclaim a marked soul…
Ever since an accident took away her memory, Miss Elena Whitney can’t recall the secrets of her own past. All she knows is that with her mysterious benefactor Archer, Lord Black, returning to London at the behest of Queen Victoria, she should seize the chance to get some answers.
A member of the immortal Shadow Guard, Archer has been summoned to London to eliminate the soul of an evil demon—Jack the Ripper. Archer feels not only bound to protect the women of the night, but also his beautiful young ward, Elena, whom he spared from death two years before. But with a wave of panic spreading across London, Archer fears that Elena is his weakness—a distraction he can’t afford, especially since she’s likely to become the Ripper’s next target…
Read an excerpt
