World Famous Comics: Touch the Dark (Cassandra Palmer, Book 1)
Touch the Dark (Cassandra Palmer, Book 1)
By: Karen Chance Publisher: Roc Average Rating: Binding: Mass Market Paperback Label: Roc Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 320 Publication Date: June 06, 2006
Product Description: 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.
Fast Paced and Slightly Confusing This was a confusing book in my opinion.
Cassandra Palmer (Cassie for short) is basically a normal human with clairvoyant abilities in a world where vampires, werewolves, fairies and ghosts coexist stealthily with humans. With her psychic abilities and the fact she can see ghosts she is very much a commodity in the vampire mafia world of Tony, a 3rd level master who killed her parents to keep her talents in his control.
Cassie escapes from Tony's clutches and three years later the book starts. A wide cast of characters is introduced including Cassie's ghost symbiot Billy Joe, several historically prominent figures (Cleopatra, Rafael, Rasputin, Jack the Ripper etc. as vampires of course), a few different ruling bodies for the magical communities (Silver Circle, European Senate, Dark Fey etc.) and some that we only really learn about in passing like Cassie's parents.
The action is quick and sometimes hard to follow especially since Cassie and Company make intuitive leaps that I might not make as a mere mortal. Still the characters and how they interact with Cassie and further the plot are interesting. I enjoyed seeing the historical characters come to life (well as vampires) and the little interesting snarky comments about how they became what they did. Cleopatra got the single line about how she wasn't bitten by an ASP. Rasputin got a full paragraph about how historians had been arguing about how long it took him to die and that it was hard to kill someone who was already dead. (Historical note: Rasputin was a "holy man" in Russia in the early 1900's who curried favor with the Empress Alexandra for his hypnosis healing of her hemophiliac son Alexei. Rasputin was assasinated by Russian royals who were displeased at the influence he had with the monarchy. They fed him tea and cakes that contained mass quantities of cyanide which didn't kill him immediately as it should have. So they tried clubbing him, shooting him several times and rolling his body up in a carpet and dumping it into the river. When his body was fished out several days later it was determined that he had died of pneumonia because his lungs had filled up with water.)
In the end Cassie becomes the Pythia, a job she thoroughly does not want. She is a part of but outside the jurisdiction of everyone else in the magical community and has the power to settle disputes. Among other interesting things the previous Pythia lived for over 400 years. Cassie does not necessarily look forward to all of that and still has plenty of questions to settle about her parents and the vampires that once controlled her life. I recommend reading this one and have ordered the next one.
Cliched, but readable What can I say, all the men desire her, but she keeps her virginity despite her overwhelming, burning, crazed, (did I say burning? Oh, yes I did.) pulsing, lust. So, hot heroine, desired by all, had by none. But, it's readable and decent escapist literature, and I liked the historical touches.
Good but a little disjointed? I liked this book. The only thing was that the story is kind of disjointed to me. The abrupt switches, which I guess is supposed to be a reflection of how the main characters feels when she shifts in time, are a little confusing at first.
I will read the next books, but I'll be getting them from the library rather than buying them.
Frustrating Unfortunately, I was unable to enjoy this book even though I tried to due to the good reviews. I felt that the storyline was not smooth enough to make it an easy and enjoyable read. It felt like I was reading two incomplete books that were forced together. The plot needed to be flushed out. I found myself mostly skimming the book. The details grew to be annoying and felt like nonsequitors after a while.
How did Cassie Palmer go from seeing spirits and having visions to become almost omnipotent? Yes, I know from the ending of the book what caused this but it happened without any transition.
I felt that there was entirely too much dialogue and not enough action. They stayed in one room and talked to death. Also, when there was action it was done over and over again such as the possession of another character's body and the shifting of time. These are important details but they should not be the whole plot. There was not much momentum after the action of Cassie running out of the office and running into the bar to fight the vamps.
I found it hard to relate to Cassie and therefore making it a more tedious read due to the fact that she seemed so non-human. Yes, she is a supernatural being to a certain extent but she did have feelings. I wish that she expressed her feelings more other than just her parents dying that I could relate to. She did not seem too fearful of her situation when she was captured by the Senate. Why not? Growing up surrounded by vamps could be terrifying. I did like the sexual tension between characters which did add a human touch as well as a realistic one since they are supposed to be very handsome vampires.
I wish that I did not waste my time reading this book. I felt that there should have been some progression between seer and Cassie's new found powers. This could have been a better book had it been done in two books with complete plots. I feel that I walked into the middle of the book and was suddenly thrown into a room of characters that I did not know.
I am glad that I was able to take this book out of the library rather than pay for it. There are many more books with similar themes that are more enjoyable. This book for some reason reminds me of the Anita Blake series written by Laurell K. Hamilton.
Great Urban Fantasy I had looked at this book several times and hesitated to buy it. But I was buying several and needed one to get one free so I ordered it. It is one of the best urban fantasy novels I have read in a while. Everyone seems to be writing them but only a few do it well. I liked this one so much I ordered the other two and pre-ordered the next one.
Cassie Palmer has lived her whole life until 14 with a vampire mobster. She is a clairvoyant and he used her predictions to make money. She also can see ghosts and talks to them. Her mother and father were killed in a car bomb. Tony has raised her and when she finds out he has not warned the people of a major fire that she predicted, she realizes he has lied to her and used her. She very quickly disappears for three yrs. Then deciding to take Tony down she returns to him and sets him up for the FBI. Now at 20 she lives on the run and takes care of herself.
Tomas is a young man she saves off the street. She allows him to live with her and she gets him a job where she works. When she is finally found by Tony she takes the time to warn him. That allows the vamps sent by Tony to catch up with her. And reveals Tomas as a master vamp who has been sent by the Vampire Senate to protect her.
Mircea is the brother of Vlad Dracul and the maker of Tony, so he knows Cass and he is the one who sent Tomas. He and the Senate have a job for Cass and both want to use her powers.
In the last few days Cass's powers have increased and she doesn't know why. But if she can help the Senate maybe they can take care of Tony.
I loved it. If you like urban fantasy this is a must read.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Tony's Online Tips
Trevor
