Book: Bad Moon Rising

I just finished Bad Moon Rising by Sherrilyn Kenyon.  This is a Dark Hunter novel, and is set in that universe.

Kenyon mentions in the foreword that she's finally getting to tell the tale of Fang Kattalakis, though I don't remember this character from previous novels.  It's very possible I haven't read all of the Dark Hunter novels.  It's also very possible that I just don't remember the character for whatever reason.

The two main characters, Fang and Aimee, meet for the first time at the beginning of this book, at least it appears that way.  There is a reference in the last fifteen or so pages about years passing, so I'm not sure.

While I enjoyed this visit to the Dark Hunter realm, this book lacked something.  It wasn't quite as put together as the other of her novels I've read.  What it did have was some backstory on how the were clans came to be.  That was useful information, not only when reading this novel, but also in future, when I read others in this series.

The incongruency that stuck in my mind most was the passage of time.  In previous of the Dark Hunter novels, the action takes place in a relatively short period of time.  There may be weeks or even months that pass, but that passage is noted in some way and serves to move the plot along.

In this novel, time passes, and there is just no reference to it - no break between one "time" and another.  I'd finish one page, turn the page, and without any noticeable break, it would be months or years later, and I wouldn't have a clue until late in the paragraph or late on the new page.  In one case toward the end of the book, a reference is made to the years someone has spent together, but without sufficient action to warrant years passing.  Within pages of this, there is another reference to a "claiming" that has to occur within three weeks of "mating" to prevent the male half of the pair from becoming impotent.  So, did less than three weeks pass, or did years pass?  The book is unclear on that.  Or maybe it's just me.

Characterization relies a little too heavily on the idea that the reader has enjoyed previous Dark Hunter novels, as "visiting" characters are mentioned in passing, without any clear idea of why that particular character needed to be in that particular scene.  The main supporting cast are sufficiently described, though some very briefly.  There were a few too many main supporting characters for me to keep the descriptions straight.

On the one hand, the Dark Hunter universe/realm is a complicated one - peopled by gods and demigods, demons and daimons, werepeople (Katagaria) and peopleweres (Arcadians), magical beings and humans.  On the other hand, usually her books contain enough information to make reading each one a singular experience, perhaps enhanced by recent readings of other novels in the series.

I did enjoy the book, as I mentioned in the beginning, but had this been the first Dark Hunter novel I'd ever read, I would probably have never become a Sherrilyn Kenyon fan.

This is a review of a library book, and clicking on the link might someday make me a bit of money.