Scan barcode
kathydavie's review against another edition
4.0
First read November 1, 2010.
Read again May 10, 2011
First in the Cassandra Palmer urban fantasy series revolving around Cassie, a very reluctant Pythia-to-be and taking place mostly in Las Vegas and any where and any when.
My Take
I loved this story. Chance has taken clairvoyants, witches, and vampires and created a whole new twist on it. One that is too funny and brimming over with drama and tension.
It's a HUGE cast of characters with so much going on that you may need to read it a few times to pick it all up. I know I've enjoyed every re-read I've done of it, and I do adore Chance's cast. They ran the gamut from sweet to way too wicked and the main characters are complex creatures who are both good and bad. I find myself cheering and booing throughout!
It's action, oops, actions and actions that never stop and are constantly evolving and twisting about.
I hate Pritkin for his leaping to conclusions and unwillingness to listen to anyone but himself, but I did enjoy the description of his weapons "which hovered in front of him in an obedient little line, each weapon waiting its turn."
The Story
Damn. Damn, damn, damn. They'd found her. That obituary blinking on her computer announcing her death as occurring later that evening. Damn. She had to run. She had to warn Tomas. It wasn't fair on him and she had to warn him.
And so begins Cassie's next adventure in her escape from Antonio. It's been a few years since she ran away from that master vampire who raised her. Raised her because he killed her parents and wanted a tame psychic of his own. She couldn't bear being the cause of so much death and destruction and she chose to run. And it's this compassion that forces her to warn Tomas…and leads to Cassie's doom.
Too bad that psychics can't foresee their own futures or Cassie would have run the other way and not wound up…so quickly…in the center of this roiling conflict of passions.
For who will control or kill this budding Phythia.
The Characters
Orphaned when she was four years old, Cassie Palmer is a strong clairvoyant who sees ghosts and who is taken into "care" by Tony, a master vampire, who uses and abuses her powers. Laura, a ghost of an old German family, was her best friend as a child. Lizzy, the original heir to Agnes, and Roger are her parents. Tomas is a street kid Cassie befriended and took in; she found him a job as a waiter at Mike's bar.
Jerry Sydell was the FBI agent who put Cassie into witness protection and helped her pick out a gun. He didn't believe in the supernatural world, right up until a couple of Tony's vampire goons tore his throat out. Billy Joe is a hard-drinking, cigar-smoking Irish-American gambler who played the wrong hand in 1858 and was drowned in the Mississippi. Due to a chance purchase in a junk shop, Cassie has inherited him and his dubious services.
Tony and his stable of vampires
Tony is a third-level master who was turned by Mircea in 1513 and has a thug's mentality. Raphael (the Renaissance artist) is a vampire and one of Tony's. He should'a never said no to Tony. Alphonse is Tony's chief enforcer. Jimmy the Rat is Tony's favorite hit man. Danny is the shrunken head who didn't pay his vig.
The Vampire Senate
The thirty-year-old-looking Mircea Basarab is Vlad Dracul's older brother and a member of the Vampire Senate as well as their chief negotiator. A VERY powerful vampire. Tony is one of his and supposedly subservient to him. Radu is Mircea's younger brother.
Louis-César, a.k.a., GQ, is the European Vampire Senate's fencing champion on loan to the American Vampire Senate. The Consul was Cleopatra before she was turned; now she leads the American Senate. Jack is the Jack the Ripper whose career came to an abrupt end...thank god. Now he tortures for the Senate. Augusta is one of the Senators. Mei Ling is the Consul's second, her Enforcer. Chris Marlowe is the Senate's spymaster.
John Pritkin is a war mage for the Silver Circle and hates Cassie with an obsessive passion! He is sooo totally clueless about what really is harmful to a vampire and how they live that Cassie wonders what they're teaching mages these days. I do love how Chance describes him! "...his T-shirt was crossed with enough ammunition to take out a platoon, and he had a tool belt slung low on his hips that, along with a strap across his back, looked like it carried one of every type of handheld weapon on the market. I recognized a machete, two knives, a sawed-off shotgun, a crossbow, two handguns...and a couple of honest-to-God grenades. There were other things I couldn't identify..."
Agnes is the current Pythia, mistress over all supernaturals, and not long for this world. The current heir to Pythia is Myra, and she's missing. Françoise is a witch who was being tortured in the past at Carcassonne.
Portia is an antebellum ghost who likes to scare the tourists on Atlanta's streets. There are different kinds of ghosts in Cassie's world: the imprints are "like a supernatural theater that shows the same move over and over, and haunters are mobile with a fixation. Captain Beauregard Lewis is a ghost friend of Portia's who brings his Confederate troop to Cassie's rescue.
At last, we discover why Rasputin was so hard to kill back at the turn of the last century. Nowadays, he's leading an insurrection. Jonathan is the Black Circle mage whose swords bracelet leaves him and cleaves unto Cassie during the parking lot fight.
There are three types of wards: energy wards which influence people's minds; perimeter wards used to camouflage activities; and, protection wards which may be personal shields or guards, which operate independently of a person's power.
MAGIC is the Metaphysical Alliance for Greater Interspecies Cooperation, a.k.a., party central for things that go bump in the night, with its headquarters just outside Las Vegas. Think of it as a supernatural U.N.
The Silver Circle is the "good" witches' policing agency while the Black Circle is, well, black mages. About the only real difference is that the Black is open about what they're doing while the Silver is like our politicians: all talk, no action unless it benefits them.
The Cover
The cover is a smoky interior with Cassie's back towards us. The blinds are almost completely down in the window and Cassie is wearing a wine-red slipdress, the ward tattoo centered between her shoulder blades.
The title is a subtle introduction to the series and one in which Cassie must Touch the Dark.
Read again May 10, 2011
First in the Cassandra Palmer urban fantasy series revolving around Cassie, a very reluctant Pythia-to-be and taking place mostly in Las Vegas and any where and any when.
My Take
I loved this story. Chance has taken clairvoyants, witches, and vampires and created a whole new twist on it. One that is too funny and brimming over with drama and tension.
It's a HUGE cast of characters with so much going on that you may need to read it a few times to pick it all up. I know I've enjoyed every re-read I've done of it, and I do adore Chance's cast. They ran the gamut from sweet to way too wicked and the main characters are complex creatures who are both good and bad. I find myself cheering and booing throughout!
It's action, oops, actions and actions that never stop and are constantly evolving and twisting about.
I hate Pritkin for his leaping to conclusions and unwillingness to listen to anyone but himself, but I did enjoy the description of his weapons "which hovered in front of him in an obedient little line, each weapon waiting its turn."
"Pritkin looked disgusted. 'So they're not monsters and murderous beasts, only misunderstood; is that it?'
Mircea was trying not to laugh."
The Story
Damn. Damn, damn, damn. They'd found her. That obituary blinking on her computer announcing her death as occurring later that evening. Damn. She had to run. She had to warn Tomas. It wasn't fair on him and she had to warn him.
And so begins Cassie's next adventure in her escape from Antonio. It's been a few years since she ran away from that master vampire who raised her. Raised her because he killed her parents and wanted a tame psychic of his own. She couldn't bear being the cause of so much death and destruction and she chose to run. And it's this compassion that forces her to warn Tomas…and leads to Cassie's doom.
Too bad that psychics can't foresee their own futures or Cassie would have run the other way and not wound up…so quickly…in the center of this roiling conflict of passions.
For who will control or kill this budding Phythia.
The Characters
Orphaned when she was four years old, Cassie Palmer is a strong clairvoyant who sees ghosts and who is taken into "care" by Tony, a master vampire, who uses and abuses her powers. Laura, a ghost of an old German family, was her best friend as a child. Lizzy, the original heir to Agnes, and Roger are her parents. Tomas is a street kid Cassie befriended and took in; she found him a job as a waiter at Mike's bar.
Jerry Sydell was the FBI agent who put Cassie into witness protection and helped her pick out a gun. He didn't believe in the supernatural world, right up until a couple of Tony's vampire goons tore his throat out. Billy Joe is a hard-drinking, cigar-smoking Irish-American gambler who played the wrong hand in 1858 and was drowned in the Mississippi. Due to a chance purchase in a junk shop, Cassie has inherited him and his dubious services.
Tony and his stable of vampires
Tony is a third-level master who was turned by Mircea in 1513 and has a thug's mentality. Raphael (the Renaissance artist) is a vampire and one of Tony's. He should'a never said no to Tony. Alphonse is Tony's chief enforcer. Jimmy the Rat is Tony's favorite hit man. Danny is the shrunken head who didn't pay his vig.
The Vampire Senate
The thirty-year-old-looking Mircea Basarab is Vlad Dracul's older brother and a member of the Vampire Senate as well as their chief negotiator. A VERY powerful vampire. Tony is one of his and supposedly subservient to him. Radu is Mircea's younger brother.
Louis-César, a.k.a., GQ, is the European Vampire Senate's fencing champion on loan to the American Vampire Senate. The Consul was Cleopatra before she was turned; now she leads the American Senate. Jack is the Jack the Ripper whose career came to an abrupt end...thank god. Now he tortures for the Senate. Augusta is one of the Senators. Mei Ling is the Consul's second, her Enforcer. Chris Marlowe is the Senate's spymaster.
John Pritkin is a war mage for the Silver Circle and hates Cassie with an obsessive passion! He is sooo totally clueless about what really is harmful to a vampire and how they live that Cassie wonders what they're teaching mages these days. I do love how Chance describes him! "...his T-shirt was crossed with enough ammunition to take out a platoon, and he had a tool belt slung low on his hips that, along with a strap across his back, looked like it carried one of every type of handheld weapon on the market. I recognized a machete, two knives, a sawed-off shotgun, a crossbow, two handguns...and a couple of honest-to-God grenades. There were other things I couldn't identify..."
Agnes is the current Pythia, mistress over all supernaturals, and not long for this world. The current heir to Pythia is Myra, and she's missing. Françoise is a witch who was being tortured in the past at Carcassonne.
Portia is an antebellum ghost who likes to scare the tourists on Atlanta's streets. There are different kinds of ghosts in Cassie's world: the imprints are "like a supernatural theater that shows the same move over and over, and haunters are mobile with a fixation. Captain Beauregard Lewis is a ghost friend of Portia's who brings his Confederate troop to Cassie's rescue.
At last, we discover why Rasputin was so hard to kill back at the turn of the last century. Nowadays, he's leading an insurrection. Jonathan is the Black Circle mage whose swords bracelet leaves him and cleaves unto Cassie during the parking lot fight.
There are three types of wards: energy wards which influence people's minds; perimeter wards used to camouflage activities; and, protection wards which may be personal shields or guards, which operate independently of a person's power.
MAGIC is the Metaphysical Alliance for Greater Interspecies Cooperation, a.k.a., party central for things that go bump in the night, with its headquarters just outside Las Vegas. Think of it as a supernatural U.N.
The Silver Circle is the "good" witches' policing agency while the Black Circle is, well, black mages. About the only real difference is that the Black is open about what they're doing while the Silver is like our politicians: all talk, no action unless it benefits them.
The Cover
The cover is a smoky interior with Cassie's back towards us. The blinds are almost completely down in the window and Cassie is wearing a wine-red slipdress, the ward tattoo centered between her shoulder blades.
The title is a subtle introduction to the series and one in which Cassie must Touch the Dark.
laureenreads's review against another edition
4.0
A bit of a slow start with some technical things that bugged me, but the pace picked up and I didn't want to put this book down. Now to get the next one...
gen_nh's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
erikajay's review against another edition
1.0
I looked forward to reading this book for quite some time and boy was it disappointing!
It does have an intriguing opening, but then it all just falls apart. I feel like the author had too many ideas and they were thrown together haphazardly. I also really hate time travel in books. Combine time travel with possessing someone else’s body? No thanks.
It does have an intriguing opening, but then it all just falls apart. I feel like the author had too many ideas and they were thrown together haphazardly. I also really hate time travel in books. Combine time travel with possessing someone else’s body? No thanks.
nicolerene's review against another edition
3.0
I am torn about how to review this series. On one hand, there are things about this book that I really loved. On the other hand, parts of this book left me saying "WTF?" and flipping back several pages to reread a passage.
I love the way Karen Chance writes men. Mircea, Pritkin, Tomas, and Francoise are great characters! Sexy, seductive, hard-headed bad boys....just how I like them.
One of my big issues with these books is the constant introduction of new characters and mythical creatures. Every time Cassie turns around in these books, she is confronted with a new beast. On top of that, we abilities (powers) can be really confusing at times, and the authors writing style oly makes this more difficult.
Having said that, I highly recommend people give these books a try. I hope that once her powers and world have been fully developed (hopefully by book 2), these books will be even more enjoyable to read.
I would give this book 3 1/2 out of 5 (if goodreads let me).
I love the way Karen Chance writes men. Mircea, Pritkin, Tomas, and Francoise are great characters! Sexy, seductive, hard-headed bad boys....just how I like them.
One of my big issues with these books is the constant introduction of new characters and mythical creatures. Every time Cassie turns around in these books, she is confronted with a new beast. On top of that, we abilities (powers) can be really confusing at times, and the authors writing style oly makes this more difficult.
Having said that, I highly recommend people give these books a try. I hope that once her powers and world have been fully developed (hopefully by book 2), these books will be even more enjoyable to read.
I would give this book 3 1/2 out of 5 (if goodreads let me).
katyanaish's review against another edition
4.0
I'm picking this series back up. I never wrote a review, so this is a quick little review on re-read.
I read the first couple books in this series an age ago, and I did enjoy them and had every intention of continuing. My best guess, looking at when I dropped out, is that there was an extra long gap between books (2009-2011) right as I was transitioning to kindle, and it fell off my radar. Every once in awhile I'd come across it in my feed and remember I liked it, and fully intended to pick it back up... But it took a decade or more to finally happen. Part of it is me whining about purchasing a book on Kindle that I already own in paperback, but it has been so long I definitely needed a re-read.
Anyway, it's a good book. Lots of setup, lots of characters to meet. Cassie is occasionally a little whiny, but I attribute most of that to confusion and the incredibly fast way all this unfolds - this first book literally happens over the course of a single day. That's not a lot of time to make solid, informed decisions, so she's mostly pantsing it. I can understand, given the circumstance.
Other things, quickly...
- I recall liking Pritkin when I fell out of the series a few books down the road, so I was shocked at what a total douchebag he was here. Boy, I didn't remember that at all.
- Mircea... He's tough to read. He seems to care about her, but as a possession. I couldn't live with that, and it's gratifying that Cassie can't either.
- Are all mages douchebags? The Black Circle obviously is, but the Silver Circle seems to be too, given how invested they are in offing Cassie so they have a Pythia they've indoctrinated to be totally under their thumb. Why would the Pythia allow that? Like, institutionally... She outranks them, so why does she allow this practice at all?
On to the book 2 re-read!
I read the first couple books in this series an age ago, and I did enjoy them and had every intention of continuing. My best guess, looking at when I dropped out, is that there was an extra long gap between books (2009-2011) right as I was transitioning to kindle, and it fell off my radar. Every once in awhile I'd come across it in my feed and remember I liked it, and fully intended to pick it back up... But it took a decade or more to finally happen. Part of it is me whining about purchasing a book on Kindle that I already own in paperback, but it has been so long I definitely needed a re-read.
Anyway, it's a good book. Lots of setup, lots of characters to meet. Cassie is occasionally a little whiny, but I attribute most of that to confusion and the incredibly fast way all this unfolds - this first book literally happens over the course of a single day. That's not a lot of time to make solid, informed decisions, so she's mostly pantsing it. I can understand, given the circumstance.
Other things, quickly...
- I recall liking Pritkin when I fell out of the series a few books down the road, so I was shocked at what a total douchebag he was here. Boy, I didn't remember that at all.
- Mircea... He's tough to read. He seems to care about her, but as a possession. I couldn't live with that, and it's gratifying that Cassie can't either.
- Are all mages douchebags? The Black Circle obviously is, but the Silver Circle seems to be too, given how invested they are in offing Cassie so they have a Pythia they've indoctrinated to be totally under their thumb. Why would the Pythia allow that? Like, institutionally... She outranks them, so why does she allow this practice at all?
On to the book 2 re-read!
aliceboule's review against another edition
4.0
This is one of those series that demanded to be read completely before I could review - and so this goes for the whole Cassandra Palmer series (up to book 4).
I was pleasantly suprised with Touch the Dark and Karen Chance's series. The summary sounded very similar to the hordes of vampire fiction existing in the bookstores, and I was a bit dubious at how it would turn out.
Well, turns out that I don't know what I am talking about because OBIVOUSLY the topic has not been overused -- Chance tweezed something out and it was, jaw stopping awesome.
Cassandra knows what she wants, how to get it, and will not stop until she has it -- freedom.
She never lets herself be walked all over by the reigning vampires and manages to buckle down and actually accomplish things. And within her jam packed schedule she still has time to laugh.
There was some over-crowding of history and names. And a little too much happened a way too small frame of time. At one point I thought the series was going to evolve into an anita blake book, but we were saved from that - barely. Don't get me wrong, I love me some anita blake, but one is enough.
Bref. I enjoyed reading this series. Will most definitely be reading the rest!
I was pleasantly suprised with Touch the Dark and Karen Chance's series. The summary sounded very similar to the hordes of vampire fiction existing in the bookstores, and I was a bit dubious at how it would turn out.
Well, turns out that I don't know what I am talking about because OBIVOUSLY the topic has not been overused -- Chance tweezed something out and it was, jaw stopping awesome.
Cassandra knows what she wants, how to get it, and will not stop until she has it -- freedom.
She never lets herself be walked all over by the reigning vampires and manages to buckle down and actually accomplish things. And within her jam packed schedule she still has time to laugh.
There was some over-crowding of history and names. And a little too much happened a way too small frame of time. At one point I thought the series was going to evolve into an anita blake book, but we were saved from that - barely. Don't get me wrong, I love me some anita blake, but one is enough.
Bref. I enjoyed reading this series. Will most definitely be reading the rest!