Touch the Dark is the first novel in what seems to be an intriguing new series by Karen Chance. It serves you a lot of plot spattered with action, violence and some light sex. The characters are interesting, the plot was well done, and the details were well thought out. While it seemed complicated at some points, I found it very readable. It was one of the first books in a while to suck me in and command that I read it. This is yet again another series that reminds me of the Laurell K Hamilton novels or the Kim Harrison novels. Chance is more like Harrison--more plot less heavy violence and sex.

Background: While set in modern times like Hamilton's and Harrison’s novels, it deviates from them in that the paranormal are still underground. Humans are mostly unaware of their existence and the paranormal wants to keep it that way. The book itself it set in various locals, such as Atlanta, GA and Nevada (Las Vegas and outside Vegas). Like many of the vampire centric novels there is a vampire hierarchy, master vampires are responsible for their children and there is a vampire senate on each continent who rules over the masters on each of the continents. And of course, there are rules that each vampire must live by in order to co-exist with humans and go unnoticed and strict punishments for breaking the rules. Chance also uses famous people for high-level (more powerful) vampires. Such as Dracula, Cleopatra, Christopher Marlowe (Shakespeare's rival), Raphael, Jack the Ripper and Rasputin. This can make the characters more interesting if you know a little bit about history. There is also a witch hierarchy, too. A Silver Circle and a Dark Circle. The Silver circle contains or governs white witches only, while the Dark circle governs black witches (death magic). We aren't told very much about this entities as this novel mainly focused on the vampire side of things. But I expect we will learn more about them in future novels.

Plot: Cassie is a clairvoyant; she can see and talk to ghosts, see glimpses of people's past and glimpses of the future. A vampire by the name of Antonio (or Tony) killed her parents, when she was four, so that he might have access to her powers. When she becomes a young adult, she runs away from Tony and hides for three years. She is finally found by Tony who tries to kill her, but is unexpectedly saved by her roommate Tomas, who is actually a high-level vampire posing as human to keep her safe. The vampire senate has some interest in her powers and sent Tomas to watch over her. She is then brought to the vampire senate because they believe she can help them. Rasputin is miffed about not obtaining a seat in the vampire senate. So he begins a war against the senate. They have a dueling system in place to take care of disputes between vampires. You can even challenge the head of the senate or the Consul. Which is this case would be Cleopatra. But the challenged is also free to choose a champion to fight for them and this is what Cleopatra does. Her champion is Louis-Caesar (or the man in the iron mask), and he has never lost a duel. But in every duel so far Rasputin has won through what is thought to be nefarious means but no one can prove it. There are rules to the duel, and they believe he is breaking them.

Vampires should not be able to turn on their makers if the bond is strong which for most it is, but for some reason very stable vampires chosen to witness and provide protection for their masters at the duels are turning on their masters and killing them. So the senate suspects that Rasputin is the cause of the betrayals. But they cannot figure out how he is doing it. The senate is hoping that Cassie can help them with this little problem. Can Cassie help the senate without becoming completely controlled by them? Can she even survive through the night with Rasputin and Tony trying to kill her? And what exactly does this senate want with a clairvoyant anyway? Its not like her talent performs on demand.

The writing was easy to read, and I got caught up in the novel right away--time just seem to fly by--I could have easily read this novel in one setting. She never gives too much explanation or information so the flow of the book is never interrupted nor is anything vital left out, you always understand what is going on. The plot is well laid out and is not dependent on violence or sex to carry it. Although, you will find some of both in this novel--though not as much as in the latest Anita Blake novels.


The characters are really interesting as well. I like Cassie. She is very street smart, savvy and sassy. She is a strong character. I also like the ghost that lives in the necklace she wears, Billy Joe, an Irish Gambler who was killed when he cheated at cards. His spirit was sucked into the necklace when he died. He now performs tasks for Cassie and she feeds him energy so he can hang around. Mircea a vampire who is a member of the senate and reportedly one of the Dracula brothers is also a complex and interesting character. He can be very merciful or very violent. He is very old so should and does have a different view on things plus he becomes a love interest for Cassie. He should be a character that is will be even more interesting in the future. I like the way that Chance portrays her vampires, they are vibrant with personality instead of old and behind the times which is the way old vampire as presented sometimes. This book is an initial first taste into Chance's interesting world and I can't wait to read more about it.

I am very much looking forward to her next book, which is due out in April of 2007. If you like Hamilton or Harrison you should find this book a good read as well.



Recommended: Yes