When Darkness Falls is the second book in the vampire series by Shannon Drake. The third book, Deep Midnight came out in October of 2001. That book is in my pile of books to read. The fourth book in the series came out this year (2002) but I don’t have it yet, and I can’t remember what the title is. There is no continuing story in this book. You can read this one if you haven't read the first book and still know what is going on. Characters from Beneath a Blood Red Moon do show up in this book every so often, but this book has a separate plot. Vampires are in the book too, one from the previous book, and a few new ones. There is an exert from Deep Midnight at the end of this one.

When Darkness Falls had a complicated plot with a lot of things going on in it.

PLOT

The book began with a prologue that took place in Scotland. Jade MacGregor, a publisher and writer, was touring Scotland doing research for a new book she was working on about medieval lifestyles. She joined a tour group that was mainly college students. There was also an older couple, a young couple with children, and a single man. It was almost Halloween. The tour headed to a cemetery and a tomb. The tour guide told a story about Sophia de Brus, a woman that had been greatly feared. He said that she took baths in the blood of young women. The single man seemed to be trying to protect Jade from something. He kept her near him when they were in the cemetery and tomb. Once they were in the tomb, the tour guide turned into a vampire. Sophia, also a vampire, rose from her coffin and attacked some of the people on the tour. Jade, and a few other survivors were later found in the graveyard. The stranger had disappeared. The police thought that the murders were committed by members of a weird cult. Jade slowly put the incident behind her. A year later, she seemed to be over what happened. She was dating a cop named Rick. Then she started to have dreams about the man that protected her.

Jade and several of her friends were writers. They got together every week. Matt, one of her friends, showed Jade that her book on medieval churches made it onto a bestseller list. His book was number eight on the list. He was the most successful writer of the group. They had a party that night at Jade's apartment to celebrate. Jade saw a headline in the newspaper about ritual killings in New York. They were similar to what happened in Scotland the year before. Lucian was watching her. He was the man that protected her the year before in Scotland. His enemies returned and he thought that they would go after Jade.

During the first of several flashbacks, it was shown how Lucian became a vampire. The flashback takes place in Scotland in 985 AD. Lucian was chieftain of his village. He was married to a woman named Igrainia. Vikings attacked them. Sophia was on one of the ships and she seemed to be in control. There was a man, Darian, that was always with her. They were both vampires. She decided she liked Lucian, and she made him a vampire. Sophia said that she was the oldest, most powerful vampire and she didn't have to obey the laws. Lucian was not happy to be a vampire and he hated Sophia. The Vikings weren't vampires, so if you want to know why she was sailing with them, read the book.

More about Lucian's early years as a vampire was told in other flashbacks. It was also shown exactly why he hated Sophia so much, and how he became the King of the vampires.

Lucian knew that Sophia and Darian have returned somehow. They spent centuries getting stronger, and now they want to overthrow Lucian. Sophia and Darian were truly evil, even for vampires. They enjoy slaughtering people for no reason. They kill just to kill. It amused them

Rick Beaudreaux, the man Jade had been dating for a few months, gots very sick. He first felt bad when he was on his way to Jade's for the party. He stopped to give a woman directions, and later remembered that she sneezed. He thought that he caught a cold from her. He got sicker. He went home and went to bed. He had a fever and chills. He had strange dreams. Rick stayed very sick, and was taken to the hospital. Jade’s stepmother also became very sick and was hospitalized.

Other survivors from the tomb in Scotland were being murdered around the country. One of them was living in New Orleans. Sean and Jack - both from Beneath a Blood Red Moon - were on that case. Sean knew that Lucian was in town. After the things that happened the year before - well I think there was about a year between the two book, but I don't know for sure - Sean and Jack were very open minded. They even worked with Lucian to find who is responsible. Lucian was worried that Jade is also a target since she survived the attack the year before.

Even though I have discussed several things about the plot, many more things happen in this book.

*End of Plot Discussion**

When Darkness Falls was a really good interesting book. It was extremely well written and descriptive. It was easy for me to visualize the characters, settings, and what was happening. The book kept my interest throughout the whole thing. There were some graphic descriptions of violence and dead bodies in the book that could be too graphic for some readers. So anyone who is offended by that should avoid this book. Or if you hate vampire books, you should skip this one.

Like the first book, Beneath a Blood Red Moon, When Darkness Falls was a romance with a mystery, suspense, and some history. The mystery dealt with the dead bodies. The suspense came in several times during the book when you don't know what will happen next. I thought that this book was very suspenseful. I wanted to find out what would happen next. Again, most of the history was shown during the flashbacks, telling about Lucian's past. This time the italics weren't in italics, and I think they were a bit longer.

Some of the characters in When Darkness Falls talked about vampire legends. Some of the same legends that were mentioned in the first book were also discussed in this book. The rules and laws of vampires are explained again. This book can stand alone since everything the reader needs to know about the vampires is told in this book. This also helps to remind readers about the information if it has been a while since the first book was read. I didn't think the retelling of the information was repetitive - I read this book right after the first one. It just reinforces the information. In both books, a few different twists on the legend of vampires are told, like what will hurt them and things like that. I'm not saying what the different things are. If you want to find out, read the book.

The romance in When Darkness Falls was between Jade and Lucian. They met for the first time during the prologue, but they don’t see each other again for a year. Lucian was worried about her safety, but he was attracted to her. Once he was in New Orleans, they saw each other often and got to know each other more. They became intimate. There were some scenes describing that in the book. The scenes were descriptive. I didn’t think they were excessively descriptive, but some people could be offended by these descriptions.

The main setting for When Darkness Falls was New Orleans, like it was in the first book, but there were also some scenes in other locations. For the most part, those settings showed up during the flashbacks. The other settings include Scotland, a Viking ship, and the island where Lucian lived for years. The prologue took place in modern times in Scotland, right before Halloween. The cemetery and tomb there were described in great detail. Something happened at a haunted house in Massachusetts - it was actually set up in a huge barn and it was described wonderfully. The rest of the book took place in New Orleans, right before Halloween. New Orleans was described in great detail, making the city come to life. New Orleans seemed to be the perfect setting for this book. It is full of unique things like voodoo and sex shops everywhere, so why not a vampire or two? Also, Anne Rice, author of several books about vampires, lives there.

The characters of Jade and Lucian were the main characters in When Darkness Falls and were well developed. Lucian was more developed than Jade, building on the little that was told about him in Beneath A Blood Red Moon. There was also a lot of information about Lucian’s past that was shared in the book, usually through flashbacks. The flashbacks also helped to show why Lucian was the way he was when he and Jade met. Shanna, Jade's sister, was in a lot of the book, and she was developed very well for how much she was in the book. Most of the other minor characters were developed pretty well also. There were a few minor characters that weren't developed that much, but they were in little of the book, so that was ok. A few characters that first showed up in the first book, Sean, Maggie, and Jack, returned for this one. I enjoyed reading about those characters again.

CHARACTERS

Jade MacGregor - She is a writer and publisher. She went to Scotland to research a book and was almost killed in a tomb. A stranger saved her that night. A year later, she begins to dream about the man that saved her. Her life is in danger.

Lucian DeVeau - King of the vampires. He was in Scotland the year before and saved Jade and the other survivors at the tomb. Two of his enemies were responsible for what happened there. He goes to New Orleans a year later because he thinks they will go after Jade again.

Shawna MacGregor - Jade's sister. She is also a writer. She is very worried about Jade. She knows about Lucian and trusts him to protect her sister. She is willing to do whatever she has to do to protect Jade.

Rick Beaudreaux - Cop that Jade has been dating for a few months. He is a kind man with a great sense of humor. He gets very sick and is taken to the hospital. The doctors don't know what is wrong with him.

Matt - One of Jade's friends and an author. He is the most successful of their little group. He is willing to do anything to help Jade.

Danny - Another of Jade's friends. He is an author that has had a few articles published. He also works at the morgue to pay his bills. He sees the body of one of the victims. He is also willing to help Jade.

Renate - Another of Jade's friends. She writes mystery novels that are somewhat popular and the critics love, but they don't sell as well as Matt's books. She is very pushy at times, annoying her friends. She thinks there is a vampire in New Orleans

Sophia - A very old, powerful vampire. She turned Lucian into a vampire. She is very evil, more so than other vampires. She kills people just for enjoyment, not because she needs to feed. She will kill anyone, including children. It amuses her to cause death and destruction.

Darian - Sophia's flunky. Another evil vampire. He goes everywhere with Sophia. He has been with her for ages. He is just as evil as she is.

When Darkness Falls was a great book that kept my interest through. I couldn't put it down. There was some swearing in the book, but it wasn’t excessive. And remember, because of some of the graphic descriptions in the book, it is not for everyone. People who like vampire books and movies should enjoy this one.

Beneath a Blood Red Moon
When Darkness Falls

When Darkness Falls
Shannon Drake
Zebra Books, 2000
Paperback
409 pages
$6.99 U.S.
$8.99 CAN
ISBN # - 0-8217-6692-9

Recommended: Yes