Darkness Rising Audiobook

Romantic Times Career Achievement Award recipient Keri Arthur has won a legion of fans with her New York Times best-selling Dark Angels novels. The second book in the thrilling series, Darkness Rising follows the psychic half-werewolf, half-aedh Risa Jones as she sets out to avenge her mother's death. The vampire council agrees to aid her in her quest-but it asks for a deadly favor in return. Meanwhile, Risa finds herself plagued by lingering thoughts of the reaper Azriel.

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"Risa Jones is back for the second novel in the Dark angels series and has done some growing since her debut. In the first book, she was forced to come to grips with her abilities and the new dangers that came to surround her. It ended with her mother's murder, a tragedy that shook her up badly, as well as a number of unresolved issues that prevent her from resuming a normal life. "Darkness Rising" begins two months after the conclusion of "Darkness Unbound" and shows Risa ready to deal with these problems she put off. The first being to find the keys to hell that her Aedh father demands she locate, and he is growing impatient with her delays in obtaining them. The other is Madeline Hunter, from the vampire council, who is holding Risa to her promise to serve the council in exchange for aid in finding her mother's killer. Madeline wants her to look into an attack on council members and lets her know failure will not be tolerated. These two issues become top priority now that Risa is back in the game. She isn't alone in dealing with them, though. Her roommates Ilianna and Tao both step up to help, putting their lives at grave risk in the process. Yet they refuse to take no for an answer, wanting to be there for their friend. Azriel is even more active in watching over Risa than before and Lucian (her current lover) takes a more prominent part in her life, which seems to have positive and negative effects. There are brief moments with Risa's extended family, including her aunt Riley, but she generally tries to avoid them in this book, not wishing to put any more people she loves in harm's way than absolutely necessary. I must say I liked this novel even better than the first. It was clear Risa was less reluctant to do what needed to be done and more confident in herself. She still had some doubts in her abilities, but managed to overcome those by being willing to ask for help. She depended on Azriel even more heavily this time and he seems to be growing more attached to her. I enjoyed seeing the byplay between them. There is definitely chemistry there and the two are becoming much more aware of each other in ways that have nothing to do with their "duties". I'm hoping they give in to their needs soon as I think they could be really great together. Lucian's behavior is becoming more suspect, as I guessed might happen. Not enough for Risa to push him away, yet, but she is discovering there is more to him than she originally believed. This causes her to become frustrated because she realizes everyone, aside from her family and close friends, has an outside agenda and is using her for their own purposes. I could certainly understand her bitterness, though I also felt she was somewhat blind to certain realities. Regardless, Darkness Rising proved to be well worth the read. I enjoyed the action, character relationships, and world building that has made this series unique from others I've read. The story progressed further in most areas and came to a satisfying conclusion, even if it was expected to end on another cliffhanger. The Dark Angels series is excellent and not one to miss if you enjoy the urban fantasy and paranormal genres. I'll be ready for the next book, Darkness Devours, which is set to be released July 5th, 2012. The novel can't come fast enough, as far as I'm concerned!"

— Mistress (5 out of 5 stars)