After Dark (Ghost Hunters, Book 1)
by Jayne Castle

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Book Reviews of After Dark (Ghost Hunters, Book 1)

Book Review: An insulting waste of time and money
Summary: 1 Stars

It doesn't work on ANY level. The "futuristic" aspects are embarrassingly bad, with far too many careless slips. The story is supposed to take place at least 3 centuries in the future, but people wear jeans and sneakers, "vehicles" still have fenders and--a mind-boggling Krentzian cliche--trendy cuisine is pasta and itty-bitty vegetables. The examples are too many (and horrendous) to list, but rest assured the reader is consistently jarred by weired, inappropriate details. Off-planet society in 2300 is a dead-ringer for downtown Seattle in 2000.

The characters and situations are recycled, too. The plucky heroine is an aspiring entrepreneur and the hero is a CEO, even though they can do some glitzy paranormal stuff. The hero has a rash young relative who exists solely to set the plot in motion. Does this all sound familiar? It should; JAK's been recycling it for years.

Worse, the romance is practically nonexistent. The characters are so cardboard and cliched it's hard to care if they fall in love with furniture instead of each other, though it'd be hard to tell the difference. There's some half-hearted sparring and misunderstandings, then they have sex in an armchair. A few hasty adventures later, the book ends with the heroine chirpily accepting a future DATE. All relationship issues are left hanging, no meeting of minds, no hearts in evidence to worry about. No lift of the heart, no shiver-and-sigh, no NOTHING.

PHONE BOOKS have more depth, personal interest and romantic zing.

Finally, After Dark is unforgivably carelessly written. Major plot devices and characters are thrown in, never to be see again. For example, the disapperance of the the young relative with a priceless antique "cabinet of curiousities" starts the action. The young guy crops up--abruptly, and almost as an afterthought--but the priceless family heirloom, with all those intriguing hidden drawers? Never mentioned again.

The hero? plucky heroine despises his almost mob-like "Guild" of paranormals. He cleaned up the Guild in another city (with an iron hand, of course) so it resembles a corporation (!). He's urged to take over local Guild leadership, though the plucky heroine despises nothing more than the Guild and all it stands for. At the end?--nothing, NOTHING mentioned or implied.

In short, this book finally exhausted my patience with JAK. A previous reviewer nailed it perfectly: for intense, involving alternative romances that sizzle and sing, try J.D. Robb's (Nora Roberts) excellent series, or Linda Howard's Dream Man, Now You See Her and Son of the Morning, or Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series.

I paid money for this book, hoping against experience for something even faintly resembling what the author used to provide to the reader. No more. Done. This reader's loyalty has been burned out. I'll borrow or buy used, but enough is enough.

Summary of After Dark (Ghost Hunters, Book 1)

In After Dark, author Jayne Ann Krentz, writing as Jayne Castle, describes a world that delightfully intertwines futuristic ideas like green-glowing marble, psychic amber, and six-legged pets with earthly characters like penny-pinching bosses, absentee landlords, and mafia wives trying to turn into high-society dames. The writing can feel a bit clunky: "The paranormal ability to resonate with amber and use it to focus psychic energy had begun to appear in the human population shortly after the colonists came through the curtain to settle the planet of Harmony," and the final chapters suffer from a similar lack of finesse in the tying up of loose ends, but Krentz's world is fantastical and fascinating, one that will keep you reading and your imagination soaring.--Nancy R.E. O'Brien

Literature & Fiction Books

• Subjects > Literature & Fiction
• Romance > Fantasy & Futuristic
• Science Fiction & Fantasy