The Dark Angel Series: Darkness Unbound

Darkness Unbound is book 1 in the Dark Angel series by Keri Arthur. The story is set in Melbourne and is told from the perspective of Risa Jones. Risa is half werewolf and half Aedh. Near as I can figure, Aedhs are a little like angels, in the sense that they're really beautiful and have wings. But Aedhs are also capable of sort of dissolving themselves and travelling around in non-corporal form. Risa lives with her best friends, Iliana and Tao, and she does her best to do the Average Jane thing. 

Despite her best efforts though, this doesn't happen often. Risa also has psychic powers. She can see reapers (those creepy folks who lead the dead into the afterlife), she can travel the gray fields, and she has a degree of precognition. One day Risa's mom contacts her and asks her to visit the hospital where a little girl is stuck in a coma for no obvious reason. As it turns out, the little girl's soul was ripped from her body. 

I don't know about you, but the very idea gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Then, as if all this isn't freaky enough, a reaper starts following Risa around. Apparently, the father Risa has never met is going to contact her. According to Azriel the reaper, her father has some nefarious plans that will eventually result in the end of the world as we know it.

But it's not all bad. Risa meets an Aedh called Lucian and they get physical pretty quickly. Which is good. Risa seriously needed someone to help her lower her stress levels.

I wasn't too keen on this book in the beginning. It felt like information was heaped on the reader and the names of people we hadn't met were being thrown around, so it was a tad confusing. I don't like feeling confused. With the information dump came the feeling that nothing was actually happening. It went on like this for roughly half the book and I was getting fed up. But then things started picking up and by the time I finished the book, I was actually interested in what was going to happen next. 

Darkness Unbound was a pretty good book once you get past all the non-happenings of the beginning. I don't think I would say I loved it, but I would recommend to anyone who's looking for something different to read.