The Festering Blurb

		There's no story for the third Blackthorn brother, Utah.

*****SPOILERS****SPOILERS*****

Just a note to the sisterhood of serious collectors: none of the covers pictured above are the original covers except for Outlaw.  That's a black-haired Fabio on the cover, btw.  It took me the better part of a year and a lot of driving around San Antonio to find original editions of the books. A first edition Silhouette Desire of Warrior I found on eBay just last year.  The rest I found at Half-Price Books and local used book sales back in the 90s.  So for about 4 years, I was steeping myself in westerns.  And I learned a lot about the lifestyle.  A bit like Little House on The Prairie with an adult conscience.

It's been over 15 years since the first one, Reckless Love came out and first covers are getting harder and harder to find. F&R, Outlaw, Granite Man and Warrior all started out as Silhouette Desire romances.  RL was a Harlequin Historical in its first incarnation. With the exception of Warrior, all the heroes were verbally and emotionally abusive to the heroines.  Unnecessarily so.  It's a trait of this genre that it can't quite shake off. 

Here's an excerpt from EL's author site: (basically a repeat of what I wrote.)

MacKenzie-Blackthorn

Reckless Love - HH #38 (1990)
Fire And Rain - SD #546 (1990)
Outlaw - SD #624 (1991)
Granite Man - SD #625 (1991)
Warrior - SD #631 (1991)

What makes these books keepers is that they are very atmospheric.  Lowell really excels at westerns.  Her writing shows an understanding of just how grueling day to day living is on a ranch.  I especially love the tracking scenes which feature prominently in RL and W.  The banter between ranch hands -- Nora Roberts, Danielle Steele, Judith Krantz could never do that.  Lowell is totally committed to her characters. 

There are sometimes bits that strike the ear as a bit off-key, like when Lowell tries to write witty banter.  It just doesn't come off well.  There were a few moments in GM where Mariah is speaking and the character is supposed to be witty, but her dialogue ends up sounding like an approximation of wit, instead of genuine wit.  Well, I think I've said this before -- one writer can't be good at everything.  The heroes -- I just want to knock their heads together through most of the book.  So self-absorbed.  Stubborness without reason or moderation.  Cruel, even.  Cash McQueen (GM), especially.  What an asshole!  There's absolutely no reason on earth for Mariah to fall in love with him.  This particularly abusive relationship is a throwback to the 1970s/Mr. Rochester mold of male.  It's hard to relax and enjoy the story when you're so pissed off at the hero.  Luke (F&R) is another asshole -- not as bad as Cash, but cut from the same cloth.  And Cash plays yenta for his sister Carla and Luke.  Crazy!

Here's the immediate family tree:

• Luke and Mariah MacKenzie, brother and sister, are descendants of the MacKenzies of RL.
• Luke's distant cousins are brothers Tennesee (Outlaw) and Nevada (Warrior).  There's a third brother, Utah, whom they mention, but there's no book for him. (Fans of this series, I'm positive, are still crying about that.  I know I am!)
• Luke's wife, Carla McQueen MacKenzie has a brother -- Alexander "Cash" McQueen.
• Luke's sister, Mariah, is married to Carla's brother Cash.
• Tennessee and Nevada marry girls from out of town.

*Case MacKenzie, a character mentioned sporadically in RL is not related to Case Maxwell of Winter Fire even though their personalities and back stories are similar.

**Several sequel clues appear in the M-B stories.  They are scattered like a trail of rather tall, muscular breadcrumbs.

***Thanks to Shelfari I was able to find some of the older covers.

According to Lowell's forum, by her own admission, she has put westerns behind her. And she seems a bit cheesed-

off that people keep writing to ask about a book for Utah Blackthorne.  So to save you some embarassment, here's the final word: THERE WILL BE NO BOOK FOR UTAH. EL has moved on to other interests.

I gone and done it again. My shelves and closets are overflowing. My home is a fire trap.  This is getting ridiculous.  But there is a bright side.  I'm actually going through my boxes and getting rid of the deadwood.  Dead wood!! Geddit?

N-e-hoo, been waiting for DS and PiTN for EVER!  And what happens? The quality of writing in these books catapulted me into Siskel&Ebert mode.  For every positive, there's a negative.  I guess that's just life, innit.

Dangerous Secrets by Lisa Marie Rice:

Love, love, love this writer.  Her writing in this particular book is hermaphroditic.  (Yeah, I said that!  I'm controversial.)  She writes love scenes like a woman writer and action scenes like a male writer.  I really dig that.  This story is the result of a lot of research you can tell.  It's a lot like Burn Notice or JAG or NCIS or The Unit, or even that new sniper drama Flashpoint.  It's all about the intel. 

The romantic/love scenes are pretty good. There's one or two drawn-out ones and a couple of rushed ones.  Rushed love scenes are a standard in Rice's romances.  A lot of the story is told from the hero's point of view, which is a relatively new development -- dating from about the late 70s/early 80s.  I like that both the hero/heroine express reservations about getting involved and how difficult it is to stay uninvolved, but there's too much "wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am" and I don't find that romantic when it happens so often.  There needs to be a logical balance of wham bam moments and drawn-out moments -- variety is the spice of life after all.  And this whole thing that the heroines "don't want or need foreplay"?  WTF?  Are we regressing back to the pre-Kinsey Report days?  It makes me wonder if maybe a man isn't writing this book after all.  To be fair, though, the romantic scenes are VERY romantic.  Very up close and personal, as if you're standing in the same room with them.  That's good writing.

One of the best things about this story is the villain -- Vassily Worontzoff.  He would make a great Bond villain.  His character is so vivid that everyone else in the story pales significantly.  This is the "writing like a man" part.  And speaking of parts: Steiner 8x30 tactical binoculars, zeks, gulags, Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft, Russian organized crime, Sacra Corona Unita, European literary awards.  Fuggedaboutit. I'm hooked already.  What really cracks me up about this story is the product placement: diet Coke, Bang & Olufsen.  Hee!  Someone's been reading Soldier of Fortune magazine.  I mean, Wartsila-Sulzer RTA96-C turbocharged two-stroke diesel engine.  I have no effing idea what that is but it sounds so cool!  It's almost like this book is designed for men -- to make them take romance novels seriously.  If a writer can do that -- more power to'em sister-woman!

Phantom in The Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon:

Yay! The BADs are back! These are the FUN ass-kickin' secret agents, as opposed to the morose, depressing, take-themselves-WAY-too-seriously Tempting SEALs.  (Ian, Reno, Macey, Clint, Kell -- you know I adore you guyz but jeez, lighten up a little :D ). 

So this agent is Terri Mitchell.  She has an axe to grind, which is what BAD wants in its agents.  I especially love the way Kenyon arranges for Terri to meet the man of her dreams -- his twin is dead and Terri is the agent on scene checking out the body.  Kenyon describes Terri's reaction to the dead body and yummily describes how good-looking he was (shades of necrophilia, anyone?).  So the reader experiences the suspense of Terri coming into contact with the gorgeous twin but she never can see his face for about half the book.  And we readers are on pins and needles because we know what a treat she's in for when he finally reveals himself.  But it takes for-effing-EVER.  That is some brave risk-taking in a romance novel. I absolutely love it. It's a crime drama with sex, except good.  It's not romantic, unfortunately. Oh well, one book can't be everything to everybody. 

On the whole, it's got great writing.  Kenyon is flexing and stretching her writing muscles.  That's mainly why I like it.

****CONTAINS SPOILERS****

****CONTAINS SPOILERS****

For romance readers, the DarkHunter saga is our Star Trek.  Our Star Wars.  Our Ring Cycle.  Harry Potter for adults.  Shoot, it's even our Magnificent Seven!  And in August, the capo di tutti cappi of the DHs is going to finally be exposed in all his incarnations.  DH lovers have been salivating, nee slobbering (myself included) over Acheron ever since he appeared in Fantasy Lover. 

Acheron Parthenopaeus is 11,000 years old. And he's royalty from Atlantis!! How freaking cool is that! The phrase "been there, done that, got the t-shirt" was coined for him.  He's so old, he has sex infrequently -- 1 word/not 2.  He's so old, he doesn't have crows' feet, he's got eagle's wings.  He says he's 11,000 but since he was born on February 29th BBBBC, he's really only 3½ thousand years old.  And frankly, he doesn't look a century over 5,000.  He still has the tips he made at the Last Supper!  He knew Venus de Milo when she had BOTH arms.  He never goes out with girls his age -- there aren't any!  He remembers when the Dead Sea was only sick!  He can kick the Olympians's asses any day of the week with only the air displaced from blinking.  He gave the Scandinavian gods the idea to name the days after themselves, just to piss off the Olympians.  He goes surfing with a Sumerian god.  Walk on water? He invented water! God calls HIM for background checks. 

And talking about the old days for Ash?  "Hey, remember that time that orange ball came up for the first time? I finally stopped tripping on stuff." "Remember when that fish turned into a frog? That was cool." "The blizzards that time? That's where having a dragon as a house pet comes in handy."

The inspiration for the look of Acheron, the author's own design, is an Australian actor named Travis Fimmel.  He's breathtakingly  gorgeous -- a divine physique with gem-like blue-green eyes, super-thick blonde hair, luscious lips that curl into a sweet smile.  I could go on and on but the drool would short out my keyboard.  Kenyon first mentions him in DANCE WITH THE DEVIL (Zarek's story).  That was my first DH novel.  After that, I read another -- loved it.  Then another mentioned Travis...then another.  By my third novel, it had gone beyond Travis and I was utterly hooked on the DH world.  Strong men and strong women, fighting side by side, battles of wits and wills.  Magnificent!!

Threaded through all of them was the presence of Acheron.  He's a best friend, a father-figure, the annoying cousin you only see at holidays and funerals.  Your boss after a bad golf game.  The evil dentist in Marathon Man, but without the whimsical charm.  The goth loner on campus.  Flame and hail.  Hellfire and all-encompassing love.  He's so powerful, it takes 2 books to capture his essence. 

He's cursed because, unlike the other gods, he lived as a human for his first 18 or so years.  Gods don't fathom humans.  They are simply a more fun species of animal.  But Acheron lived as a human, so as a god, he has a soft spot for us.  That puts him at a disadvantage because it gets used against him all the time -- even though, as an Atlantian god of apocalyptic destruction, he could take out any Greek or Roman god you throw at him.  He tries to temper his true nature, but certain practices must be seen to if he wants to hang on to his compassionate side.  Certain practices that involve a bitchy, red-haired "heifer goddess" named Artemis, Greek goddess of the hunt, and apparently, of intrigue.  She pulls his strings and makes it hurt.

I don't know what's in store for Acheron after his book, but I'm thinking the DH saga might be played out and Kenyon might be moving on to other gods she has developed, like Savitar maybe.  That's fine with me.  Series do need to end sometime.  With 25 books in the DH series, I sure don't feel cheated.  This has been one of the greatest series in the history of romance novels.

Dark Hunters Reading Order -- Excerpt

1. Fantasy Lover, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2002)

2. "The Beginning", also in the back of Sins of the Night (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2002)

3. Dragonswan, reprinted singly by Berkley (2005) (ISBN 0515140791)

4. Night Pleasures, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2002)

5. Night Embrace, (St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2003) (ISBN 0-31298-482-0)

There are currently 24 stories; ACHERON makes 25 -- maybe 26 because it's 2 novels incorporating his human life and his life as an Atlantean god.

If you're looking for accounts of Atlantean civilization, there's Timaeus and Critias and The Atlantis Dialogue: Plato's Original Story of the Lost City, Continent, Empire, Civilization, both written by Plato.

"Dark Hunters: Mad, Bad & Immortal"

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Travis Fimmel links:

• www.SurferDudeTheMovie.com
• http://www.travis-fimmel.com/
• Travis @ IMDB
• Very good TF Forum
• DVD Restraint (2005)