Book Review:“Pray for Dawn” by Jocelynn Drake

Pray for Dawn by Jocelynn Drake, published by HarperCollins Eos, 9780061851803. To browse inside the book, click here.

Plot Summary:
Pray for salvation . . . Pray for daylight . . . Murder has pulled Mira out of the shadows and back into the living world . . . As the fire-wielding enforcer of the nightwalker coven wrestles with the mind-destroying ghosts of her dark past, the slaying of a senator’s daughter in Savannah threatens to expose her kind to the brilliant light of day. The dawn of chaos has come. The naturi have broken free of their eternal prison to feed on the defenseless and unbelieving of an unprepared Earth. Mira and Danaus—vampire and vampire slayer—must unite to prevent the annihilation of their separate races. But for Danaus the challenge is intensified, for he must also fight the bori who covets his soul. And Mira, the nightwalker he must protect—whose power is the Earth’s last hope—is rapidly going insane.

The Review:

Pray for Dawn marks the fourth in the Dark Days series by urban fantasy superstar Jocelynn Drake, and it is possibly the most action-packed, heart-pounding volume so far.

The first thing that I enjoyed so much is that this novel is written in Danaus’ point of view. Not that I don’t like Mira, but it seems that many fans and the author herself are still a bit sceptical as to whether his point of view will work now that we’ve had three books from Mira’s point of view, but I want to say that this book works even better because it’s from his point of view. Danaus is a breath of fresh air. And in this volume, we finally get so many answers that we’ve been wondering about since meeting the enigmatic vampire hunter, including: what is he, why does he hate vampires so much (what’s his real motivation beyond the standard “I hate them because they are sinners and evildoers and they must be stopped”), what’s up with his on/off attraction to Mira and why does he fight it, and most importantly, why is he immortal? Granted, we got the answers in the second book to a certain extent, but to see what really goes on in his mind can’t compare to the way that the information was delivered in Book Two, because Danaus is telling us everything in Book Four straight up. No holds barred.

While I didn’t mind Mira’s point of view in the previous three entries in the series, Mira is refreshing as seen from the eyes of Danaus. I enjoyed this book far more than I thought I would, and the main reason was because of the point of view switch to a male character. I don’t know if it’s because it just presented the events of the book in a different way or if it’s because Danaus sees things in a much different way than Mira, or if it was good to get some distance from Mira (but not too much ), but whatever it is, Drake nailed it with this book.

For one thing, the storyline is very interesting–Danaus and Mira must investigate the murder of a girl named Abigail who was known for openly consorting with multiple vampires, or nightwalkers as they’re called in this series. But things take a turn for the much more interesting when we learn that the bori demon who owns part of Danaus’ soul, a nasty formless critter named Gaizka who is thousands of years old (not too different from Danaus), is on the loose and that he intends to make Danaus his permanent meat suit. Danaus finds himself in pretty much the worst possible scenario that he’s had to face in years.
The fight scenes were solid, and brimmed with Danaus’ thoughts, along with action and excitement. Danaus’ interaction with Mira was much better this time around, especially considering that they weren’t trying to kill each other (however short-lived this state of affairs was), and best of all, when there were romantic elements between the two (and judging from the cover of the forthcoming fifth book, Wait for Dusk, it looks like these two might get a lot cosier. Or at least that’s what the cover wants us to believe ) they didn’t take over the entire novel and make it all about the relationship.

Mira is very interesting in that regard. She’ll endlessly tease Danaus and get him riled up and flustered and then just sort of leave him hanging, which is part of her charm, one supposes. But the best part about her is that she has no pretensions and doesn’t cuddle or try to otherwise fool herself into thinking that Danaus feels any affection for her (and though he’s loathe to admit it, he does–most of the time, anyway )
The secondary character of LaVina, something of a voodoo practitioner, was also a nice addition, and a very necessary one by the end of the novel.

I won’t spoil the ending, but I will say that it will leave you breathless and desperately wanting more. If you haven’t read the Dark Days series, you owe it to yourself to. Mira is one of the coolest hunters I’ve encountered, and she most definitely doesn’t suffer from “trying too hard” to be like one of the guys, nor does she suffer from being a cardboard cutout who is basically just a leather-wearing slut. She has dimensions, and it’s not always easy for her to deal with her emotions.

I will also say that when I first read “Nightwalker,” book one in the series, I wasn’t terribly impressed. But after “Pray for Dawn,” not only am I itching to get my hands on the next volume, forthcoming in July, but I am going to read books two and three in the series ASAP. If you’re looking for a fast-paced energetic thrillride of a read, get your hands on “Pray for Dawn” now. You won’t be disappointed. And Drake seamlessly weaves in the events of the third book so that newer readers know what’s going on and will have no trouble following the events.

The naturi, eternal enemy of the nightwalker, have most definitely formed a bigger threat to the world. Mira and Danaus can only do so much against so many of them (and believe me, the bori demon that I mentioned earlier, Gaizka, most definitely does not help), but this book answers many questions while creating more in the reader’s mind.
“Pray for Dawn” thoroughly impressed me and exceeded all of my expectations–it has been the most entertaining book I’ve read this year thus far.

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Gimme More, Darkeva!
Can’t get enough of Jocelynn Drake? After that suspenseful cliffhanger ending (which I won’t ruin here), fans are absolutely dying to see what happens to our friends Mira and Danaus. So, to tide your craving over, here are a few links to some fantastic interviews with Jocelynn:

Tynga’s Reviews did a great interview with Jocelynn recently, as did Larissa’s Bookish Life where Larissa is also giving away a free signed copy of the book. The Deadline Dames also paid appropriate tribute to Jocelynn here as well as Book Lovers Inc. and the wonderful Amberkatze.

Happy Reading!
–Darkeva

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