Wait for Dusk, published by HarperCollins Eos, July 2010, 0061851817. Click here to browse inside the book, and here to buy it.

Plot Synopsis:
There is no sanctuary in the night . . .
Feared even by her own kind for her mastery of fire, the nightwalker Mira is summoned by the coven to take her rightful place as Elder. But with this honor comes grave responsibility—a commitment to the annihilation of the unleashed naturi. For now the foul creatures walk the earth—and neither vampire nor human will survive their horrific onslaught.

A tide of blood is sweeping relentlessly across the European continent, as Mira is dispatched to Budapest for the most devastating test yet of her astonishing powers—and falls into a well-laid trap. With the dark secrets that haunt her growing darker by the hour, she must confront the terrible truth of her past and protect her fragile sanity in the face of unanticipated treachery—a betrayal by her trusted ally, her beloved enemy, the vampire slayer Danaus.

Review:
We’re back to Mira’s point of view with the fifth book in this the Dark Days series, which is evidenced by her wanting to set something on fire (Fire Starter; so awesome. I’m just glad that Drake refrains from any Prodigy references–that would be overboard :-S). Very quickly, we learn that Gaizka, quite sadly, has not died and that the whole thing with Lavina’s character was a setup designed to trick Mira and Danaus.

And boy did it work. Except that part is the setup and it’s not Gaizka at all.

No, this being is decidedly more malevolent. And powerful. Gaizka isn’t the one beating up Mira, but she finds herself wishing it was the horrendous bori demon. Instead, it’s a being who claims to be Mira’s father (and he does have her red hair and violet eyes. She had to get those from somewhere, right? ) He is a Trickster God not too different from Loki or Anansi who is known by many names. He also holds the key to why Mira is pyrokinetic, which we’ve been wondering since the first book.

Even worse, he can make her more powerful–able to resist those who can control her, i.e. Jabari and Danaus. But everything, as they say, has a price: and for Mira, it’s no different. If she doesn’t go along with dear old dad’s wishes, he’ll turn her human–and force her to give birth to a child (you got to hand it to gods–incest really doesn’t bother them that much, eh, Zeus? Lol) Oh, and did I mention that the child he wants Mira to breed will replace her? You got to love the fatherly instincts in this whackjob

And just to prove that he’s not bluffing, he gives her a live demo.

And that’s just within the first few pages!

It may be a bit of an overstatement, but the novel doesn’t start out too well for Mira. Things are looking pretty bleak, to say the least. And even worse, Danaus is still nowhere to be found. Which brings me to my next point. Although I feel a bit more sympathetic toward Mira, especially considering everything that she’s been through and all the events that she’s had to suffer in previous volumes of the series, Danaus essentially appears out of nowhere in Chapter 2. Like most readers, I had assumed that as per the ending of Pray for Dawn that he was sort of, well, gobbled up into another dimension? Didn’t he get sucked into some kind of vortex? Who freed him, and how did he get out, if so? What happened? Where did he go after the encounter with Gaizka in the last chapter of Pray for Dawn and how did Mira find him (ignoring her telepathic link ability for a minute).

Not that I minded seeing him

As well, even though we’ve seen from previous volumes, especially Dawn that Danaus has softened considerably toward Mira, he really really lets his guard down in this volume where usually he’s a ball of attitude and feistiness. I think that having had a taste of his point of view, I’m missing it and I would have liked his point of view to have carried over into this book. Still, it is refreshing to see that he’s more comfortable around Mira and not so jumpy or in denial about his feelings for her. Mira, too, admits her feelings for the hunter, which they’ve both known about for some time (and so have the readers. Come on, folks–we’ve been leading up to this since the first book). But rest assured, it doesn’t take the odd couple that long to start fighting again, especially when some naturi come into the fold.

When Mira eventually does get to the coven, I was expecting there to be an elaborate ritual surrounding her momentous reunion with the Nightwalker Coven (not a 20-page snoozefest, mind you, but something more than just words and a small fight scene).

As the book continued, I found the action to be strong, but more muted at certain junctures. The book wouldn’t be as tense if Mira and Danaus were blasé all the time and lah-dih-dah about everything and if they got along perfectly, so it makes sense for them to have a falling out over a human. And although it spices things up to have a Lycan attack, it seemed unnecessary, despite the explanations about clan territoriality in Budapest, where Mira and Danaus go to settle a matter of dispute for the Coven.

The pacing, however, is just as intense in this volume, although in my opinion, Dawn is my favourite book of the series so far and was better executed and more heart-wrenching. Mira’s battles and struggles felt more personal. And even though the reader knows what’s at stake, Dawn resonated more with me. I felt more connected to Danaus than I did to Mira in this volume, not that her point of view is bad, mind you. It has actually come quite a long way since the first book in the series, and she is refreshing in this volume.

However, her sudden connection to–and self-admitted love for–the Elder Valerio felt like a “Huh? When did that happen?” moment, as if it should have been more expanded upon. At times, the repeated arguments between Mira and Danaus over the human, Sofia, felt like bickering instead of real conflict, despite the fact that they both had good reasons for their positions. Despite this, the inclusion of the dastardly naturi, Rowe, is entertaining, as he proves to be a more than capable foe who gives Mira a run for her money. Despite a great fight scene that I won’t ruin, I think that after the kind of wound she receives, even if she does heal very quickly, wouldn’t she need to feed again to replenish her reservoir of strength (even with her ties to the Coven, her age, and her strength)?

As I got closer to the end, though, that’s when the novel really picked up again. There are definitely some surprise twists that you won’t want to miss. It makes for some good reading, to be sure! For fans who have been waiting for Mira and Danaus since the first book, for them to come together…I’m not going to spoil it for you. You’ll just have to read on to find out what happens

Drake has done it again, folks–she leaves the reader with a better sense of resolution in this book with a hint of what’s to come in the next (hopefully!) and to use a fellow blogger’s phrase, it was fangtastic (couldn’t resist )

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Happy Reading!