Thursday, November 15, 2012

Review: Running in the Dark by Regan Summers

Running in the Dark
Author:Regan Summers
Release Date: October 29, 2012
Publisher: Carina Press
Night Runner Book #1
ISBN13:  9781426894541
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: Author

Santiago, Chile

After surviving a vampire turf war in Alaska, vampire courier Sydney Kildare is back behind the wheel and working under an assumed name in Chile. She doesn't speak the language, doesn't know the city and—worst of all—has to drive a crappy car.

What she does have is Malcolm Kelly, her sort-of boyfriend and manager of the city's vampire population. But with Malcolm preoccupied by bloodsucker business—and a gorgeous vampiress from his past—Sydney feels more alone than ever.

But Sydney has more than her love life to worry about. She's got vamps on her tail, mysterious deliveries that leave death in their wake, and old enemies targeting her to get to Malcolm. Turns out he's got a history more deadly than she ever imagined, and she'll have to use every skill in her arsenal to stay alive...

I loved Syndey's personality, style and independence in DON'T BITE THE MESSENGER so I was excited when Regan contacted me with RUNNING IN THE DARK for review. I think its pretty important to read book 0.5 before you jump into book 1 as it will give you the background on the characters and their situations. You might be a bit lost if you try to jump into book 1 without the back story.

It was a bit hard to read the first half of the book watching Sydney struggle with not having complete control of her life nor being able to do what she loves to do at the pace she wants to do it. The change of scenery in RUNNING IN THE DARK was interesting. I have never been to Anchorage or Chile so both were fun to witness through the two separate adventures.  Malcolm ticked me off at multiple points throughout the book but his attitude makes complete sense by the last chapter and he is perfect for Sydney and vice versa. I really liked meeting Soraya she turned out being a great ally and I see more of her in Sydney and Malcom's future (at least I'm hoping she will be in their future). Because Sydney isn't in the same situation as in DON'T BITE THE MESSENGER we didn't get her high tech cars and fast driving but there was a ton of fantastic action scenes and deathly situations. Both of Regan's books were fast paced with simple to connect to worlds.

It shouldn't be long before the whole vampire community knows who Sydney and Malcolm are and the ending sets up book 2 a bit.

I gave it 4/5 stars