Dark Stranger

Prime fans especially with relish Susan Sizemore's refreshing "futuristic" entry in her terrific series.

Heir to the Byzant Empire, human diplomat wearing the uniform of a naval lieutenant Zoe Pappas negotiates with the Asi. However, the enemy Hajim attacks her space ship and takes her to a prison planet in which human POWs mingle uneasily with other species dangerous to her kind.

Brigadier General Matthias "Doc" Raven leads the human POWs, demanding loyalty and no escape attempts. Zoe struggles with adjusting to captivity and her attraction to the BG. She conceals from Doc who she is and what her aborted mission was. Someone seems to know who she is and where she is; that person is willing to kill all the prisoners to get at Zoe; only Doc stands in their way.

This clever fantasy science fiction thriller is actually not part of the prime Primes saga, but a brilliant off shoot as a so-called work of fiction or perhaps a future history as the first tale in the Vampire Book Club read by several Prime characters. The story line is fast-paced and filled with plenty of action from the onset, but really takes off when Zoe and Doc meet as prisoners of war. Prime fans especially with relish Susan Sizemore's refreshing "futuristic" entry in her terrific series.

Harriet Klausner

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Highly Recommened

i enjoy reading Susan Sizemore books when start to read her books you just can't put it down you want to find out whats going to happen next

good paranormal

This is a very well written paranormal story. I look forward to more in this series.

One of her best - but "Vampire Book Club"???

I thought this book was one of Ms. Sizemore's best so far. In fact, I thought the existing series was sort of dying on the vine, but it gets a huge infusion of interest and excitement from the addition of the "far future" concept. Sizemore takes her existing paranormal world and explodes it out into a combination sci-fi paranormal universe. The concept was great and the execution wonderful; she succeeds in building a believeable and fascinating future world based on her existing series. However, I think the "Vampire Book Club" idea is just silly. Why do we need this as a premise for the new series? There's absolutely no reason that I can see except as some sort of gimmicky way of connecting the two series together. It just doesn't work for me at all.

Intrigue, intergalactic travel, adventure and romance

Dark Stranger (Primes, #8)Summary:
Dark Stranger: Book One of the Vampire Book Club is set in a future world populated by a variety of intelligent species that originate from and inhabit different planets at a time when interplanetary travel is a reality. Descendants of man from planet Terra co-exist with various "suprahumans" that include werewolves and vampires. There are many other species as well and the different life forms trade, forge alliances and compete with each other. On the one side is the Byzant Empire (the "Empire") which has a royal family that originated from Terra. The most powerful enemy of the Byzant Empire are the Hajim.

In the course of a diplomatic mission on behalf of the Byzant Empire, Zoe Pappas and her bodyguard are caught in the middle of a surprise attack. Aside from being highly skilled and with expensive and rare technological implants, Zoe Pappas is somehow of great significance. While she is able to escape the attack, Zoe is among the prisoners brought to a Hajim underground outpost.

Zoe spars with the head of the human delegation, General Raven, but they quickly read each others' strengths and work together. General Raven's main goal is to protect the humans and help them survive captivity. Zoe wants to form alliances with the other captive species and nations and arrange an escape. While they work together to smooth volatile relations with the other captives and deal with Hajim, their mutual attraction spills over. Both Zoe and General Raven hold deep secrets. Will they trust each other and combat the increasing demands of the Hajim?

Review:
Dark Stranger: Book One of the Vampire Book Club is my first exposure to Susan Sizemore and her Prime novels. I thoroughly enjoyed it! The world that she created with the peaceful coexistence of the different intergalactic species reminded me of Star Trek in a good way. The Byzant Empire with its commitment to equality and fairness was not too different from the Federation. The main characters of Zoe Pappas and General Raven, the suprahumans (vampires and werewolves), and the romance took this book away from the Star Trek model.

In Zoe Pappas, Susan Sizemore created a strong, sympathetic and interesting action lead. I was engrossed in the book and very much look forward to the next in the series.

I highly recommend Dark Stranger to anyone looking for fun escapist fiction with fantasy, science fiction and romance.
Publisher: Pocket Star (October 27, 2009), 384 pages.
Review copy provided by the publisher.

Bridget's Review

Zoe has found herself the heir to the throne. She is determined to protect her people and ends up in a POW camp. Her status in the world makes her a threat to the rest of the inmates.

She meets Doc who runs the camp from the inside. Doc is a vampire and he wants nothing more than to make Zoe his own. Does he care enough to break her out of this prison hell and in turn save her life or will his powerful feelings keep him from letting her go?

Hot, hot, hot! This is a spicy romance with unforgettable characters.

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