Chase the Dark by Annette Marie

Narrated by Jorjeana Marie

Chase the Dark is the first book in Annette Marie’s Steel and Stone series. It’s a fast-paced paranormal romance, though I wasn’t sure of its intended audience. Parts of the story had a distinctly young adult feel, while others seemed much more suited to adults. Jorjeana Marie’s young-sounding narration probably contributed a bit to my confusion.

According to Piper Griffiths, life is only meaningful if she is able to become a Consul, a keeper of the peace between humans and daemons. Piper’s father, head Consul, has decided that his half-human and half-daemon daughter is thoroughly unsuited to life as a consul, and, after watching Piper in action for just a short time, I must admit I agreed with his decision. Basically, Piper is supposed to make sure humans and daemons do not fight. Daemons, think less chaotic than the demons you’re used to reading about, are very powerful and not at all trustworthy. Magic is needed to control them, and Piper has no magic. Therefore, she cannot control them, and cannot become a Consul. Makes sense to me, but, apparently, it wasn’t that clear to Piper. She spends huge amounts of time railing against her fate and trying to convince her father to reconsider his decision.

All of this would have been rather tiring if it had continued long-term, but, luckily, things picked up pretty quickly. Piper’s father is heading up a meeting of very powerful half-daemons. The purpose of this meeting is to safeguard a very powerful magical artifact known as the Sahar Stone. The stone has been long sought-after by all of Daemon kind, as it will imbue its holder with practically limitless power. The Consuls are seeking a safe place to hide it, in order to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. Piper’s father thrusts it into her hands just before the meeting starts, not telling her what it is, but cautioning her to keep it safe until he comes back to get it from her. He also tells her to stay upstairs with the two daemons who are currently staying within the walls of the Consulate. Piper decides to be obedient, and scurries upstairs to wait for the meeting to come to an end.

A few hours later, Piper hears an explosion. She hurries out into the hallway, where she finds the Daemons, incubus Lyre and Draconian Ash, about to head downstairs. After a brief argument, which Piper loses, they all disobey the orders her father gave her and find all the meeting’s attendees dead, except for Piper’s uncle.

Suddenly, Piper realizes that the box her father thrust upon her is indeed the Sahar Stone, and she, Ash, and Lyre are forced to flee from the police as well as many, many fierce daemons, all of whom want to take possession of the stone. There are quite a few fight scenes, and the story moves quickly, keeping me thoroughly engaged.

Chase the Dark is told in first person from Piper’s point of view. This worked very well for narrator Jorjeana Marie, whose light soprano goes a long way toward creating a very believable-sounding Piper. Since we are hearing things ostensibly from inside Piper’s head, I don’t find distinctive character voices quite as pivotal here as I do when stories are told from various points of view. It’s as if Piper herself is telling me a story. Having said this, it’s important for me to note that Ms. Marie does do quite a good job of making sure I always knew who was speaking.

I was a little put off by Ms. Marie’s depiction of the steamier scenes. Her voice sounded way too cheerful when Piper was intimate with either Ash or Lyre. It put me in mind of people watching a sporting event, rather than making out. Needless to say, I was a bit distracted.

Although Chase the Dark has its faults, both in content and narration, I consider it an enjoyable listen. I’m eager to see where the author takes the characters. Hopefully, book two will be a little more consistently adult.

Shannon

Narration: B

Book Content: B

Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in

Violence Rating: Escalated Fighting

Genre: Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Chase the Dark was provided to AudioGals by Tantor Audio for a review.