Archangel's Blade (Guild Hunter #4) by Nalini Singh

Summary:

The severed head marked by a distinctive tattoo on its cheek should have been a Guild case, but dark instincts honed over hundreds of years of life compel the vampire Dmitri to take control. There is something twisted about this death, something that whispers of centuries long past...but Dmitri's need to discover the truth is nothing to the vicious strength of his response to the hunter assigned to decipher the tattoo.

Savaged in a brutal attack that almost killed her, Honor is nowhere near ready to come face to face with the seductive vampire who is an archangel's right hand, and who wears his cruelty as boldly as his lethal sensuality...the same vampire who has been her secret obsession since the day she was old enough to understand the inexplicable, violent emotions he aroused in her.

As desire turns into a dangerous compulsion that might destroy them both, it becomes clear the past will not stay buried. Something is hunting...and it will not stop until it brings a blood-soaked nightmare to life once more...
Summary & Cover taken from Goodreads.com
Length: 310 pages (Paperback)
Source: Toronto Public Library
Publication Date: September 6th 2011 by Berkley Sensation

I've been a fan of the Guild Hunter series by Nalini Singh for a long time now and since the books are released with quite a bit of time between them I've been reading the series slowly to lessen the waiting time between books for me. While I was away on vacation with Mr. Turning the Pages I finally had enough time to give Dimitri's book a try.

I was a little unsure of what to expect from this novel in the series since it veers away from the main characters of Elena and Raphael and instead focuses on Raphael's vampire second who is pretty much like his vice president when it comes to running Manhattan. I didn't really like Dimitri in the previous books so I was surprised to find how much I liked him in this installment in the series.

Dimitri is one thousand years old, and has turned cold and rather heartless, on top of having had more bed partners than you or I could imagine. However, when a bunch of grisly murders land on the Guild's doorstep it is recently reinstated hunter, Honor who heads the investigation with Dimitri, a vampire just months after she endured torture at the hands of other vampires.

What begins as nothing but cold detachment on both sides soon leads to chemistry between the two and some rather passionate encounters leaving both breathless and confused. The pace of Archangel's Blade was bang on. I've never had a problem with Nalini Singh's pacing in her writing but this one flowed so well, and so effortlessly, that I really was impressed.

As always, there was tons of action. There was murder, sex and some graphic scenes where Honor and Dimitri both recount some horrific scenes from their pasts that truly bind them together. Singh created yet another perfect novel in the series and she really does the urban fantasy genre justice with this one. While I was unsure of how I would feel about this in the beginning her ability to create characters that I can like, and respect won out and her writing style really stood out.

The way that Nalini Singh weaves together stories of those who have had trauma in their lives, action, adventure, fantasy and lots of hot romance together is fantastic and I always enjoy the books in this series. I loved that while Dimitri and Honor were the main characters in this novel I was able to see how the overall story line of the series was progressing as well.

Overall, Archangel's Blade was a perfect novel for me that had me on the edge of my seat laughing, cringing and rooting for Dimitri and Honor the whole time. I'm very glad that the author decided to write a story featuring the two of them because Dimitri has always seemed so dark and mysterious that even though I didn't care for him much when he was a side character I now know why he is the way he is and understand him and his position in Raphael's team. I am very much looking forward to reading the fifth book in the series as soon as I can.

I would recommend this to fans who have already started the Guild Hunter series but like I was, nervous about reading a story that drifts away from Elena and Raphael to try this one out. Perhaps it will surprise you like it did me. If you haven't started this series yet, than what are you doing? Get your rear in gear and get the first book!

I read this book for the following reading challenges:

 

2013 150+ Reading Challenge

 

Loved it!
★★★★★

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