Midnight's Daughter Review

Midnight’s Daughter (Dorina Basarab 1)

- Karen Chance

Puiblisher: UK – Penguin

Dorina Basarab is a dhampir, the daughter of a vampire and a human woman. Subject to uncontrollable rages, most dhampirs are born barking mad and live very short, very violent lives. So for five hundred years, Dory has been fighting to maintain her sanity by unleashing her homicidal tendencies on those demons and vampires who deserve killing. But now Dory’s vampire father has come back into her life. Her uncle Dracula, notorious even among vampires for his cruelty and murderous ways, has escaped from prison, and her father wants Dory to work with the gorgeous vampire dueling champion Louis-Cesare to put him back there. Vampires and dhampirs are mortal enemies, and Dory prefers to work alone. But Dracula is the only thing on earth that truly scares her, and when Dory has to go up against him, she’ll take all the help she can get...

I really enjoyed Karen Chance’s other series in the same world feature Cassandra Palmer so I was a little worried about starting this series in case it didn’t match up. I’m glad to say it did! As a heroine Dory certainly fits into the strong independent woman who kicks ass and has a dark past mould easily but brings something different. She has a history as long as any vampire and certainly doesn’t seem to spend any time weeping and moaning about it. She’s driven and cares about her friends – her search for her friend, Claire, wasn’t anything that was forgotten about despite Dracula’s escape. And her relationship with Benny’s wife was actually quite sweet.

The writing is as dense as the Cassandra Palmer series – not difficult to read but circumstance change so quickly, there’s no speed reading this book – but you wouldn’t want too. This Dory book was more linear than the Cassie books with a beginning, middle and end rather than just a series of events as part of wider story. There are a few cameos and staring roles from the Cassie books but nothing that feels too out of place. Lots of action and a slight hint of romance of Louis-Cesare keeps the pace throughout and I can’t wait to pick up the next book - Death’s Mistress, which luckily for me is sitting on my book case at the moment...

Recommended for fans of Cassie Palmer and Kelley Armstrong’s Otherworld series. 8.5 out of 10.