A Hunger Like No Other (The Immortals After Dark Series, Book 1) by Kresley Cole

I'm conflicted about this book. By the end of the book I enjoyed it, but it was hard to get into.

I enjoyed the characters, and I enjoyed the world building. The romance part of it was okay, and the other parts of the plot were fairly well done. But, the romance was.. well, personally, I'm a little uncomfortable with the whole idea of a mate being chosen for you by fate or, whoever or whatever it is that chooses such things. This isn't the only series that does it, and I enjoy some of the other series that do it, but it still makes me uncomfortable. Who knows, maybe it's better that way, for there to be a sign of your one true love so you don't screw it up... but I just really like the idea of free will so you get to choose that person yourself.

I read the first few chapters and then put it down to read something lighter before picking it up to read the rest of the story. I had a hard time dealing with the fact that (in the beginning) neither half of this mated pair liked each other. At all. I mean, sure, there was an attraction. But they didn't like each other.

Fortunately, things do get better, and as more and more of the backstory comes up the depth of the story grows. The author draws from a number of myth's and fairy tails and creates an interesting world of supernatural intrigue. The book has vampires and werewolves and Valkyrie and demons and wraiths and witches and gods and goddesses, and I've probably missed a few critters since that was just off the top of my head. Every 500 years or so they all fight and then one of the supernatural races gets to own the playground until the next time they all fight again. The book starts as the next big fight, or Accession, is on the horizon. I'm assuming that fight is going to be the long term plot of the books in the series.

This is the first book in the series and I enjoyed it enough (once I got into it) that I will be buying the next two books in the series so I can see how much I like them as well. It appears that each book is going to be a romance (ala the Dark Hunter series and the Psy-Changelings series) and the longer term plot of the Accession will stretch across each book and we'll eventually get there.

I can't give it a series rating yet after only one book, but I'll give it a book rating of 7 of 10. The last third of the book was an 8 of 10, but the first couple of chapters were maybe a 5 of 10, so an average of 7 of 10 seems pretty good to me.

Book Rating: 7 of 10




1. A Hunger Like No Other
2. No Rest for the Wicked
3. Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night
4. Dark Needs at Night's Edge
5. Dark Desires After Dusk
6. Kiss of a Demon King (Release date Feb 2009)