Killing Rites (Book 4 of The Black Sun's Daughter) by M.L.N. Hanover

 

There will be information at the bottom for how to win a set of The Black Sun's Daughter: Unclean Spirits, Darker Angels, Vicious Grace, and Killing Rites.

We've known the series is called The Black Sun's Daughter from the beginning, but we haven't really known what that meant. I had assumed that Jayné's mom was The Black Sun, that Jayné's uncle had entered the whole occult/Rider thing as a result of helping her mom deal with whatever that meant, and that he'd done something to Jayné on the weekend she lost when she was a teen, where he supposedly rescued her. I had assumed that as we continued to be hand-fed bits and pieces here and there, we'd get more and more of the picture.

Killing Rites does a whole lot more than hand feed information to us, it gives it to us by the bucketfuls. And it pretty much threw my assumptions out the window. I have no idea where Jayné goes from here, and we're apparently going to have to wait for the next book to find out.

Here's the blurb:

Jayné Heller has discovered the source of her uncanny powers: something else is living inside her body. She's possessed. Of all her companions, she can only bring herself to confide in Ex, the former priest. They seek help from his old teacher and the circle of friends he left behind, hoping to cleanse Jayné before the parasite in her becomes too powerful.

Ex’s history and a new enemy combine to leave Jayné alone and on the run. Her friends, thinking that the rider with her has taken the reins, try to hunt her down, unaware of the danger they’re putting her in. Jayné must defeat the weight of the past and the murderous intent of another rider, and her only allies are a rogue vampire she once helped free and the nameless thing hiding inside her skin.

As the blurb says, we can no longer assume that Eric was acting in Jayné's best interests, as I had assumed from the beginning. And then there is the the thing inside of her... but I won't give spoilers.
 
As for the writing elements:

• I thought the plot was going to be predictable during the first quarter of the book. And then the curve balls started and I was kept on my toes. Nice plot, great execution.
• Pacing was fine.
• Prose and dialogue were very well done.
• Character development has been established in earlier books, and Killing Rites furthers the picture we already have of these characters.
• World-building was consistent with previous books.

Killing Rites easily gets a 10 of 10. In some ways it is an "in between" book, as it is Jayné looking inward, dealing with her own issues instead of other people's issues. But this is Jayné, after all, so she ends up saving some other people while she deals with her own crap.

• Book Rating: Killing Rites: 10 of 10
• Series Rating: 10 of 10

And now for the good stuff: Leave a comment (with your email address) to enter for a chance to win all four of the books in The Black Sun's Daughter series. I'll announce the winner Sunday evening (11/27/11).







1. Unclean Spirits
2. Darker Angels
3. Vicious Grace
4. Killing Rites

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