After Dark
Written by Jayne Castle
Narrated by Joyce Bean
4/5
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About this audiobook
Life is tough these days for Lydia Smith, licensed para-archaeologist. Seriously stressed-out from a nasty incident in an alien tomb, she is obliged to work in Shrimpton’s House of Ancient Horrors, a very low-budget museum. She has a plan to get her career back on track, but it isn’t going well. Stuff keeps happening.
Take the dead body that she discovered in the sarcophagus exhibit. Who needed that? Finding out that her new client, Emmett London, is one of the most dangerous men in the city isn’t helping matters either. And that’s just today’s list of setbacks. Here in the shadows of the Dead City of Old Cadence, things don’t really heat up until After Dark.
“Wonderful futuristic romance.” —BookBrowser
Jayne Castle
The author of more than fifty New York Times bestsellers, Jayne Ann Krentz writes romantic suspense in three different worlds: contemporary (as Jayne Ann Krentz), historical (as Amanda Quick), and futuristic (as Jayne Castle). There are over 35 million copies of her books in print.
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Reviews for After Dark
45 ratings10 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What about "the lost week-end"?
I feel it was left incomplete...
There were no follow ups on that one,it was not solved... - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Well worth your time.
The series is innovative, the characters well crafted, the story- both each book and the Harmony story overall- suck you in and you just want to go live there.
There are story arcs and reading in order (reading order is on her site) makes the later books more interesting but each book is a stand alone HEA.
That said, to be honest, this is not my favorite book of the Harmony series; it's not bad, just not my favorite but a good starter to the series. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Didn't realize when I checked this out from my library that it was a sci-fi romance story. The sci-fi was a pretty good plot, but the romance was a bit lacking. Definitely not what I'm used to from this author, but I'm intrigued enough to check out the rest on this series.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Another futuristic romance set beyond the Curtain, this time on Harmony. The residents of harmony have different psychic gifts than those of St. Helens. They are able to use amber and psi energy to power everything from cars to televisions. Some are more gifted in that they can manipulate 'ghosts' and untangle 'traps' left in the old cities built by the former residents of the planet. These people are para-archaeologists and ghost hunters. Lydia and Emmett are just such a team, trying to find Emmett's nephew and a family heirloom he stole, they uncover something much more valuable, and dangerous.I enjoyed this story. The world of ghost hunters and tanglers is intriguing. The mystery was complicated and well-written, even though it was a bit predictable. I never thought I'd be attracted to a hero named "Emmett" though!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Harmony, a future Earth colony once inhabited by a paranormal alien race, almost everyone has evolved some sort of psychic talent. For most, the talents are minor, but certain stronger talents can be focused via chunks of polished amber. The aliens left behind artifacts and ruins which are guarded by psychic traps and "ghosts" which can only be evaded or disarmed by those talented in detangling or in manipulation of the ghosts' psychic energy. Lydia Smith is a discredited detangler. Emmett London is a ghost hunter in need of her services. A missing artifact, murder, intrigue, and of course romance: if the conclusion is forgone, the trip there is a worthwhile ride. And who could not love Fuzz -- all hail the dust bunnies!
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5As Cosmo said "good fun", not the worlds best novel a romance novel thinly disguised as Science Fiction, about a transparent as a window with plot, but readable. It’s the kind of book I read to remind me how good some other authors are. I have a soft spot for Ms Krentz as her stuff is readable pap but good when I’m not in the mood for anything vaguely challenging!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I liked it. I did spend the first few chapters struggling to reconcile this book with the other 2 from the series I have read (one before, one after). They are set in the same world, but not necessarily the same characters. Once I realized that, it was easier to let it go, and enjoy the story. I enjoy (and admire) the author’s ability to create the world so similar, and so different, but has the ability to suck you in completely. Within that she weaves together and intricate mystery, with the appropriate, surprising bomb drops. Then to be able to weave in sometimes subtle, yet appropriate romance… I think that is a big part of what keeps me coming back to these novels. And Emmett London… I just want to melt into his arms… *swoon*… The one drawback (which reflects on me, not the author) is I had to put it down for about a month and a half, due to ‘obligation reads’. So I sort of lost the train of the story, and it took me a while to pick it up again. I am really looking forward to the next one in this series, as I believe the same characters are back.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5After Dark is a solid sci-fi/supernatural mystery/thriller which rather downplayed the romance for the plot. Not that this is a bad thing, I thought it made the few bedroom scenes more interesting rather than redundant, as they can sometimes get.In this story Lydia, a psy-rez tangler (you'll have to read the book for a full definition!) has discovered her quasi friend/rival murdered in the curio museum she works at. What is worse is that she is not only considered a suspect, but that she is being questioned in front of the first client she'd had want to hire her for her para-archeology experience. Said client, businessman Emmet London has an agenda of his own. Never expecting to get caught up with Lydia, her pet dust bunny or her teen next-door neighbor, he finds himself irrevocably wrapped up in a mystery that could lead both him and Lydia to the greatest find in para-archeological history.I really enjoyed the interaction between Lydia and Emmet, although I rather enjoyed Emmet's personality a bit more than Lydia's. She tended to seem a little pious and biased about issues in the story (particularly about Emmet's background.) I do understand that this was intentional on the part of the author, but it didn't make me feel any kinder toward her. I absolutely loved Fuzz, he is one of the best pet/sidekick creatures I've read about. Certainly a unique little guy! The made-up science of the plot line was very cool as well. Reading about Lydia and Emmet and how they do what they do sort of reminded me of the bio-feedback techniques I learned about in psychology class, just with a more physical application.I'd certainly recommend this one to people who enjoy sci-fi/mystery stories with a bit of romance, which seems like it is a relatively small genre. I've certainly not read many that fit into that description.I'm pretty certain there is a sequel to this story involving these same characters and I am absolutely going to have to find and read it.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The first in Castle's Ghost Hunters series, set on the planet Harmony, where the colonists use psi technology to power their cars and toasters, and where "hunters" and "tanglers" are necessary to explore the alien ruins underground. This is a little rough around the edges compared to later volumes in the series, but worth a read.A disgraced para-archaeologist joins forces with an ex-Guild boss to track down his missing nephew, solve a murder, and catch some artifact thieves. As usual, the dust-bunny steals the show.Castle is one of the few authors of 'paranormal romances' who actually gets the fantastic elements right.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I have read/listened to a lot of Jayne Anne Krentz and normally I can ignore the waspish heroines to enjoy the general plot. This time, though, the woman’s absolute stupidity, combined with her know-it-all attitude was just too much. Character development here is practically non-existent. Emmett’s character can be described as “He has muscles” Lydia’s character can be described as “know it all who actually knows nothing”. At around the fifty percent mark when she is picking a fight with Emmett (again) over something completely inconsequential when she should be thinking about the artifact in her purse, Emmett’s missing nephew, the missing cabinet and her dead friend, I finally had enough. Add to that that I could not even begin to understand her attraction to him since her every thought revolves around the things about him she disliked (namely her own prejudices against his previous job) and nothing about actually liking him. And he never thinks anything positive about her except that he felt an inconvenient sexual attraction for her (extremely mild and rarely mentioned).
These two have no chemistry together whatsoever. No wonder, either, since I don’t think Lydia would be capable of chemistry with anyone. And the mystery is so slow moving because Lydia and Emmett are so slow to figure out the most obvious things.
It felt a little like how when I was a kid I read Nancy Drew books. As an adult I went back to read one and realized how overly simplified it really was. This book presents the mystery just like that, with such obvious (and completely unnuanced) villains. Everything here is flat.
Also, just something silly, but no way I am thinking Emmett is an attractive leading man when the heroine thinks things like “He looks spiffy” and the supposed alpha male says “Good grief!” when he gets really frustrated.