Review: Dark Whispers

Dark Whispers
by Barbara Sheridan & Anne Cain

Mired in centuries-old customs and rigid traditions carried over from their mortal lives, the chaing-shih elders of New York’s Chinatown don’t quite know how to deal with the upstart Russian vampire, Mistress Viktoria. With their existence in danger, the Elders call upon an ancient blood tie and summon the aid of their kinsman, Liu Sakurai.

Though he appears to the world as a sensual young man in his mid-twenties, Sakurai is one of the oldest and most powerful chaing-shih to walk the Earth. He sees humans as not much more than weak playthings and food, and no one is more surprised than Sakurai himself when NYPD Detective Daisuke Matsui manages to capture his attention. Dai is a strong one, full of an inner fire and unusual sexual appetites that Sakurai cannot resist.

In the mysterious and arrogant vampire, Dai finds the type of person he’s been longing for his entire life – someone with a strength of will and determination that matches his own, and a skill to dominate him in ways that make him burn. While trying to unwind the ties his half-brother has to Chinatown’s underworld, Dai is confronted by creatures and events he thought only existed in the legends and stories told by old men. His life is on the line, along with everything he holds dear, but Sakurai dark whispers promise a passion Dai is powerless to resist.

SPECIAL CONTENT ALERT: Male/Male, Non-consent/reluctance, graphic violence.

Grab onto your seats and hang on for a dark, fast ride that doesn’t leave you wanting! This is an extraordinary offering from the dynamic duo of Barbara Sheridan and Anne Cain. If you haven’t read their work before, and I admit this is my first, then you are really missing out! As of right now, I’m desperately trying to get my hands on the previous books in this series (have I mentioned how much I love my “job”?), apparently there are quite a few! Despite the fact that this is the latest installment in the Dragon’s Disciple series, Dark Whispers is an amazing stand-alone novel that tests your boundaries.

Fair warning, this is not an “easy” book to read. There are a few scenes that may hit your ICK trigger, most notably an interesting sampling of bodily fluids. That's all I'll tell you, but they helped me to understand certain desires and motivations of the main characters. Sheridan and Cain delve into extremely dark desires and a complicated, shadowy world, but they do it with such skill you can’t help but be swept along in the sensual tide. They keep you guessing as to who’s truly good and who’s irredeemably evil, and the twists and turns along the way make for an intense tale of suspense.

When first I met Sakurai… I didn’t like him! I thought he was hot, but I didn’t like him. I thought he was fascinating, but I didn’t like him. I kept wondering how in the world he was going to be Dai’s love interest. I mean, as a vampire he didn’t even think humans were much more than pets, or cattle, how could he come to love one? How in the world can he redeem himself? Here is where the amazing talent of Ms. Sheridan and Ms. Cain come into play. As Sakurai spends more time in Dai’s presence, he slowly starts to come around, and his “humanity” begins to assert itself. The fact that he is vastly disgusted with himself and the feelings he has for Dai is actually quite humorous. His internal dialogue is not only self-deprecating, it surprised a snicker from me on more than one occasion. When his long forgotten honor begins to make demands of his conscience, Sakurai is helpless to fight against their ever increasing demands. I found myself fascinated by him and his internal struggle and even rooting for him to find his own Happy-Ever-After.

Dai was interesting, and complex. His past hurts and misdeeds give him a depth that made me want to hug him, and love him, and stroke him... *sigh*... sorry, got lost for a minute there. He had such dark, repressed desires that he wasn’t sure how to deal with them, so he doesn’t. When all else fails… deny the feelings even exist! It seemed to have worked just fine, at least as far as he’s concerned, until a dark stranger invades every aspect of his life… even his dreams. As if his life wasn’t complicated enough with his job hitting the skids and his half-brother’s questionable associates in Chinatown, now he has disturbing feelings for a shadowy and complicated man. His wry and caustic sense of humor was the perfect compliment for Sakurai’s own disconcerting humor and made it so I found him incredibly appealing, and so, apparently, did Sakurai. As Dai unravels the mystery behind the strange and violent happenings in Chinatown, he is forced to come to terms with his own sexuality and his much deeper feelings for Sakurai.

This book was a journey of redemption and discovery for two men who were more than ready for love to find them… whether they wanted to admit it or not! I can’t really say that I “enjoyed” this book… I was compelled to read it, it captured me, I couldn’t put it down, I loved it, I want more! If you love male/male books, and like to walk on the dark side than this is a must for you! I look forward to future offerings from Ms. Sheridan and Ms. Cain, and can’t wait to get my hands on their previous books! Definitely worthy of 5 cherries!



Review by Viscaria