#BookReview – “Dark Predator” by Christine Feehan

Blurb

As brutal as the undead he hunted, Zacarias De La Cruz was a master executioner. Now his stark and savage journey has ended. For his brothers, Zacarias had walked to the edge of madness, but with centuries as a killing machine now left to the past and without a hunt to define him, Zacarias wonders, for the first time in his life, who he really is.

The answer awaits him back home, in Peru, in the betrayal of a woman who is readying her trap, in the vengeance of an old enemy, in the inevitable consequences of a bloody family legacy-and in the deliverance of a lifemate he never could have imagined...  

Review 

In the nineteenth book of the Dark/Carpathian series, Marguarita Fernandez has lived all her life in service to the De La Cruz family. Her family runs one of the brothers’ ranches in Brazil, and she knows all about Carpathians. She met Zacarias a few months earlier when he saved her life after a vampire attack that left her mute, and now she finds him in a field, ready to meet the sun. Instead of letting him die, she drags him inside her house and protects him even though he’s telepathically threatening her with retribution.

Zacarias De La Cruz is very close to turning vampire, but refused to end his life until his four brothers found their lifemates. Now, he’s free to die with honor but never expected a human woman to upend his plans.

Zacarias treated Marguarita deplorably, but it made sense. He’s suffering from extreme PTSD and was justifiably furious at Marguarita for saving his life. However, he never should’ve flung her across the room, viciously fed from her, frightened and insulted her, and punished her in other ways. He acted so horribly because he was losing control of himself and feared he would become a vampire capable of slaughtering his brothers and countless other people. He was portrayed as cold and heartless in the other books, and that characterization continued in this one.

Darkness has always run strong in his family, so much so that he didn’t recognize Margaurita as his lifemate even when he psychically spoke to her or drank her blood. That’s basically unheard of for a Carpathian male, but for one very close to turning, the lifemate bond doesn’t work as well as it should. A female lifemate is supposed to permanently restore emotions and color to a male, but Zacarias loses his emotions and can no longer see in color when he is far away from Marguarita and when their minds are closed to one another.

Marguarita was naturally submissive and wanted someone to boss her around, but her tendencies to obey so easily definitely made her a doormat. She knew Zacarias needed to be in control of her and their relationship for his own sanity, so she submitted and rarely stood up for herself. Throughout the story, she did become more assertive in matters of grave importance, and he learned to ask and accept her opinion even if it differed from his. While I liked that, it still seemed too little too late.

This story focused more on the H/h’s relationship than on secondary characters and subplots, as per usual. There’s no set up for the next book in the series.

For the most part, I like description and flowery language, but everything was so detailed that it took me out of the story. Zacarias was constantly thinking and saying how dark and obsessive he was. Also, there were a few typos.

Anyway, I think Zacarias was portrayed accurately for his character, but I just couldn’t relate to him or to Marguarita.

3 Stars