Review of When Blood Calls (Shadow Keepers #1) by J.K. Beck
When Blood Calls is the first book in the series The Shadow Keepers.
Sara Constantine is thrilled with her promotion in the district attorney's office—until she's informed that she's transferring from prosecuting humans to prosecuting paranormal creatures like vampires and werewolves. Despite her shock, she hits the ground running and is introduced to her first defendant, vampire Lucius Dragos.
Two nights before, Sara and Luke had shared a night of passion after he kissed her at a bar as a way of introduction. When Luke kissed her, he was only trying to escape the attention of the man he planned to kill, but he couldn't deny the draw he felt, or the way Sara gave him a rare bit of peace.
But now, Sara's job is to make sure Luke is convicted and subsequently executed. No matter how drawn to him she is. Luke has to convince her he's not a monster so he can escape with his life.
J.K. Beck is a pen name for the author J. Kenner. I've read her contemporary erotic romance and enjoyed it, so I thought I'd give this paranormal romance a chance.
I found the characters to be layered and deep. They had inner struggles and conflict, and their draw to each other was fraught with difficulty. It made for very interesting reading.
Luke, while a murderer, shows deep love and compassion. Sara hides deep hurts that drive her to do her best as a prosecutor. She believes wholeheartedly that the only way to achieve justice is through the legal system, whereas Luke sees the world in more gray tones and finds vigilante justice to be equally satisfying. It puts them at odds and unable to find a middle ground. The outcome of that impasse disappointed me, and it would likely cause significant trouble for the couple in the future.
The identity of all the players in the game shocked me in the end, and Luke's tie into all of it broke my heart. I was surprised by who the antagonist turned out to be, and that twist was fantastic.
I found the plot to be interesting, and the suspense element that wove in with the paranormal romance gave the novel a new spin on the genre. The story twisted and turned, keeping me captivated, and the romance wasn't as prominent as I would expect in the genre. All of it combined to make a unique take on paranormal romance and something I really enjoyed.
The descriptions were excellent—characters, settings, and action. I could easily picture where I was and what was happening without the narrative being bogged down with an info dump. It made for full reading and an engrossing world.
World-building was good, but not always completely smooth, and I was left with a lot of unanswered questions, though they were unrelated to the story at hand. Everything that was given filled any cracks in the plot for me, but I still wanted more information. It felt like J.K. Beck only gave the basics needed for the story, while some extra information could have filled out the world even more. This is the first book in a six-book series, so I'm expecting the world to expand further as I read.
Dialog was pretty good, mostly smooth and usually realistic. Some of the dialog was a bit jarring, but I think that was due to the author trying to incorporate age into the way the characters spoke because many of the jarring pieces were spoken by ancient vampires. Even with that reason, it was still jarring and didn't work out very well.
I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to the next one.
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