Eve Hollis is an interior designer. When she is attracted to a
stranger that reminds her of her first love, she finds herself
compelled to follow him into a stairwell for a quick fling. While
in the throes of passion, the stranger brands her with the Mark of
Cain. As Eve soon discovers, sinners branded with this mark have
been drafted this way for centuries in order to help kill demons.
Now suddenly, the man who took her virginity and her first love,
Alec Cain, is back in her life after a ten year absence only he's
not just a sexy biker, he's the original Cain, from the bible. And
the guy in the stairwell? Reed Abel, as in Cain's brother. Now Eve,
finds herself in the middle of the original sibling rivalry, having
to maneuver the bureaucracy of the heavens where angels act as CEOs
of firms that specialize in demon hunting.
Aside from the fact that it appears that Eve was totally set up and
is being punished for something that was not her fault (geez, how
typical, the girl gets blamed again), my major complaint about this
book is that it is the first in a trilogy. I have never read a book
where the cliffhanger comes in the first chapter. But that is
exactly what happens here. After leaving us hanging over Eve's
fate, the book takes us back 6 weeks to tell the beginning of the
story but only returns to a few hours before the events of the
first chapter thus leaving us hanging. Since this book just came
out May 2009, the second book was released a couple of weeks later
and the third book is set for release at the end of the month (June
2009), it seems to me to be a blatant cash grab releasing one long
book as several shorter books. Granted, at just under 350 pages,
this isn't a short book. Maybe they could have released it as two
books instead of three.
Anyway, despite this, Eve of Darkness provided a promising start to
this series. Eve is a smart and spirited heroine. She takes her
fate in stride and adapts quickly to the circumstances. Even though
she is in over her head, she's not a quitter. The romantic triangle
set up between Eve, Cain and Abel, promises to be interesting,
although I find myself rooting for Cain. I will definitely be
picking up the next book, Eve of Destruction.