- posted by Saul

BOOK REVIEW

Firefight in Darkness
by Katie Jennings



 5/5 stars

As intriguing and unique as was Breath Of Air, Katie Jennings’ 1st book in the Dryad Quartet series (and, incidentally, her debut novel), her second installment, Firefight in Darkness, manages to impress even more. The two books, a contrasting study in both thematic expansion and literary chiasmus, highlights Jennings’ strength and flexibility as a writer.

The writing is fresh, polished and composed. The editing is very clean. The storyline is well done, a very nice and perfectly suspenseful arc with very few, if any, unnecessary tangents that so often plague those new to the craft. This is clearly an example of a tale so strong and compelling, so well-conceived, that one wonders whether it might’ve written itself. Kudos to Jennings for making it look so easy.

I particularly enjoyed the way Firelight starts, with the literary rhythm mirroring the almost palpable beat of the nightclub scene in the book’s opening pages. This feeling perfectly sets the tone for the contrast between Blythe’s youth and vulnerability with the hard-driving storyline and the very real, very dangerous world she is entering. This is as much a coming-of-age story as it is one of redemption and repudiation.

Blythe’s strength and high-strung character can be somewhat alienating, especially in the beginning before we really get a chance to know her and to sympathize with her problems. But Ms. Jennings knows her character well. She pulls no punches and makes no apologies. She knows that it’s precisely Blythe’s strength of will which will drive Blythe’s success or failure at the story’s climax. Neither the author, nor Blythe, ever waver, and so both of them win our full sympathy and support.

With four highly-rated novels published in a very short period of time and a fifth (a new book in a new series) to be released within days, Jennings’ fast growing fan base will have to race to keep up with her. I know I sure will, but I’ll be enjoying every moment.

Visit Katie's Amazon Author Page here

Check out the complete Dryad Quartet series at Amazon.com

About Katie (from her Amazon page):

Nothing can compare to the exhilaration of discovering, at last, a mode of release for the imagination. Mine came, after years of struggling to visualize my creativity, in the form of written word. I found myself with my nose constantly in a book, absorbing the life of the characters and the beauty of the setting. It was intoxicating, to say the least, and the only thing I knew was that I wanted to give writing a shot, and take the thousands of characters and storylines in my head and put them down on paper, and form them into something real and compelling. After over ten years of playing around with short stories and plot ideas, both ones that worked and ones that failed, I finished a full novel, and then consequently four novels in the same series. The feeling of accomplishment, as any author will tell you, is unbelievable.
In truth, I'm just a girl from a small town north of Los Angeles, with an imagination for days and thank goodness a keyboard at my fingertips. And even though my husband thinks I'm a nerd and my mom is undoubtedly my biggest fan, at the end of the day I'm loving life and enjoying giving breath to the characters living in my heart, and sharing with others all the creativity I can harness.

I believe in true love, and I've always believed in happy endings. And that is just the beginning of the story.