Reviewed by Vicki
TITLE: Who Knows the Dark
SERIES: The Vigilante #2
AUTHOR: Tere Michaels
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 230 pages
BLURB:
A wanted man after the destruction of the Iron Butterfly Casino, Nox Boyet must flee the island of Manhattan—the only home he’s ever known. Together with Cade, Sam, and the rest of their ragtag group, Nox must find a place to hide from the District Police and the violent group of unknown drug dealers on his tail.
The solution—the Creel family farm in South Carolina.
But home isn’t quite sweet for Cade, the prodigal son. As Cade struggles with his own secrets, shadows of the past threaten not only Nox’s life, but his relationship with his son, Sam.
Nox knows there will never be peace unless he finds the answers to all his questions—and the answers lie back on the island. Cade and the others must choose their paths—find safety or follow the Vigilante into the darkness of the city? The city where Nox will come face-to-face with the past.
REVIEW:
Wow. I loved this book. I love the world Tere Michaels has created, as fucked up as it is, and I love the messy characters she gives us.
This is a return to the dark world we first visited in Who Knows the Storm, which was set in New York City after a series of catastrophic storm events devastated the city. That book follows Nox Boyet as he attempts to survive with his son Sam, in what is left of the city. There is massive back story here, drug dealers, Nox’s parents, how he finds Sam, a whole bunch of shit happens to them. In to this mess comes Cade Creel, a prostitute working at one of the local casinos that have taken over down town. Cade is asked by one of his patrons to simply deliver a note to an address. Nox and Sam’s house, he comes to find out, and Cade is drawn in.
Who Knows the Dark picks up right after the first book ends, with our band of refugees on a yacht heading south. I don’t want to tell you how they got there, that would be a big spoiler from the first book! If you read it you know who is who and what is what. If you didn’t, you should!
So Nox, Cade, Sam, Mason, Rachel, and Damien have escaped the city and the drama following them, and are heading to what they hope will be a safe haven until they can get themselves sorted out. Sam is injured and sick, the rest are scared, tired, broke, and homeless. They have a bit of adventure getting there, but eventually arrive at the Creel farm in South Carolina. Cade’s mom and brother are happy to have them there, his dad not so much.
They all get a brief break at the farm, then are on the move again, splitting up. A group going to safety, then a group headed back to NYC to clear their names. I’ll stop there before I give anything else away!
This book is one hell of a ride. We think they are safe, then they aren’t, then they are, then they really aren’t! I was all over the place with this one. Nox and Cade are together and happy, together and pissed off, apart and pissed off, it’s just a mess. I loved the growing connection between Sam and Mason, that added a nice bit of sweetness to an otherwise dark story. I also liked seeing a look in to Cade’s family and his life prior to his involvement in this drama.
There really isn’t much romance in this one, very little sex (what brought my rating down to 4.5 instead of 5), and Nox and Cade aren’t happy for most of the book. It’s all about the adventure, the action, the drama, and the mystery. Lots of things are revealed through flashbacks, and a big old thing happens at the end that I suspected might happen, but was still a bit surprised.
This book does require a certain suspension of reality, there were things that made me go “hmmm….”. Sometimes things were a little too convenient for me to accept. Cade’s brother happens to be a computer hacker, just what they needed. They run in to people at the right place and time to get help. Things like that. Totally didn’t ruin the story for me, since this isn’t a realistic story to begin with, but I did pause for a moment now and then. But damn, it is a fun and suspenseful story! I was on the edge of my chair (couch!) with this one, waiting to see where we would go. Then there was a big CLIFFHANGER! What the hell? How long do we have to wait for the next one Tere?
I loved the first book too, I read it last year then just listened to the audio version to get ready for this new one. If you haven’t read it, you really should, then go right in to this one. If you like a dark dystopian world, give them a shot. I can see they won’t be to everyone’s taste, but if this is your thing, they are fantastic books, and I highly recommend them!
RATING: 
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