KEEPER OF THE NIGHT (The Keepers: LA #1) by Heather Graham-a review

ABOUT THE BOOK: Released December 2012

In their new Keeper roles, these extraordinary women must balance the fate of the world with their desires…

New Keeper Rhiannon Gryffald has her peacekeeping duties cut out for her—because in Hollywood, it’s hard to tell the actors from the werewolves, bloodsuckers and shape-shifters. Then Rhiannon hears about a string of murders that bear all the hallmarks of a vampire serial killer, and she must confront her greatest challenge yet. Together with Elven detective Brodie McKay, they head to Laurel Canyon, epicenter of the danger, where they uncover a plot that may forever alter the face of human-paranormal relations

REVIEW:

Heather Graham, Alexandra Sokoloff, and Deborah Leblanc had previously written a trio of books known as The Keeper Trilogy (The Keeper, The Shifters, The Wolven). KEEPER OF THE NIGHT (The Keepers: LA #1) is the first storyline, written by Heather Graham, in their new spinoff trilogy focusing on the daughters (all cousins) of the original Keepers who have been called to take their seats at the Council of the Others. Although this particular series is a spin-off, the first storyline can be read as a stand-alone without too much trouble. But there is a caveat at the end of my review.

The Keepers are in essence –the Law- they reside over the different paranormal and supernatural species-Elven, Vampire, Wolven, Shifter etc. known as the ‘Others’. Keepers are born and it is their destiny to oversee and enforce the law. Keeper of the Night focuses on Vampire Keeper Rhiannon Gryffald and Elven detective Brodie McKay. Although the Keepers are NOT vampire, wolven etc they do bare some of the powers and abilities of their brethren.

Keeper of the Night finds new Keeper Rhiannon Gryffald as she embarks on her first official investigation that places her into a world of rotting corpses, hidden secrets and an ensemble of actors who want nothing more than to make it big in Hollywood. But when the dead and missing are somehow connected to the local theatre group, Rhiannon finds herself with an unlikely partner-Elven Detective Brodie McKay. But Brodie is undercover as a member of the acting community and to keep his guise a secret, Rhiannon and Brodie must act like a couple to keep the cast from discovering Brodie’s true identity. But play acting as lovers soon leads to the real thing and it will be Brodie who finds himself guardian and protector of the Keeper of the Night.

Keeper of the Night is difficult to rate. Although I said that this storyline could be read as a stand-alone, some background information regarding Keepers and their destiny would have been helpful-to start a new series, especially a spin-off where there are already established characters and storylines, a little background would have been appreciated. I kept thinking-What IS a Keeper? How did they come to be? What is the history between Keepers and the Others? I had to search for some information online-other reviews from the previous series etc.  I am a big fan of authors who include the pertinent background information in each successive storyline. It keeps the series and premise coherent. I hope the next author will think to include some of the Keeper history.

There is a prequel novella available for FREE from Amazon: The Gatekeeper. I had hope that the Gatekeeper would have revealed more background information but it was only an introduction to this particular series and the main characters are not involved in Keeper of the Night-in fact they have nothing to do with the first novel at all.

Overall, this storyline was okay. It will not top my list of re-reads and I will probably not read it again. I was disappointed. Even the relationship and romance between Rhiannon and Brodie seemed forced. I did not feel the chemistry or even the tension between the couple and it was about 2/3 of the way through before any one on one time was had. And in that, I did not feel the connection to the couple or the story.

Copy supplied by Netgalley.

Reviewed by Sandy