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Dark City Girls
#1 Bestseller in Men's Adventure and Romantic Action & Adventure! #1 New Release in Fantasy Adventure, and War & Military Action!
Who wants to live forever?
For a hundred and fifty years, Ezekiel Zane knew nothing but war – endless war in the name of the Fates, the Fae, and anyone who would hire him. Yet the glory of leading the most elite team of magical mercenaries in existence cost him the only thing he ever loved.
He’s done.
Retired to a community of renegade fae, street-racing shifters, and fallen celestials, Zane’s quiet life on the beach comes with challenges no greater than finding a reason to get out of bed in the morning and knowing when to call it a night at the bar down the street.
Zane may be done. But the Fae Wilds aren’t done with him.
When a mysterious girl appears in Zane’s life with an artifact of surpassing power, Zane is pulled back into conflict with old enemies and old friends – friends who’ll find out what happens when you poke an old bear in his den.
Who wants to live forever?
For a hundred and fifty years, Ezekiel Zane knew nothing but war – endless war in the name of the Fates, the Fae, and anyone who would hire him. Yet the glory of leading the most elite team of magical mercenaries in existence cost him the only thing he ever loved.
He’s done.
Retired to a community of renegade fae, street-racing shifters, and fallen celestials, Zane’s quiet life on the beach comes with challenges no greater than finding a reason to get out of bed in the morning and knowing when to call it a night at the bar down the street.
Zane may be done. But the Fae Wilds aren’t done with him.
When a mysterious girl appears in Zane’s life with an artifact of surpassing power, Zane is pulled back into conflict with old enemies and old friends – friends who’ll find out what happens when you poke an old bear in his den.
363 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 7, 2024
393 people are currently reading
73 people want to read
About the author
Michael Dalton
81 books321 followersMichael Dalton is a professional journalist and editor.
Michael wrote his first piece of fiction in third grade, for which he was immediately accused of plagiarism by his teacher. Since then, he has been writing more or less steadily, interrupted only by occasional demands of work and family.
Michael lives with his family and multiple pets in Southern California.
Michael wrote his first piece of fiction in third grade, for which he was immediately accused of plagiarism by his teacher. Since then, he has been writing more or less steadily, interrupted only by occasional demands of work and family.
Michael lives with his family and multiple pets in Southern California.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
July 29, 2024
Difficult to care about
The blurb for the book made reference to this work being connected to other works but that new readers would still be able to follow the story ... Well ... That didn't work out for me. I found myself skipping forward through whole sections because I got bored or couldn't feel any connection to the story. Everything feels cliche, not well described, and just unrelatable. I'll not be continuing with the series when the next book comes out. Also, either commit to the litrpg story or don't, this half way sort of sprinkling stuff just doesn't work (at least for me).
The blurb for the book made reference to this work being connected to other works but that new readers would still be able to follow the story ... Well ... That didn't work out for me. I found myself skipping forward through whole sections because I got bored or couldn't feel any connection to the story. Everything feels cliche, not well described, and just unrelatable. I'll not be continuing with the series when the next book comes out. Also, either commit to the litrpg story or don't, this half way sort of sprinkling stuff just doesn't work (at least for me).
July 16, 2024
Need to read the other books, as it feels emptying and weak
Have enjoyed Dalton's work before, not sure what series this world belongs to but as a standalone first book in a series it's lacking cohesion to make sense of what's going on. They say it's a standalone book, but it's filled with wasted information on leveling or characters Powers as if it's a "magic the gathering game".
The main character in supporting cast are enjoyable enough, with good dialogue and okay action scenes. But the lack of backstory and constant referral to the character's history from past adventures is referenced in every single chapter in every other paragraph.
The cohesion of the story itself was broken up ruining the pacing with all the needless information on data of characters that are introduced and then killed. What's the point?
Have enjoyed Dalton's work before, not sure what series this world belongs to but as a standalone first book in a series it's lacking cohesion to make sense of what's going on. They say it's a standalone book, but it's filled with wasted information on leveling or characters Powers as if it's a "magic the gathering game".
The main character in supporting cast are enjoyable enough, with good dialogue and okay action scenes. But the lack of backstory and constant referral to the character's history from past adventures is referenced in every single chapter in every other paragraph.
The cohesion of the story itself was broken up ruining the pacing with all the needless information on data of characters that are introduced and then killed. What's the point?
July 11, 2025
Very Good
Interesting characters with great diversity. Definitely something new and very intriguing. Not what I was expecting but it seems to be what I needed. Bring on the second book,
Interesting characters with great diversity. Definitely something new and very intriguing. Not what I was expecting but it seems to be what I needed. Bring on the second book,
Read
February 19, 2025DNF 41%
October 24, 2024
I found this book to be a bit underwhelming.
The MC is a former magical warrior mercenary that has retired after over a century of fighting. He's back in the small town he was born in, vegetating 2yrs later to start the actual story. He's in a bar when some much younger woman tries to pick him up. After having to neutralize her boyfriend that she hadn't bothered to break up with yet, he finishes his drink and they leave together. In <50 pages to start the book, he's having what he believes is meaningless sex with an apparent bar bunny.
She's not a bar bunny, but the first of his new harem. Sure, he laments his long dead wife, but he's lonely. As it turns out, said bar bunny is actually a mage and part fae, and has other things going on. Soon, a banshee woman is involved, and the MC keeps getting attacked.
The book is full of really annoying character sheets at the end of chapters, often for people the MC has either neutralized or killed already. I found them often useless, since the person was no longer an issue. There are also blank pages to start each chapter that are basically filler. The book should be <300 pages if you take all the useless character sheets and empty pages out.
The sex scenes were weak and often faded to black. Even the threesome to close out the book was pretty tame.
I don't see a reason to read the next book.
The MC is a former magical warrior mercenary that has retired after over a century of fighting. He's back in the small town he was born in, vegetating 2yrs later to start the actual story. He's in a bar when some much younger woman tries to pick him up. After having to neutralize her boyfriend that she hadn't bothered to break up with yet, he finishes his drink and they leave together. In <50 pages to start the book, he's having what he believes is meaningless sex with an apparent bar bunny.
She's not a bar bunny, but the first of his new harem. Sure, he laments his long dead wife, but he's lonely. As it turns out, said bar bunny is actually a mage and part fae, and has other things going on. Soon, a banshee woman is involved, and the MC keeps getting attacked.
The book is full of really annoying character sheets at the end of chapters, often for people the MC has either neutralized or killed already. I found them often useless, since the person was no longer an issue. There are also blank pages to start each chapter that are basically filler. The book should be <300 pages if you take all the useless character sheets and empty pages out.
The sex scenes were weak and often faded to black. Even the threesome to close out the book was pretty tame.
I don't see a reason to read the next book.
July 14, 2024
I like it so far. Lots of references to other Dalton series, including ones I haven't read (premise of Shifter Girls just didn't appeal to me). Good potential, so I'm interested to see where this goes.
July 20, 2024
Excellent story
Different take on the supernatural aspects of fantasy. The author weaves an interesting set of characters with his MC. Plot is bog standard revenge (so far) but may deepen in the next book.
Different take on the supernatural aspects of fantasy. The author weaves an interesting set of characters with his MC. Plot is bog standard revenge (so far) but may deepen in the next book.
September 5, 2024
I haven't read a book from these authors before but urban fantasy is interesting to me so I thought I'd give it a go.
The story was captivating and moved quickly. This is definitely an adult level novel. And there was nothing unexpected between the covers. The blood and gore descriptions were a bit graphic. The sex scenes were maybe just a little less. What was nice is that the fights, sex and story narrative were well balanced. In addition I found the grammatical editing to be well done.
The litRPG was light but I felt like it almost interfered with the story. The redeeming point about the characterxand spell pages is that they added some humor and techno-babble that made the preceeding action a little better to understand.
The Harem elements in this story were different and an interesting twist.
As explained in the synopsis the MC is OP but he's not invincible. Think R.E.D. and R.E.D.2. I'm looking forward to #2.
The story was captivating and moved quickly. This is definitely an adult level novel. And there was nothing unexpected between the covers. The blood and gore descriptions were a bit graphic. The sex scenes were maybe just a little less. What was nice is that the fights, sex and story narrative were well balanced. In addition I found the grammatical editing to be well done.
The litRPG was light but I felt like it almost interfered with the story. The redeeming point about the characterxand spell pages is that they added some humor and techno-babble that made the preceeding action a little better to understand.
The Harem elements in this story were different and an interesting twist.
As explained in the synopsis the MC is OP but he's not invincible. Think R.E.D. and R.E.D.2. I'm looking forward to #2.
October 9, 2024
DNF, this was braindead. Making your characters larger than life is one thing, making them tactical genius, combat master sex gods is another. The main character even has a magical tattoo that gives him complete control of his partner's orgasms.
There is nothing relatable in the main character, Zane. The heavy lifting is done by attempting to give life to some sort of steroid-induced male ideal and then make him the center of attention among women 40+ years younger than him. The issue with Alpha leads is that it's like they're in competition with other main characters, each trying to out-alpha each other. There's no subtlety, there's no understated power that gives a character depth.
Who is this book for? There's way better smut out there, there's way better action, and there's way better romance. This is literary junk food, but instead of being decent like a Kit-Kat, it's Mounds.
There is nothing relatable in the main character, Zane. The heavy lifting is done by attempting to give life to some sort of steroid-induced male ideal and then make him the center of attention among women 40+ years younger than him. The issue with Alpha leads is that it's like they're in competition with other main characters, each trying to out-alpha each other. There's no subtlety, there's no understated power that gives a character depth.
Who is this book for? There's way better smut out there, there's way better action, and there's way better romance. This is literary junk food, but instead of being decent like a Kit-Kat, it's Mounds.
October 28, 2024
Wanted to read an urban fantasy, pickings are getting slim, this was better than expected. The chemistry was decent, but definitely the most annoying parts were when characters get introduced and you are expected to know who they are, I knew enough to recognize the ones I didn't get. If you are super into that multiverse connection thing, there is a lot of that trope here for you if you read all the authors other series. I mean all of them, you need to be up do date to get all the references.
January 28, 2025
Engaging
Alternate universe, magic, fantasy races, multiple worlds, harem adult situations
Zane lives in Santo Domingo, near San Diego, in a town filled Fae and more all hiding in plain sight. A grizzled veteran, he's covered in magical tattoos. He's retired, but his former boss wants him back. Excellent editing. Weird reading about characters slightly different, tweaked even, from other stories with the same characters. Intriguing.
Alternate universe, magic, fantasy races, multiple worlds, harem adult situations
Zane lives in Santo Domingo, near San Diego, in a town filled Fae and more all hiding in plain sight. A grizzled veteran, he's covered in magical tattoos. He's retired, but his former boss wants him back. Excellent editing. Weird reading about characters slightly different, tweaked even, from other stories with the same characters. Intriguing.
July 12, 2024
I love it!
I'm always a sucker for books with the MC having a prior relationship with one of the women, it always feels way more genuine, and I'm surprised more haremlit authors don't do it more. It is done fantastic in this book, and I also love the cameos we have come to expect from this author. The story was great, and I look forward to the next book!
I'm always a sucker for books with the MC having a prior relationship with one of the women, it always feels way more genuine, and I'm surprised more haremlit authors don't do it more. It is done fantastic in this book, and I also love the cameos we have come to expect from this author. The story was great, and I look forward to the next book!
July 26, 2024
Absolutely fantastic!!!
I've never read a book by this author, I didn't thoroughly enjoy and this one is no exception!!! Absolutely some of their best work so far!!! For those not wild about game elements and stats they take absolutely nothing away from the story!!! I really enjoyed how this story played out and can't wait to see what comes next!!!!
I've never read a book by this author, I didn't thoroughly enjoy and this one is no exception!!! Absolutely some of their best work so far!!! For those not wild about game elements and stats they take absolutely nothing away from the story!!! I really enjoyed how this story played out and can't wait to see what comes next!!!!
December 22, 2024
Getting ready to read the next
very fun Reed. A little darker than usual. Just the way I like them. It’s serious work being Ezekiel Zane. The girls are playing catch-up as he catches up to his own upgrades. His own magic has many changes to make. I like the feel, I’m going toread the next one right now.
very fun Reed. A little darker than usual. Just the way I like them. It’s serious work being Ezekiel Zane. The girls are playing catch-up as he catches up to his own upgrades. His own magic has many changes to make. I like the feel, I’m going toread the next one right now.
March 3, 2025
This book has lived up to its ratings
I realized this might be a good read. I was concerned about the Lit rpg stuff but it was handled well at the end of the chapters in a abbreviated layout format. I was not expecting the art work at the end of every 3rd or 4th chapter. It was appreciated. Will move on to book 2.
I realized this might be a good read. I was concerned about the Lit rpg stuff but it was handled well at the end of the chapters in a abbreviated layout format. I was not expecting the art work at the end of every 3rd or 4th chapter. It was appreciated. Will move on to book 2.
June 25, 2025
Excellent Story!!!
Excellent Story with well developed characters, fast paced action and generous spice. Zane just wanted a quiet retirement. After 140 plus years of battle he had enough. Enter Sidney and chaos ensues. I loved this book and this entire universe that the authors created! On to book 2!
Excellent Story with well developed characters, fast paced action and generous spice. Zane just wanted a quiet retirement. After 140 plus years of battle he had enough. Enter Sidney and chaos ensues. I loved this book and this entire universe that the authors created! On to book 2!
July 13, 2024
A great start
Like many of Michael's books, there is a lot of character building and history to build a great series. But this one feels a little different but in a good way with endless possibilities. Can't wait to see where he goes with this.
Like many of Michael's books, there is a lot of character building and history to build a great series. But this one feels a little different but in a good way with endless possibilities. Can't wait to see where he goes with this.
August 1, 2024
AWESOME READ!
I have read quite a fee of Michael Dalton's books. This one was right up there with the best! I found myself reading it any chance I could. It's a really easy read. I can't wait until the next one comes out!
I have read quite a fee of Michael Dalton's books. This one was right up there with the best! I found myself reading it any chance I could. It's a really easy read. I can't wait until the next one comes out!
August 19, 2024
Absolutely a great read!
Modern and paranormal with edges of time in the past. Good MC with history and a good heart. Great female characters and great action look forward to more of this excellent and exciting story!
Modern and paranormal with edges of time in the past. Good MC with history and a good heart. Great female characters and great action look forward to more of this excellent and exciting story!
November 3, 2024
This was fun. You will have to accept an old MC (in his 60s) and enjoy age disparity (complete with Daddy Issues), but beyond that is good action, decent spice, a fun multiverse (not like MCU), and solid characters.
June 16, 2025
It’s fine. All surface no world building really. I’ve read this after Red Elf and I wonder why with the publication dates is there soooo much inconsistency.
I bought book 2 for like 3 bucks, I’ll get to book two eventually.
I bought book 2 for like 3 bucks, I’ll get to book two eventually.
June 30, 2025
Ather or nethor
If you see either of those words in discription keep clicking. Boring, nonsensical and long winded. So you want a wank book this is not it. Anyone wordy is not wanky. See I can come up with bull shit words too.
If you see either of those words in discription keep clicking. Boring, nonsensical and long winded. So you want a wank book this is not it. Anyone wordy is not wanky. See I can come up with bull shit words too.
July 8, 2024
Good book
Really good book. Can’t wait for the next one. Really looking forward to the slime girl. I highly recommend it to authors.
Really good book. Can’t wait for the next one. Really looking forward to the slime girl. I highly recommend it to authors.
July 9, 2024
A fun read
This was just a fun read. It's kind of the literary equivalent of a popcorn flick. I'm looking forward to the next one.
Highly recommended
This was just a fun read. It's kind of the literary equivalent of a popcorn flick. I'm looking forward to the next one.
Highly recommended
July 26, 2024
Good Read
I thoroughly enjoyed it. I sincerely hope that the rest of you out there enjoy it as much as I did.
I thoroughly enjoyed it. I sincerely hope that the rest of you out there enjoy it as much as I did.
August 14, 2024
love the book can't wait to see where then next book goes hope to see more of the other books come into play
August 17, 2024
Great new series!
Very interesting start to a new series. Very interesting premise. I'm looking forward to book 2 in this series which I will read as soon as it comes out.
Very interesting start to a new series. Very interesting premise. I'm looking forward to book 2 in this series which I will read as soon as it comes out.
September 23, 2024
Good characters and story
It hooked me from the first chapter. I like the ideal of tattoos and magic. Lots of hot babes. More please and soon
It hooked me from the first chapter. I like the ideal of tattoos and magic. Lots of hot babes. More please and soon
November 28, 2024
A good story of a soldier and the need for a change from war
February 21, 2025
A well written book.
Started slow, as there was so much background to cover. But once it got going, it was a hell-of-a ride.
Started slow, as there was so much background to cover. But once it got going, it was a hell-of-a ride.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews