Dark Crime

Dark #27

by Christine Feehan

Two strangers are bonded by a lust for revenge—and each other—in this short story from Christine Feehan's "erotic, gripping series that has defined an entire genre." (J. R. Ward)
Blaze McGuire knows who killed her father and she has merciless plans for payback. Until a phone call from a seductive stranger pleads with her to wait. Retribution is in his blood, too. Now, he and Blaze will be united in the blood of the guilty. Tonight, vengeance is theirs.
Praise for Christine Feehan
"Feehan has a knack for bringing vampiric Carpathians to vivid, virile life in her Dark Carpathian novels."—Publishers Weekly
"She is the master."—The Best Reviews
Dark Crime first appeared in the anthology Edge of Darkness.

Genres: Paranormal, Romance, Paranormal Romance, Vampires, Fantasy, Dark, Urban Fantasy

172 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 4, 2015

About the author

Christine Feehan is a #1 New York Times bestselling author multiple times over with her portfolio including over 100 published novels, including five series; Dark Series, GhostWalker Series, Leopard Series, Drake Sisters Series, the Sisters of the Heart Series, Shadow Riders, Torpedo Ink and her Romantic Suspense novels. All of her series have hit the #1 spot on the New York Times bestselling list as well. Her debut novel Dark Prince received 3 of the 9 Paranormal Excellence Awards in Romantic Literature (PEARL) in 1999. Since then she has been published by various publishing houses including Leisure Books, Pocket Books, and currently is writing for Berkley/Jove. She also has earned 7 more PEARL awards since Dark Prince.
Her series include:
The Dark Series - https://www.christinefeehan.com/darkb...
The GhostWalker series- https://www.christinefeehan.com/ghost...
The Leopard Series - https://www.christinefeehan.com/leopa...
The Shadow Series- https://www.christinefeehan.com/shado...
Torpedo Ink series- https://www.christinefeehan.com/torpe...




IN HER WORDS:
I've been a writer all of my life -- it is who I am. I write for myself and always have. The ability to create pictures and emotions with words is such a miracle to me. I read everything; I mean everything! All kinds of books, even encyclopedias. I am fascinated by the written word and I love storytellers. It is a great privilege to be counted one myself. (www.christinefeehan.com)

Reviews

[Alex is The Romance Fox · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think I'm giving up on what was one of my all-time favourite paranormal series, Dark Carpathians Series by Christine Feehan.

I was so hoping that the latest addition, Dark Crime would somehow be a "keeper"......I should have known that this being book #27....it could perhaps be a rehash of the previous books!!!! And of course it was..........the only good thing was that it was a novella instead of a full length book...otherwise I would have given up halfway...which I kept wanting to do!!!

Seriously, there is nothing new in this story. The uber alpha demands total obedience from the woman, who is again, fighting baddies...He comes to the rescue and within a chapter or two...it's sex and more sex and more pages and more sex and more pages....

OOOps..got that wrong....she doesn't tell him she wants sex./....in fact, she says NO NO NO......
... But he insists!!! Demands she give him a blowjob!!! Seriously!!! And of course.........she gives in.......IDIOTA!!!!! Too stupid for me...............

I'm sorry Ms Feehan.........I have been one of your diehard fans...but your latest books have been such a letdown for me...........I'm going to give this series a rest for now.

[Ꮗ€♫◗☿ ❤️ ilikebooksbest.com ❤️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Hero that appreciates a strong female heroine!



The following ratings are out of 5:
Narration: 🎧🎧🎧
Romance: 💙💚🖤💛
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📙
World building: 🌎🌍🌏🌎
Character development: 🧐😕😍😗🤩

The heroine(s): Blaze McGuire - her father was murdered by the Halihan Brothers, a local gang. Blaze loved her father and learned from a young age how to defend herself. Her father sometimes worked as a bomb tech, and also taught her everything he knew. She vowed revenge against the Halihan’s and their leader, the reclusive Reginald Kunen.

The Hero(s): Maksim Volkov - half owner of a successful club with Tariq Asenguard, Maksim is a Carpathian and knows right away on first seeing Blaze that she is his life mate. He is also determined to defeat Reginald Kunen and the Halihan Brothers.

The Story: Blaze is determined to blow the Halihan brothers to pieces when they come after her and doesn’t care that in order to do that she may have to die as well. When Maksim finds out what Blaze is up to, he tries to get her to stop what she is doing and says he and Tariq also want to take the gang down and she can work with them without killing herself to do it.

There were a few things I really liked about this book, though also a few things I didn’t like so much. It was a novella (172 pages), so long enough to have both romance and a good storyline. I like the story about revenge against the men who killed Blaze’s father. I loved the fact that Blaze is a strong intelligent female who is able to fight for herself and especially loved the fact that Maksim is an ancient Carpathian but has no problem with the fact that his life mate is going to fight alongside him for the same end.

I also really enjoyed the fact that the novella format allowed for skipping the give and take (will they, won’t they), forgoing the whole when will they finally… The story got right to Maksim claiming Blaze and made for his telling her about Carpathians and Vampires go much more quickly than in some of the longer books.

The book was super steamy, maybe even a bit too steamy for the shorter format. I think I would rather have had less intimate scenes and more story, but I still enjoyed it overall. The narration was something I didn’t like in that the narrator Richard Ferrone did a sort of standard old fashioned vampire voice and accent for Maksim. He spoke slowly and gravely with a bit of the Count Dracula (or Count Chocula) accent.

I listened to this book as a part of the compilation audiobook called Edge of Darkness, which contained 3 novella’s from different authors.

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[Marta Cox]

It's very hard to keep readers engaged as a series gets longer and it's a trap that many authors fall into. What worked so well in the beginning can become stale and readers constantly demand to be surprised . Ms Feehans Dark series has been such an interesting one full of intense emotions, beautiful narrative and incendiary heat. This story is shorter than most and yet is still full of passion and a few surprises and of course there's that little thing of claiming a life mate!
I really liked the beginning of this story and felt so much empathy for the heroine Blaze whose life has been brutally changed forever. She deals with her grief by taking control of her own destiny but a chance call to a stranger sees yet another rock thrown her way and this time it's a landslide ! The male who answers her call is Maksim and he's definitely not human he is Carpathian and now Blaze has fallen into his world and there's no way Maksim will ever let her leave .
Ms Feehan has somehow stepped away from her previous style and this felt far more modern with a fresh twist . If honest at first I didn't realise it was a Carpathian story and the plot was fuelled by unexpected alliances . Die hard fans will enjoy this but I think those who perhaps felt jaded might also see a fresh approach to tempt them back. I'm happy to report the story was not bogged down by excessive chanting ( which many readers find repetitive ) and as this story arc continues I know I will be back for more
I first read this story in the anthology Edge of Darkness

[Alisi ☆ wants to read too many books ☆ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm in a reading slump. A READING SLUMP! Shoot me. So I thought I'd pick up a genre I haven't read in YEARS. Thus, PR and a Feehan dark story. I loved her dark series in the beginning but after 10+, they really went down hill fast. Still, this is a novella so I thought what the hell?

I realize that's exactly what I got. T_T This book is great if...



Basically. It's Feehan's basic set up. Girl in trouble, overly aggressive man, etc. Except this one is just horrible. They have sex literally the first time they met and all the while she's saying NO. This goes on for chapters. At one point, he demands a blow job and is like 'look at me while you're doing it so I know you want to do it' while she's STILL SAYING NO. Seriously. And he's using his superior psychic abilities to force her and he tied them together before they'd even spoken like 10 sentences to each other.



You know what people in the real world call that? We call that rape.



So my feelings are basically:

[Lover of Romance · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review was originally posted on Addicted To Romance

Dark Crime is a story of heartbreak and loss, of finding justice for horrible crimes and finding a fated love that was always destined....

Dark Crime is a story that I just devoured which is the norm when Christine Feehan is writing and I really liked this novella and it was a bit longer than normal novella's so I actually enjoyed this story quite a bit.

Our key players in Dark Crime are:

Blaze McGuire, our heroine, who has been training since since was two years old to fight by her adopted father, who has recently been tortured and murdered and Blaze is vowing revenge on the crime family responsible.
Maksim Volkov, a Carpathian Male, our hero, who has just found his lifemate but knows that she is about to kill herself in order to kill those responsible for her father's murder.

Dark Crime was very different from your typical Carpathian installment, in fact, I had to look again to make sure that this was part of the Carpathian series because it was so different from most of the previous books. It is set in the states and dealing with some underground crime organizations but we learn that vampires are behind it all and are searching for Blaze and most especially her best friend who has unique and powerful psychic abilities. When Maksim saves Blaze from killing herself in order to take out the men responsible for mutilating her late father, Blaze realizes that Maksim gets who she is and accepts her as his "warrior woman" and when he seals their bond, she is more than accepting. Maksim is one of those Carpathian's I adore and treasure because he understands that Blaze needs to be able to stand by his side and fight along side him and I love that he accepts and encourages that from her. It was so refreshing to read that since it doesn't happen too often from these domineering and controlling Carpathian males. Of course, once you understand the time they were born into, I don't fully blame them especially when there is so much evil they deal with. But I admire those men in this world that want their women to fight along side them. And boy this book was full of action and danger and I hope that Blaze's best friend Emeline Sanchez because her story is definitely one I want to see more depth. We also get to learn more about the mission that Tariq and his friend Tomas, Lojos and Mathaisare on to find Psychic women because they are in grave danger from the vampires hunting them. There is so many unique elements wrapped in this novella that was powerfully stimulating and sensual!





[foogallery id="18804"]

[Karyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Her hair wasn't just read, it was red

Apparently all you need to be a fierce warrior woman is red hair - that's all i learned from this book. After this profound discovery, i kinda just skimmed through the rest, too overwhelmed by my newly found enlightenment.

[Varied Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

[AvidReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Christian feehan read after what feels like a long time.
This made my heart beat like mad especially during action scenes. The world is changing and Carpathian’s are finding errors in the way they were leading life. The vampires are becoming more and more cunning and dangerous.

I loved how badass was the heroine. I also loved the way hero trusted in her warrior ability and didn’t suffocate her. The hunters loyalty and unity was very well executed.
On to the next one.
Recommended.

[Edwina " I LoveBooks" "Deb" · Rating 4 out of 5]

SENSUAL, EROTIC AND ACTION PACKED!!

This review is for "Dark Crime" by Christine Feehan. Dark Crime has a bit of a twist too it. Taken place in the U.S, I think I was a bit confused at first becasue initially I though this was going to be Tariq Asenguard's story. It wasn't it was an unfamiliar character to the Dark series Maksim Volkov and his newly found Lifemate Blaze. Dark Crime has that gangster storyline. With the gangsters killing people to take over there property. This happens to Blaze. Her father was viciously beaten and tortured to death by what appears to be a gang of thugs The Hallahan Brothers. The leader of the gang is the mysterious Reginald Coonan. Readers of the Dark series will understand whats going on right away. I am not sure that people who haven't read the Dark series will get whats really happening until further in the story. Basically the last we heard of Tariq, and the triplet brothers Mathais, Tomas and Lojos was back in the Carpathian Mountain. They have been sent to find any women on the list of Physics that hey have.Women with Psychic gifts can be converted into Lifemate's to a Carpathian without turning them vampire., but she must be the other half of the Carpathians males soul the one chosen for him for all time. Maksim finds his lifemate in Blaze and they all set out to destroy the Hallahan brothers and the the leader Reginald Coonan. There is lots of action, fight scenes. I didn't like the fact that the Carpathians just don't seem to be as smart or as strong as the Vampire. They take quite the beating before they defeat the Master Vampire and his Puppets. The Romance between Maksim and Blaze is very erotic as all Carpathian and Lifemate romances are. There is another character I am interested in learning more about. She is a Psychic Emeline Sanchez and has grown up with Blaze like a sister. I hope we find out who her Lifemate is in future books. The story is good enough for a Short story if you are a fan of the Dark series I would recommend you read it. If not I am just not sure its a Stand Alone, to many important facts are missing. About who and what the Carpathians are and whats going on in there immortal world. I would Highly Recommend you read the entire Dark series. its a Great Series 26 books spanning about 16 years. I read them as soon as they are released an re read them once a year. (less)

 

[Megzy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this novella in the Edge of Darkness. I loved Blaze. She is bad ass.
I have noticed most bad ass females in Feehan dark series end up in a novella instead of getting a full book.

[Sandy S · Rating 3 out of 5]

ABOUT THE BOOK :

3.5 stars--

Re-release: December 2016

Dark Crime by Christine Feehan

Blaze knows who killed her father and she has merciless plans for payback. Until a phone call from a seductive stranger pleads with her to wait. Retribution is in his blood, too. Now, he and Blaze will be united in the blood of the guilty. Tonight, vengeance is theirs.

•••••••

REVIEW: 3.5 stars-- DARK CRIME (originally released in the 2015 anthology EDGE OF DARKNESS) is installment (26.5) in Christine Feehan’s CARPATHIAN paranormal romance DARK series and reads like a full length storyline. This is ancient Carpathian Maxim Volkov and bar owner Blaze McGuire’s storyline. DARK CRIME can be read as a stand alone (with some difficulty) but if you are not familiar with Ms. Feehan’s DARK series some background information may be necessary for cohesion and familiarity with the Carpathian history. The storyline takes place in Chicago, Illinois.

SOME BACKGROUND ABOUT THE SERIES: All Carpathian males, must find their lifemates before they turn vampire or greet the dawn. Without a lifemate, the males no longer see in color, feel pain or experience emotions. A lifemate is the light to their dark. She is the keeper of his heart and the keeper of his soul.

Christine Feehan introduces several new characters to her series with Maxim and Blaze’s storyline. Maxim is an ancient, who along with his fellow Carpathians Tariq Asenguard and the triplets- Mataias, Lojos and Tomas- find themselves on the hunt for a master vampire whose minions are wreaking havoc with business owners, the homeless and missing children. Blaze and her best friend Emeline are the vampire’s next intended victims.

DARK CRIME is an erotic paranormal romance with scenarios of graphic violence involving women and children, as well as the usual vampire blood shed, death and destruction. The $ex scenes are provocative and erotic-another ancient Carpathian has found his lifemate following hundreds of years of no emotions and no color; the romance is very quick to build and easily accepted by the storyline heroine; the revelation of the master vampire brings with it a former enemy who has made a pact with the devil.

Sadly, I do have an issue with Christine Feehan’s lack of originality when it comes to her storyline character’s names. This has been a major bone of contention for me throughout all of her series as well as using the same names between series e.g. Stefan has been used 3 times in the DARK series, as well as in 3 of her 4 other series. Duplication of names and their derivatives is a constant in the DARK series: Matias twice; Matt /Matthew 4 times; Henry and derivatives 4 times; John 4 times; Paul 4 times; Peter 4 times; Robert or Roberto 5 times; Tom/Thomas 5 times; and the list goes on). Maxim is a name that has been used twice in the DARK series for major characters-once for an ancient Carpathian-Maxim Malinov- who turned vampire and was killed, and now with Maxim Volkov in Dark Crime. The duplication can lead to confusion, especially with the similarity between surnames as well.

own a copy

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dark Crime
Dark, Book 23.5

I Picked Up This Book Because: Continue the series.

Media Type: eBook/Audiobook
Source: Library/Hoopla
Dates Read: 8/3/21 - 8/17/21
Stars: 3 Stars

The Characters:

Blaze McGuire:
Maksim Volkov:


The Story:

I keep saying I need to break up with this author but the stories keep me coming back. I mistakenly thought this was a novella being that is number .5 however it is not. It’s a full novel. Complete with all the repetitiveness I’m coming to expect from this author. Blaze is an awesome warrior and I’m glad to finally have the story of how the children came to be with her, Maksim and Tariq.

The Random Thoughts:

I changed over from print format to audiobook in order to finish.

[Ira · Rating 4 out of 5]

A kickass heroine, yay!!!
That's not often you get from this series, usually they just bunch of damsel in distress *cringe*
So, this one rather good, these ancient hunters kind of woke up to hello, we are living in 21st century now. I couldn't believe it those ugly vampires more tech savvy than these supposed to be heroes!!
Anyway, all good hopefully the storyline move toward a modern world and less chants:)

30 books from this series and I read 14 of those already, and as long as they good I will continue to read them but I will really really picky!:)

[Kathy Davie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Twenty-fourth (Feehan’s 27) in the Dark Carpathians paranormal romance series and revolving around a race of people who long for a lifemate, turning evil vampire if they don’t find her. The couple focus is on Blaze McGuire and Maksim Volkov.

If you're interested, there is a chronological listing of the Dark Carpathians books on my website.

My Take
There’s lots of action and grief in “Dark Crime”. Yes, lol, adventure-type action as well as the bedroom action. It begins with that action hook as Blaze sets up her bomb traps. She’s a strong one, as is her sister-in-spirit, Emeline. I do like that both female roles are strong ones.

The insta-love was annoying, especially since it was not only instant but confusing as to who was the male lead, as Feehan started out with Tariq’s character. It’s the third-person dual point-of-view that finally confirmed my suspicion that Maksim is the focus.

Feehan doesn’t spend as much time on the color and transforming events that she had previously spent on earlier books. I missed that, even though, yeah, yeah, it can be annoying to read a repeat of what you already know. It’s a fine line for a writer to walk: informing a new reader what the “old” readers already know about the characters in the series.

That said, Feehan really padded this story out to hell and gone as she kept going over and over and over and over, ad nauseum, about how important Maksim considered Blaze as his lifemate. I get it already. It’s a good example of going way over that line.

It’s an interesting twist Feehan takes on how the bad guys operate, as opposed to how they’ve maneuvered in the past. The other twist, their breeding program, is more horrifying than interesting.

Each story in the series is a monomyth with its beginning, middle, and end for the focus couple, and I’m not sure if I’ve simply read too many Dark stories or if Feehan is getting slack about the writing. For all its action, tension, and drama, the writing is quite sophomoric.

As for plot beats, the big ones were Feehan using minor flashbacks to inform us of how Blaze got into the situation in the first place. It was nicely done. Emeline has her dream sequence which Feehan uses to up the drama and create tension. The final conflict turns into a death trap plot beat with the surprising twist of Zhestokly turning up. Meanwhile, the end is a mix of happy and cliffhanger.

The Story
Grieving, Blaze McGuire is determined to got out in, well, a blaze of vengeance and take out the men who killed her father. Even with all her careful preparation, Blaze considers the possibility of failure and makes a call. One that will ensure her enemies’ destruction.

The Characters
Blaze McGuire is Sean McGuire's daughter. A good father, a great neighbor, and the friendly, thoughtful bar owner of the multi-generational family business. He’d also been a bomb specialist with the U.S. Marines. Emeline Sanchez has been a homeless girl whom the McGuires took to their hearts.

Maksim Volkov and Tariq Asenguard are partners in a nightclub and Carpathians who hunt those of their kind who turn. Tomas, Lojos, and Mataias are triplets who work with Maksim and Tariq. The legendary Val Zhestokly has been missing for years. Prince Mikhail Dubrinsky is the leader of the Carpathians.

Danny is determined to save his sisters: Amelia who can talk to animals and Liv and baby Bella who are telekinetic. Jimmy Mason is a master at the bar tricks.

The Hallahan brothers are…
…vicious thugs — Jimmy, Terry, Carrick, and another — who work for Reginald Coonan, a mobster who fled Chicago and opened The In Place, a strip club with a unique way of making even more money than most.

Vadim and Sergei Malinov are the only two of five brothers who embraced the dark side who are still alive. Xavier had been a High Mage who had gone dark.

The Society for the Preservation of Mankind are…
…fanatics who believe in vampires and hunting them down.

The Cover and Title
The cover has a hazy background of, I’m guessing, Coonan’s strip club, as there’s a naked woman standing at the bar with her back to us. What really grabs your attention is that partial close-up of the leather-wearing, young-looking (and gorgeous) Maksim with his brown eyes, black van dyke beard, mustache, and slicked-back hair. The author’s name is in an embossed white at the top with the title in a mix of serif and sans-serif in white at the bottom and a small note of the series information (in white) below that.

The title is the kick-off to the story, “Dark Crime”.

[Chalice · Rating 4 out of 5]

The couple: Blaze and Maksim

Romance genre: paranormal
Series: Dark, often referred to as the Carpathians
Length: 205 pages

Plot: Blaze is looking for revenge against the people who killed her father, and to that end, she calls a number her dad left for her, seeking help. At the end of the number she finds Maksim, and it turns out he's a Carpathian and her lifemate. He helps her with her initial problem, but there are always more problems in the background, and that usually involves master vampires. In this case, it also involves rescuing Blaze's friend Emeline (Dark Legacy)

Character development: Blaze was a heroine more along the lines of Destiny (Dark Destiny) rather than some of the other human heroines. She's already capable, and joining forces (that's what the kids are calling it these days) with Maksim only makes her stronger. This is a novella, so it also serves as a bridge between stories, in this case introducing us to a new group of characters that will appear in subsequent novels.

Next book in the series: Dark Ghost

[Malinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

This was a very good story and addition to the series. Maksim and Blaze were both characters I liked and their story was pretty enjoyable.

Blaze is a human woman with psychic gifts. Her mother left when she was very young and her father was her only family. He was an explosives expert and hand-to-hand fighter and taught her all he knew about being a warrior from the time she was a toddler. Blaze's father was just killed recently by some mobsters that want her family's bar.

Maksim is an ancient Carpathian male; Carpathians are born vampires with abilities like shape shifting (to any form, even mist), magic spells and psychic powers. The males of the Carpathians have a darkness in them and if they don't find their lifemates, they can lose their souls and become evil. Maksim has got involved with an effort by the Carpathians to save psychic women that are being targeted by vampires.

Local mobsters unknowingly being controlled by a vampire are trying to gather up territory and Blaze's family bar is part of that. The mobsters killed her father and Blaze is desperate to make them pay, even if it costs her her own life. Maksim offered protection before her father was killed and Blaze calls him right before a battle that might kill her. Maksim manages to get there before she's hurt and their relationship begins. Blaze is bothered by their instant connection at first but does come to terms with it pretty quickly. Together, Blaze and Maksim take out the mobsters and face the vampires. There's some unresolved issues but the story does end with Maksim and Blaze happily starting a HEA together.

This was a very enjoyable story. Blaze was a good heroine even if she was a little suicidal at first. Maksim was a really good hero and did what was needed to make his woman happy and save people. This was shorter than the normal books in this series but I have to admit that I liked that the story was a little more direct with less layers. Overall, this was a very good story and I would recommend it and the series. :)

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark Crime, book 27 in the Carpathian series, is a story that was originally included in Edge of Darkness anthology. However, this sort novella is every bit as powerful as a full-length novel.

The couple in this story, Blaise McGuire and Maksim Volkov, is awesome as a couple. Maksim is old world, alpha Carpathian. Blaze is a fantastic heroine with the heart and soul of a warrior. This young woman would never succumb to a villain.

Blaise meets her life mate, Maksim, following the brutal murder of her father, Sean McGuire. Her best friend, Emeline Sanchez, returns to help Blaise take down the monsters responsible for the death of Blaise’s beloved father.

Action, suspense, equitable partnership is the cornerstones of this story. The excellent world-building and character development in Dark Crime shows why Christine Feehan’s Carpathian series is the gold-standard for paranormal romance.

[Dawn Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great one by Christine Feehan. Love her Dark Series! I love a strong, kick ass heroine, and Blaze was definitely that! This is a good novella, but I think it would have made an even better novel, I loved the characters that much. This is the 27th book in Christine's Dark Series, but the excitement of the next read is still there for me.

[Farah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh It lacked the charm and the atmosphere. It didn't feel like one of the dark books .. not really. It was more like an action movie .. I prefer the older formula.

[Mari · Rating 4 out of 5]

I originally read and reviewed this novella in . I'm just copying my review from 2015.

I am so glad that the Carpathian plot settings are out of the jungle and thankfully I didn't have to read dozens of pages about attacking bugs. But Feehan still has a problem with giving her heroines decent names. This one was Blaze. I kept thinking of a horse. C'mon Christine....there are hundreds of good feminine names you can give your heroines. Just stop with these ridiculous heroine names that I wouldn't even give a dog. It takes away from the plot when the reader is distracted by your silliness.

I'm delighted that Feehan has finally decided to pursue the story arc about the physic women who are being hunted by both vampires and hunters. She opened this possibility up like 10 books ago, put Andre on the case then dropped the story arc and went off to play in the jungle, dragging her readers through bug hell. I felt as though the meat of the story was written previously. It read like the early Carpathian books. No bugs and no endless magical chants. There was action and suspense. I was loving it.

It was clear that a few sex scenes were added. Maybe to increase page count, I don't know. The long numerous sex scenes didn't add to the story, they were a distraction and I ended up paging forward to get back to the main plot. Authors take note...throwing in an extra sex scene or three does not always make your story better.

I keep telling myself that I'm done, done, done with anything Carpathian then I give in to the hope that maybe this time Feehan has written something great that will make me feel like I did when reading the first 10 books of the series. This one got me close to that feeling and I'm glad I gave in to temptation and read it.

Ms Feehan...give us a few books set back in civilization and get rid of those shards of Xavier.......it's just dumb. Xavier is dead, leave him dead. Cut back on the bugs and chants and most of all please stop giving your heroines bizarre names. Really, who would name a child Blaze?

This could have easily been a 4.5 read for me. Added to my favs and re-read pile but honestly the numerous lengthy out of place sex scenes and having to constantly read the name 'Blaze' was enough to drop it back to 3.75.

[Aparna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stars: 3 / 5
Recommendation: If you like paranormal plots with hint of romance, eroticism and the other world abilities involving immortals and vampires along-side humans with super-abilities, then this is a series to go for. This plot creates a new thread in the many threads this series has keeping it interesting and intriguing.

Dark Crime is the twenty seventh book in the longest series, Dark Series, by Christine Feehan which was originally published in August of 2015. The primary plot revolves around Maksim Volkov - a Carpathian and a nightclub owner - and Blaze McGuire - owner of an Irish bar with strong psychic abilities. This was first published as part of the anthology, Edge of Darkness, in 2015 before it came out as its own the following year.

Carpathians are a powerful and ancient race who are near-immortals living for thousands of years with powers and gifts. Despite their gifts and extended lifespans, they are at the edge of extinction as fewer and fewer children are being borne and far lesser of females. Without their female counterpart aka "lifemates" the male Carpathians lose the ability to feel emotions leaving the males with hard choice: either become vampire or "greet the dawn". After Prince Mikhail Dubrinsky finds a lifemate in a human female with psychic abilities, there is hope for all the other Carpathian males who have been holding off from turning into vampires – the very creature that they hunt and kill to save all beings. The series now ventures into other species - Jaguar Species (with the 10th book Dark Symphony (https://inspirethoughts.livejournal.c...)), Dragonseekers (with the 16th book Dark Demon (https://inspirethoughts.livejournal.c...)), and Lycans (with the 18th book Dark Possession (https://inspirethoughts.livejournal.c...)).

In her 31st book, Dark Legacy (https://inspirethoughts.livejournal.c...) released in September of 2017, Christine had introduced a new Carpathian female, Elisabeta Trigovise - an ancient and sister to Traian Trigovise and thought lost to them. Christine tends to bring back her characters and tie all the inconsequential details that she leaves around in her plots. The mention of Traian Trigovise made me want to re-read the series again since quite a few facts she had brought back in Dark Legacy were lost on me.

I had already published my review of this book when it first came out as the anthology here (https://inspirethoughts.livejournal.c...). However, as part of the re-read, doing it again, perhaps a bit much better.

Dark Lycan, Dark Wolf and Dark Blood - the trilogy preceding this book - felt like the next wave in the Carpathian series that reached a crescendo and fell back into a serene ripple at the end of Dark Blood. Of course one of the high mages still got away, vampires and sange rau still exist to fight, differences between species still to be resolved. But, it did feel like a calm sea at the end of Dark Blood. That calm sea got picked up in this book bringing the readers back to United States by Christine.

Blaze McGuire was all set to take on one of the local factions of the mobsters, who had murdered her father, even if it meant sacrificing herself. Little did she know that help comes to her in the form of Maksim Volkov, a nightclub owner, powerful, very rich and very very dangerous. He has no intentions of letting Blaze take revenge at the cost of her life, but will do everything in his power to exact the same. For, she was his lifemate.

Blaze is a strong woman with a backbone that broke no nonsense. She is not a typical woman that, if Maksim expected would be in for a surprise. Her upbringing had been unusual, courtesy of her father, Sean McGuire, a U.S. Marine. And she had a penchant for revenge, especially if someone hurt her family.

Maksim with his partner Tariq Asenguard, owns a night club and several acres of land where they make their home. They are a force to reckon with. And Maksim would want to use all of his powers to control Blaze, but he doesn’t. Instead he takes on her as his partner, a soldier by his side in any battle.

We met Tariq briefly in the 19th book Dark Curse, and he had definitely made an impression on the reader's mind. Would love to read his story soon. We also meet the triplets - Matias, Lojos and Tomas - who up until last book were actually guarding the Prince. And also the antagonist, final Malinov brother, who hadn't been introduced to the readers up until now.

I felt the plot a bit rushed, especially the claiming part and the passionate night shared between Blaze and Maksim. They meet and a little while after he claims and they have this amazing sex. Normally Christine's plots ensure that the hero and heroine know each other well before this happens, at least the sex part. Perhaps because it is an anthology and has limited pages to write the story, Christine rushed it. Now I understand why Christine doesn’t like writing short stories.

I couldn’t get the feel of which city the plot was set in, but it looked like west coast. Perhaps San Francisco? Also couldn’t tell if this plot is set right after Dark Blood.

Again the words like "obey", "allow" sneak in Christine's plots which were lesser in the previous three or four books. I wish she just could use other words, but then there is no give to the Carpathian men, so perhaps these words do suit them. Even though the women object thoroughly and find a way to balance that between them.

Not sure how Christine decides why a certain character has to face some hardships, and why certain character has to go thru hell before finding peace and heaven. But, what she has in store for Emeline Sanchez in this plot, wrenched my heart. Reminded me of Ivory Dragonseeker's story so much.

A few tidbits:

The anthology did not have any other additional indices or appendices that normally come with a Christine Feehan book.

Another powerful paranormal romantic plot woven by Christine Feehan keeping us thoroughly entertained and immersed into the world of Carpathians, Lycans, Mages and Jaguars along-side humans. As always the fight scenes are excellent and love scenes are very erotic and rough, bordering on brutal.

Even though it is an anthology, Christine certainly left the readers with so many minute details that they would be craving to read those details becoming important in future plots. Watch this space for more reviews of the next books in the series.

Spoiler Alerts:

1. Plot reveals:
a. Emeline "Emmy" Sanchez - friend and family to Blaze, who had mostly lived on streets all her life, but sneaked into Blaze's bedroom at nights for support and shelter. Both Emmy and Blaze shared dreams that projected something that would happen in future. She was taken by Vadim Malinov when trying to rescue children, forced to take his blood and perhaps Vadim tried to breed with her. There is a lot more to her that prompts a separate story for her by Christine.
b. Four strong psychic kids, siblings, are saved from the clutches of Vladim Malinov - Danny (15 year old boy), Amelia (older than Danny), Liv (10 year old), Bella (a toddler).

2. Sub-Plots:
a. Wonder why Christine didn’t have their own book or a novella for Barack and Syndil instead of splitting between Dark Challenge and Dark Fire? Why make him wait till after Darius makes his clam on Tempest, before Barack claims Syndil?
b. Dark Celebration (https://inspirethoughts.livejournal.c...) plot reveals that Paul and Ginny have Jaguar blood in them by way of their mother. Although Paul is tied to Nicholas De La Cruz by blood bond since Dark Secret.
c. Ivory Malinov has a pack of wolves that she had converted them to Carpathian - Raja & Ayame, Blaez & Gynger, Farkas & Rikki. Now Dimitri and Skyler also have a pack of their own Carpathian wolves - Frost & Misty, Moonglow, Shadow and Sonnet.
d. The book of spells by Xavier was found in Dark Demon by Natalya and Vikirnoff Von Shreider. However, Christine hasn’t yet put together a plot to destroy it.
e. I wonder if Christine would have a cross-over between her Leopard People Series (https://inspirethoughts.livejournal.c...) and the Jaguar species in this Carpathian Series.
f. In Dark Peril, it is shown that Solange Sangria's royal jaguar blood gives Carpathians ability to walk in sun, albeit with some difficulties. Christine showed the continuity of this in Dark Predator and Dark Storm plots.
g. In Dark Predator we saw budding romance between Julio Santos and Lea Eldridge. Will they and other human families at De La Cruz ranches resurface?
h. In Dark Blood, a few things come to light: Zev Tirunul gets 12 Lycan/Carpathians - Guardians of All - thought to be Sange rau, for his pack which includes Dimitri and Skyler, Fen and Tatijana and Bransilava, his mate; along with his trusted elite Lycans. I am seeing another thread here that Christine perhaps will explore further. That Zev is from a powerful Carpathian lineage, Dark Blood.

3. Unique / Repeat Characters who are not Carpathians but with the possibility of them being expanded by Christine Feehan in future books:
a. In Dark Dream (https://inspirethoughts.livejournal.c...), Falcon and Sara Amiras adopts seven sewer children - three girls (Chrissy, Blythe, Emma) and four boys (Travis, Peter, Lucas, Jase) - all with psychic abilities.
b. Jubal Sanders - sibling to Joie Trigovise, first introduced in Dark Descent (https://inspirethoughts.livejournal.c...), resides in the Carpathian mountains with his sisters and aiding the Carpathians, comes from pure Jaguar blood-line, has feelings for Jasmine Sangria, jaguar female per Dark Storm.
c. Jasmine Sangria - sister to Juliette De La Cruz, first introduced in Dark Hunger (https://inspirethoughts.livejournal.c...), jaguar female, pregnant as of Dark Possession.

4. Perils that the Carpathians face:
a. Vampires congregating; injecting a fast acting poison impacting the nervous system; master vampires running together; a multigenerational poison that could attack the healers; fighting the master mage Xavier's remaining two splinters of which one is shared by Sergey and Vadim Malinov per Dark Crime; Xavyion, the surviving High Mage Triplets (Xavier killed in Dark Slayer by Razvan and Ivory Dragonseeker, Xaviero killed in Dark Blood by Zev Tirunul, aided by all the Carpathians and Lycans), rescue psychic females from the clutches of the remaining Malinov brothers so they don’t use them for breeding.
b. Society of Human Vampire Hunters who constantly hunt the Carpathians mistaking them to be Vampires. The Morrison Center for Psychic Research is targeting psychic humans and jaguar females.
c. Malinov Brothers - introduced in Dark Secret; they were sent to Asia by Vladimir Dubrinsky to fight vampires, instead they become the very thing that they were sent to kill - Kirja Manilov killed by Rafael De La Cruz with aid from Vikirnoff Von Shrieder in Dark Secret; Maxim Malinov killed by Mikhail Dubrinsky in Dark Celebration; Ruslan Manilov is the eldest of them and killed by Zacharias De La Cruz in Dark Predator; Sergey Malinov introduced in Dark Slayer; Vadim Malinov introduced in this plot.
d. The Lycan/Vampires - Carpathians who deliberately mixed blood with Lycans and voluntarily converted to Vampires - also known as the Sange rau.

5. Lifemate pairs that frequently show their presence, even though they had no main story for them, as of yet:
a. Eric and Celeste – Celeste is pregnant with child in Dark Prince, but no mention of them in the books after.
b. Vlad and Eleanor Belandrake - In Dark Symphony it is shown that she has given birth to Benjamin "Benj" and also adopts Josef - son of another Carpathian pair who are lying in ground now, Lucia and Rodaniver.
c. Tienn and Diedre - Diedre is sister of Vlad.

6. Other Carpathians, Lycans and Jaguars who are waiting for their lifemates or partners as of this book and we meet as the series progresses:
a. Tiberiu Bercovitz - an ancient mentioned in Dark Celebration known to be amazing with weapons.
b. Luiz De La Cruz - introduced as Luiz Silva, a Jaguar converted to Carpathian by Manolito De La Cruz in Dark Possession, inducted into the Carpathian world of Warriors in Dark Blood.
c. Andre - an ancient Carpathian who keeps mostly to himself, introduced first in Dark Curse, commonly known as The Ghost.
d. Tariq Asenguard - an ancient Carpathian, who was sent to North America by Vlad, introduced first in Dark Curse.
e. Matias, Lojos and Tomas - ancient Carpathians and siblings, triplets, first introduced in Dark Slayer.
f. The other elite Lycans introduced in Dark Lycan and subsequent books - Daciana Declaw (female elite Lycan), Lykaon, Makoce, Damon Declaw.
g. Gary Daratrazanoff - Introduced as Gary Jansen in the 4th book Dark Magic, revealed to have Jaguar blood and related to Colby and her step siblings in Dark Celebration, converted to Carpathian in Dark Blood after suffering a mortal wound aiding the Carpathians. 18 years since his character had first been mentioned, yet Christine still hasn’t spun a story for him. In one of her blog post on Goodreads in 2018, she however mentions that Gary's story has to wait as his lifemate is a child now. Has she already introduced the child? Or is she basing her on one of her granddaughters' - just like Skyler - and she would wait till the grand daughter would grow in real life before penning a story between her and Gary.
h. Val Zhestokly - ancient Carpathian legend rescued by Maksim and Blaze from clutches of Vladim Manilov in this plot.

7. Being so many few Carpathian females born, a few females that Christine still manages sneak in her plots are:
a. Shea O’Halloran – lifemate to Jacques Dubrinsky, first female born after more than 500 years, a natural healer. Her story is in Dark Desire (https://inspirethoughts.livejournal.c...).
b. Savannah Dubrinsky - daughter of Prince Mikhail and Raven Dubrinsky; lifemate to Gregori Daratrazanoff. Her story is in Dark Magic (https://inspirethoughts.livejournal.c...).
c. Desari Daratrazanoff - lifemate to Julian Savage, sister to Gregori and Darius; power to sing that could bring peace to all beings. Her story is in Dark Challenge (https://inspirethoughts.livejournal.c...)
d. Syndil - lifemate to Barack, with tremendous healing powers and has an affinity to earth. Her story is spread in two books - Dark Challenge and Dark Fire (https://inspirethoughts.livejournal.c...)
e. Francesca Del Ponce - lifemate to Gabriel Daratrazanoff. She is a powerful healer; makes stained glass patterns and quilts that are specific to one's need and bring healing to them. Her story is in Dark Legend (https://inspirethoughts.livejournal.c...). As of Dark Wolf, she is pregnant again.
f. Natalya Shonski - lifemate to Vikirnoff Von Shrieder. She is part human, part mage and part Dragonseeker. Has ability to see the past of anything that she touches. Her story is in Dark Demon.
g. Ivory Malinov - Lifemate to Razvan Dragonseeker, sister to the Malinov and De La Cruz brothers, ability to weave counteracting spells to Xavier's. Her story is in Dark Slayer (https://inspirethoughts.livejournal.c...).
h. Lara Calladine - lifemate to Nicolas De La Cruz. She is part human, part Carpathian and part Dragonseeker; and a daughter of Razvan Dragonseeker. Her story is in Dark Curse (https://inspirethoughts.livejournal.c...).
i. Branislava "Bronnie" Dragonseeker (Lifemate to Zev Tirunul, her story is in Dark Blood (https://inspirethoughts.livejournal.c...)), and Tatijana Dragonseeker (Lifemate to Fenris Dalka, her story is in Dark Lycan (https://inspirethoughts.livejournal.c...)).
j. Skyler Daratrazanoff - lifemate to Dimitri Tirunul; adopted by Gabriel and Francesca Daratrazanoff, is Razvan's biological daughter; part Mage, part Human, part Dragonseeker, part Jaguar, part Lycan (as revealed in Dark Blood); Daughter of the Earth. Her story is in Dark Wolf (https://inspirethoughts.livejournal.c...).
k. Gabrielle Sanders - Joie Trigovise and Jubal Sander's sister, introduced first in Dark Descent, but as of Dark Demon she is a Carpathian tied to Vikirnoff Von Shrieder; comes from pure Jaguar blood-line; totally in love with Gary Daratrazanoof, a brilliant scientist.

8. Next Generation Carpathian male and female kids:
a. Tamara - daughter of Gabriel and Francesca Daratrazanoff, born after the Dark Legend.
b. Josef and Benjamin "Ben" Belandrake - Carpathian male kids, first introduced in Dark Symphony. Nephews to Byron Justicano. In Dark Celebration a budding romance was shown between Josef and Ginny - Colby's step-sister; while in Dark Lycan Skyler mentions that perhaps one or both of Gregori's daughters' may be his lifemate.
c. Jennifer - daughter of Dayan and Corrine Wentworth, born in Dark Melody.
d. Stefan Kane Dubrinsky - Jacques and Shea Dubrinsky's son born in Dark Celebration.
e. Alexandru "Sandu" - Mikhail and Raven Dubrinsky's son, born sometime after Dark Curse.
f. Anastasia Daratrazanoff and Anya Daratrazanoff - twin girls of Gregori and Savannah Daratrazanoff, born in Dark Slayer. As of Dark Lycan, Anya and Anastasia are becoming strong protectors of Alexandru just like Gregori was to Mikhail; Anya more being Alexandru's second-in-command.
g. Andor and <> - Twins (a boy and girl) of Darius and Tempest Daratrazanoff.
h. Isabella Sara Amiras - Falcon and Sara Amiras' daughter, born in Dark Blood. (Sara miscarried the first child she had sometime after Dark Celebration)

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Continuing series

[Brianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice plot with vampires teaming up with evil mobsters and Blaze, the heroine, going after them when they killed her father. Maksim, the hero, didn't really stand out that much, but I liked how fair and sweet they were together. I can only hope that things will work out for Blaze's friend, Emeline.

[Dyanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fiery

Another good read. This one started out with gangsters 4 brothers who appeared to be making a bid to buy out Sean and Blaze's bar. Instead they killed Sean leaving an angry Blaze willing to take on the four brothers to make them pay for Sean's death or die trying. But before she does this she calls the number on a business card that her dad was given to let them know what she intended.

[Maureen Gianinio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark Crime
Part of the Dark series and the first story of the Ancients set in the states under the leadership of Tariq Asenguard. It is available in e-format or in print as part of the anthology Edge of Darkness there are also stories by Maggie SHayne and Lori Heret with their take on vampire lore. If new to the Carparthians this is a good book to jump in, Blaise McGuire and Maksim Volkov's story explains what Carpathians go through to find their lifemates and what their lifemates go through to join the Carpathian race. The characters also reflect on how the master vampires evolved from feral blood lust creatures to an organized group with knowledge of lethal poisons to use against the Carpathians and plotting horrific plans for the psychic women they seek and the ancients have come to protect. However once you read you'll want to go and read the entire series and see how Ms Feehan beautifully wove this developing thread through the entire series.
The story of Blaise and Maksim, although short, is complete. As she seeks her revenge and he his vengeance against master vampires and their puppets that have thrown their lives together, their chemistry, emotional ties, and trust grow making them both open to what they both need, and a mutual respect and love grows. Ms Feehan, masterfully, draws the reader into the story and bonds you with all the characters introduced so you're hoping for their HEA to bring them resolution, as well.

[Gucci 35 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark Crime 5 Stars

Christine Feehan never disappoints. Dark Crime has it all suspense, laughter, love and some parts will bring you to tears. We are introduced to Blaze a human psychic with a heart of a warrior. Her father is brutally murdered and she will avenge his death. She reaches out to Tariq and Makism to help her. What she doesn't realize is Makism will not let her die, she is his life mate. Well once Blaze and Makism meet it is on. With help from the sexy triplets and some friends they will discover an underground lair that is beyond evil.
If you have read any of Feehans Dark Series then you need to pick up a copy of Dark Crime. If you love paranormal romance then I suggest you give Dark Crime a go but if you haven't read Feehan's Dark Series you might want to start at the beginning with Dark Prince to get a better understanding of the storyline and characters. Feehan has created a wonderful world out of The Dark Series.. if you like Vampires you will love The Carpathians
Happy Reading

[Yuki Daratrazanoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cada vez hay más cosas por resolver, sí bien en algunas cosas me parecio que era diferente (respecto a la escritura) a los demás libros, pero no por eso deja de ser menos interesante.
La aparicion de más personajes.
He de confesar que yo realmente no imagine que hubiera tantos cárpatos por todo el mundo, cuando Mikahil dijo que estaban en extinción, me imagine que solo quedaban los que conocía o se habían mencionado a lo largo de los primeros libros, me siento traicionada. No puedo esperar por leer los que siguen, me he estado desvelando todos los días porque soy incapaz de detenerme, y no me arrepiento, debo decir que no me habia pasado, antes podía más el tener que levantarme temprano y querer descansar, pero creo que me he vuelto adicta. Me desvie, a lo que iba es que conforme voy leyendo me voy dando cuenta que los ultimos libros tienen más acción, más peleas y muchos más secretos.

[Flo Tinsman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous

Each book is better than the last. They are all extremely enjoyable to read and the anticipation is great for the next book

[Debbie Chittenden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a harsh harsh story. I've read this series @ 30 times and I honestly don't know how I never read this book in the last couple years. Well, it's read finally, and all I can say is wow! Christine Feehan is a dark dark soul. She can find the wicked and bring out the best in people. I loved Blaze's story, and I can't wait to read Emmeline's.

But first, I'm back to Teagan and Andre's story.

[Brandy Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark Crime was the perfect set up for the Ancients. Blaze is a warrior who doesn't back down. A great match for Maksim.