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Dark Impulse #5
Loyalty Oath
A new city, a new start, and the same old dance. After swearing an oath to Mezolak to save Ryoko’s life, Jack is left in service to the ancient, evil demon that’s taken possession of his father’s body. Surprisingly, it isn’t so bad.
His new benefactor doesn’t ask much of him, even providing lodgings in the form of a swanky penthouse in the middle of Arc City. Left to his own devices, Jack is faced with a familiar and now unavoidable question. Who should he feed on next?
WARNING: This book contains graphic sex, a slow building harem, and increasingly disconcerting moral dilemmas.
His new benefactor doesn’t ask much of him, even providing lodgings in the form of a swanky penthouse in the middle of Arc City. Left to his own devices, Jack is faced with a familiar and now unavoidable question. Who should he feed on next?
WARNING: This book contains graphic sex, a slow building harem, and increasingly disconcerting moral dilemmas.
- GenresUrban FantasyHaremDemons
321 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 28, 2018
79 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
About the author
Edmund Hughes
31 books118 followersHey, I'm Edmund Hughes. I like to write fantasy novels with strong erotic themes, gratuitous amounts of sex and violence, and offensive humor. If that's what you're looking for, you've come to the right place.
Check out my page on Booksprout (https://booksprout.co/author/1303/edm...) for freebies and discounts. Check out my website (https://edmundhughes.com) for random musings and behind the scenes content.
Thanks for reading. Reviews are always appreciated
Check out my page on Booksprout (https://booksprout.co/author/1303/edm...) for freebies and discounts. Check out my website (https://edmundhughes.com) for random musings and behind the scenes content.
Thanks for reading. Reviews are always appreciated
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 30, 2020
This is not so much a review as it is a retrospective over the entire series. And as such, the rating is for the entire series.
So, I inhaled a five book series in less than a week and a half. That’s a personal record for me, as I usually take over a week to read through just one 300-400 page novel. Even after having read The Shattered Sky, I don’t believe that I ever became so invested in any literary work to power through it like I did.
Either that, or I developed a serious problem.
To be perfectly honest, though, with how much I love vampire-themed stories, I feel that the latter might actually be true. So if it’s a problem at all, I’m enjoying every moment of it. That having been said, I promise the next retrospective will absolutely not be another vampire series.
(… No, I don’t.)
All kidding aside, I must say that in spite of its flaws, I found a special gem in Edward Hughes’ Dark Impulse, a supernatural action/suspense series, consisting of five books: Blood Mage, Shadow Form, Emerald Keep, Water Nymph, and Loyalty Oath. Each volume packs a literary treat of action and drama with just a dash of horror and erotic elements, all wrapped up with a vampire subplot to get the blood flowing. Pun intended.
The story begins with the return of Jack Masterson to his childhood home on Lestaron island, after the death of his grandfather, Peter, in order to settle his legal affairs. After reuniting with his now strangely distant childhood friend, Katie, and making the acquaintance of Ryoko, the sweet but timid household maid, Jack is shocked to learn that he has become the sole inheritor of his grandfather’s considerable monetary wealth, and co-owner of his mansion, along with Katie. But before he can settle down and appreciate his inheritance, his encounter with the mysterious and seductive vampire, Mira, changes his life forever.
One sultry night and a cursed bite later, and Jack is thrown into a world of magic and creatures of legend, and at the same time burdened with unnatural drives and urges that both threaten his humanity, and make him a target of the self-styled protectors of the supernatural. Learning that his grandfather was a powerful sorcerer and Katie’s teacher only serves to further complicate his situation, as well as Katie’s, who serves as his sole source of blood, but only after taking precautions to stave off the enslaving effects of his bite: a situation that at first only serves to deepen the awkwardness of their evolving relationship and make an enemy out of Katie’s hotheaded fiancé.
And this is how it all begins for Jack, as each story pits him against foes both mundane and magical, each new situation producing issues of moral choice that drives the hapless protagonist to question which side holds the greatest sway over his decisions: the man or the monster?
Relationships also change and evolve throughout the course of the series; some are even broken. But they are all chiefly focused on Jack, and his feelings for the hotheaded Katie, shy Ryoko, and lusty Mira. From book to book, they become friends, enemies and lovers, their fates irrevocably entwined with each other’s as Jack faces dangers from human trafficking cartels, capricious elementals, self-righteous magical organizations, rogue wizards, fellow vampires, and even demons, using his growing arsenal of vampiric “blood magic” to survive in his strange new existence.
Hughes, throughout the series, tends to keep most of the action limited to Lestaron Island, up until Emerald Keep, where we receive glimpses of the greater supernatural and mundane world, introducing the reader to vampiric sanctums, the bustling night life of Arc City, the magical abodes of wizards, and the infernal hellscapes of demonic habitation. But as limited as travel is in this series, the author builds each locale up as living, breathing places, full of detail, and even manages to keep Lestaron Island feeling fresh and interesting, and very much like home, through all the good and bad.
In addition to this, the mystical menagerie is varied and diverse, giving an almost Potter-esque “world-within-a-world” milieu. Pure wizardly magic, however, outside of the many blood spells in Jack’s repertoire, is a sort of rare treat, presented during infrequent run-ins with the holier-than-thou agents of the Order of Chaldea, rogue alchemists, or unaligned wizard, executing a strange juxtaposition between the rules-heavy hard magic system of blood magic and the soft magic of the Order and other wizards’ more versatile enchantments, creating an interesting power dynamic between all sides. Even vampires’ abilities vary with the bloodlines into which they are “embraced”, which dictate whether their strength will lie in raw power, intellect, or magic.
Above all things, the Dark Impulse series’ strongest element has been its portrayal of moral ambiguity, and its effect on Jack and his friends over time. At times, it brings them closer together; other times, it becomes such a mental and ethical burden that it brings relationships nearly to destruction. Jack, who only desired a peaceful life, finds that with every adventure and supernatural encounter, this dream may simply not be in the cards. The growing urges of his vampiric body, coupled with the temptations of Mira, who, having turned him for her own convoluted reasons, appears to understand him the best, are combined with consuming lust for revenge upon criminals whose operations hit too close to home, and the fallout from a demonic pact made out of desperation and helplessness, make Jack the most human of the series’ many and sundry characters, and at times, heartbreakingly sympathetic. This created an emotional engagement that kept me coming back for more.
And of course, there’s the vampire thing.
You know me; I love vampire stories! And Dark Impulse is a delight for any vampire afficionado, especially the afficionado who loves sexytimes sprinkled in with their action, which don’t really impede the story. Now when it comes to sex and violence, Hughes pulls no punches in either category, turning up the heat for the story’s multiple and surprisingly well-written sex scenes, and letting the blood flow freely in its many battles between Jack and his foes. Blood is spilled just about as much as it is drank before and during the old rumpy-pumpy, which usually results from said drink. And the series makes the reader know that the drive for that precious fluid is both bane and blessing to Jack, as without certain alchemical preparations being made, his next meal ticket will also become his lifelong slave —something that is the last thing that he wants. On the plus side, however, is the transcendently pleasurable and luridly sexual nature of the act, preparations or not. This fact engenders endless friction between Jack and Katie, but poses very little trouble with others. At the risk of spoiling all the surprises the stories have to offer, let’s just say that Jack, over time, is able to resolve this particular ethical quandary. In retrospect, however, I feel that the end result reflects a possibility that perhaps Hughes was a bit too strongly influenced by Japanese erotic dating games. Make of that what you will.
On the subject of shortcomings, I would be remiss in stating how the series is not without its set of problems. To start, is the usual issue of typos and grammar errors. There are thankfully fiew, and usually relegated to misgendering a character or mixing singular and plural nouns, but they are enough to be noticeable. And so, as I say in every review, some may find this a massive turn-off; to me, it wasn’t enough to disrupt my enjoyment. Still, I wish that indie authors would take a bit more time to weed out these avoidable errors.
The second issue really focuses around the general weakness of one book in the series. I believe that any book series will have a weakest book among the lot. And in Dark Impulse, that distinction goes to the fourth tale in the series, Water Nymph. While by no means a bad book, it certainly displays the weakest plot of the series, chiefly due to the downright puzzling number of stupid decisions that Jack makes, driven by a sheer whim. And though long-held secrets about his past are revealed in this volume, Jack’s obsession with answers and what they lead him to, in spite of constant warnings do not, in my opinion, justify his motivations. Still, the emotional impact of the closing sequence of events in that very book ultimately do appear to work as a good counterbalance to its literary shortcomings.
One more issue I came across was not so much a matter of poor writing, so much as it was the impression I received from Katie as a character overall. While a complex character, this complexity is expressed in a way that most readers will find nearly insufferable. Whiny, snappish, and selfish throughout the first three stories, and often infuriatingly stubborn, she can easily wear on the nerves at times. And though I could sympathize with her, due to her connection to Jack’s childhood, and see that like Jack, all she desired was a normal life, her reactions to everything afterwards make her less than endearing. Finding herself as Jack’s sole source of sustenance, and the confusion of feelings such an intimate act leaves in its wake, combined with the fact that she is supposed to be engaged, changes her into a semi-neurotic ball of sarcasm and unnecessary insults that never failed to make me roll my eyes in annoyance. Only in the final events of the series does she show true evolution of character, and I feel that Hughes should not have waited so long to show her begin to make peace with all this.
Again, in all, I felt that these issues were minor, but any other reader’s mileage may vary. In my opinion, I feel that I found a hidden literary gem, with attractively beautiful cover art and an equally attractive story to be told in its pages. And despite the length of this retrospective, there is a great deal that I am not sharing. And while I do feel that Hughes did wrap some story elements up a little too quickly in the end, as well as woefully underused a certain minor character, it provided a perfect balance of closure and openness in case he chooses to return to this world —which I hope he does. Amusingly, with how some characters represent certain archetypes found in anime, it would not surprise me if his goal was to create an Americanized version of a light novel or an anime in this tale, but without the sexual teasing inherent in stories of this nature. I hope it is not all over for tales involving Jack and company, but if it is, I think that the series was ended on a high note, and I’d recommend Dark Impulse to any fans of the vampire genre. A darkly exciting world awaits.
So, I inhaled a five book series in less than a week and a half. That’s a personal record for me, as I usually take over a week to read through just one 300-400 page novel. Even after having read The Shattered Sky, I don’t believe that I ever became so invested in any literary work to power through it like I did.
Either that, or I developed a serious problem.
To be perfectly honest, though, with how much I love vampire-themed stories, I feel that the latter might actually be true. So if it’s a problem at all, I’m enjoying every moment of it. That having been said, I promise the next retrospective will absolutely not be another vampire series.
(… No, I don’t.)
All kidding aside, I must say that in spite of its flaws, I found a special gem in Edward Hughes’ Dark Impulse, a supernatural action/suspense series, consisting of five books: Blood Mage, Shadow Form, Emerald Keep, Water Nymph, and Loyalty Oath. Each volume packs a literary treat of action and drama with just a dash of horror and erotic elements, all wrapped up with a vampire subplot to get the blood flowing. Pun intended.
The story begins with the return of Jack Masterson to his childhood home on Lestaron island, after the death of his grandfather, Peter, in order to settle his legal affairs. After reuniting with his now strangely distant childhood friend, Katie, and making the acquaintance of Ryoko, the sweet but timid household maid, Jack is shocked to learn that he has become the sole inheritor of his grandfather’s considerable monetary wealth, and co-owner of his mansion, along with Katie. But before he can settle down and appreciate his inheritance, his encounter with the mysterious and seductive vampire, Mira, changes his life forever.
One sultry night and a cursed bite later, and Jack is thrown into a world of magic and creatures of legend, and at the same time burdened with unnatural drives and urges that both threaten his humanity, and make him a target of the self-styled protectors of the supernatural. Learning that his grandfather was a powerful sorcerer and Katie’s teacher only serves to further complicate his situation, as well as Katie’s, who serves as his sole source of blood, but only after taking precautions to stave off the enslaving effects of his bite: a situation that at first only serves to deepen the awkwardness of their evolving relationship and make an enemy out of Katie’s hotheaded fiancé.
And this is how it all begins for Jack, as each story pits him against foes both mundane and magical, each new situation producing issues of moral choice that drives the hapless protagonist to question which side holds the greatest sway over his decisions: the man or the monster?
Relationships also change and evolve throughout the course of the series; some are even broken. But they are all chiefly focused on Jack, and his feelings for the hotheaded Katie, shy Ryoko, and lusty Mira. From book to book, they become friends, enemies and lovers, their fates irrevocably entwined with each other’s as Jack faces dangers from human trafficking cartels, capricious elementals, self-righteous magical organizations, rogue wizards, fellow vampires, and even demons, using his growing arsenal of vampiric “blood magic” to survive in his strange new existence.
Hughes, throughout the series, tends to keep most of the action limited to Lestaron Island, up until Emerald Keep, where we receive glimpses of the greater supernatural and mundane world, introducing the reader to vampiric sanctums, the bustling night life of Arc City, the magical abodes of wizards, and the infernal hellscapes of demonic habitation. But as limited as travel is in this series, the author builds each locale up as living, breathing places, full of detail, and even manages to keep Lestaron Island feeling fresh and interesting, and very much like home, through all the good and bad.
In addition to this, the mystical menagerie is varied and diverse, giving an almost Potter-esque “world-within-a-world” milieu. Pure wizardly magic, however, outside of the many blood spells in Jack’s repertoire, is a sort of rare treat, presented during infrequent run-ins with the holier-than-thou agents of the Order of Chaldea, rogue alchemists, or unaligned wizard, executing a strange juxtaposition between the rules-heavy hard magic system of blood magic and the soft magic of the Order and other wizards’ more versatile enchantments, creating an interesting power dynamic between all sides. Even vampires’ abilities vary with the bloodlines into which they are “embraced”, which dictate whether their strength will lie in raw power, intellect, or magic.
Above all things, the Dark Impulse series’ strongest element has been its portrayal of moral ambiguity, and its effect on Jack and his friends over time. At times, it brings them closer together; other times, it becomes such a mental and ethical burden that it brings relationships nearly to destruction. Jack, who only desired a peaceful life, finds that with every adventure and supernatural encounter, this dream may simply not be in the cards. The growing urges of his vampiric body, coupled with the temptations of Mira, who, having turned him for her own convoluted reasons, appears to understand him the best, are combined with consuming lust for revenge upon criminals whose operations hit too close to home, and the fallout from a demonic pact made out of desperation and helplessness, make Jack the most human of the series’ many and sundry characters, and at times, heartbreakingly sympathetic. This created an emotional engagement that kept me coming back for more.
And of course, there’s the vampire thing.
You know me; I love vampire stories! And Dark Impulse is a delight for any vampire afficionado, especially the afficionado who loves sexytimes sprinkled in with their action, which don’t really impede the story. Now when it comes to sex and violence, Hughes pulls no punches in either category, turning up the heat for the story’s multiple and surprisingly well-written sex scenes, and letting the blood flow freely in its many battles between Jack and his foes. Blood is spilled just about as much as it is drank before and during the old rumpy-pumpy, which usually results from said drink. And the series makes the reader know that the drive for that precious fluid is both bane and blessing to Jack, as without certain alchemical preparations being made, his next meal ticket will also become his lifelong slave —something that is the last thing that he wants. On the plus side, however, is the transcendently pleasurable and luridly sexual nature of the act, preparations or not. This fact engenders endless friction between Jack and Katie, but poses very little trouble with others. At the risk of spoiling all the surprises the stories have to offer, let’s just say that Jack, over time, is able to resolve this particular ethical quandary. In retrospect, however, I feel that the end result reflects a possibility that perhaps Hughes was a bit too strongly influenced by Japanese erotic dating games. Make of that what you will.
On the subject of shortcomings, I would be remiss in stating how the series is not without its set of problems. To start, is the usual issue of typos and grammar errors. There are thankfully fiew, and usually relegated to misgendering a character or mixing singular and plural nouns, but they are enough to be noticeable. And so, as I say in every review, some may find this a massive turn-off; to me, it wasn’t enough to disrupt my enjoyment. Still, I wish that indie authors would take a bit more time to weed out these avoidable errors.
The second issue really focuses around the general weakness of one book in the series. I believe that any book series will have a weakest book among the lot. And in Dark Impulse, that distinction goes to the fourth tale in the series, Water Nymph. While by no means a bad book, it certainly displays the weakest plot of the series, chiefly due to the downright puzzling number of stupid decisions that Jack makes, driven by a sheer whim. And though long-held secrets about his past are revealed in this volume, Jack’s obsession with answers and what they lead him to, in spite of constant warnings do not, in my opinion, justify his motivations. Still, the emotional impact of the closing sequence of events in that very book ultimately do appear to work as a good counterbalance to its literary shortcomings.
One more issue I came across was not so much a matter of poor writing, so much as it was the impression I received from Katie as a character overall. While a complex character, this complexity is expressed in a way that most readers will find nearly insufferable. Whiny, snappish, and selfish throughout the first three stories, and often infuriatingly stubborn, she can easily wear on the nerves at times. And though I could sympathize with her, due to her connection to Jack’s childhood, and see that like Jack, all she desired was a normal life, her reactions to everything afterwards make her less than endearing. Finding herself as Jack’s sole source of sustenance, and the confusion of feelings such an intimate act leaves in its wake, combined with the fact that she is supposed to be engaged, changes her into a semi-neurotic ball of sarcasm and unnecessary insults that never failed to make me roll my eyes in annoyance. Only in the final events of the series does she show true evolution of character, and I feel that Hughes should not have waited so long to show her begin to make peace with all this.
Again, in all, I felt that these issues were minor, but any other reader’s mileage may vary. In my opinion, I feel that I found a hidden literary gem, with attractively beautiful cover art and an equally attractive story to be told in its pages. And despite the length of this retrospective, there is a great deal that I am not sharing. And while I do feel that Hughes did wrap some story elements up a little too quickly in the end, as well as woefully underused a certain minor character, it provided a perfect balance of closure and openness in case he chooses to return to this world —which I hope he does. Amusingly, with how some characters represent certain archetypes found in anime, it would not surprise me if his goal was to create an Americanized version of a light novel or an anime in this tale, but without the sexual teasing inherent in stories of this nature. I hope it is not all over for tales involving Jack and company, but if it is, I think that the series was ended on a high note, and I’d recommend Dark Impulse to any fans of the vampire genre. A darkly exciting world awaits.
December 1, 2018
In this ,the final book in the series Katie returns to team up with Jack, Mira and Ryoko. Jack discovers a way to possibly break free from Mezolaks control and to try to save his father. There is a final showdown on Lestaron Island including the Order of Chaldea where Jack faces up to Mezolak with some unlikely help. Good ending to the series.
December 7, 2018
Great book
I enjoyed this book. The only draw back is that it is the end of the series and I really enjoyed this series. Highly recommended
I enjoyed this book. The only draw back is that it is the end of the series and I really enjoyed this series. Highly recommended
May 24, 2019
Best of this series.
May 27, 2019
Deep.
A little deep in places, I could have done without quite as much detail in several places. But overall it is a really good story.
A little deep in places, I could have done without quite as much detail in several places. But overall it is a really good story.
June 4, 2019
Is this the end?
Damn i love the series. It reads like a great tv show. Dont really have much criticism, and honestly this would be a great end... but cmoonnn
Damn i love the series. It reads like a great tv show. Dont really have much criticism, and honestly this would be a great end... but cmoonnn
October 14, 2019
Fairly good book. I feel that there was a lot of rushing to complete this one but all and all it was pretty good. I wish I could do half stars.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews