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New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter has enthralled thousands of readers with her Lords of the Underworld series. Discover a new side to the saga with this novella, The Darkest Prison.

Once, Atlas, the Titan god of strength, was the Greek goddess Nike's slave. Now, he is her master. And soon these sworn enemies destined to destroy one another will be forced to risk everything for a chance at love….

Discover how the Lords of the Underworld series began in The Darkest Night, and look for the latest installment of the series, The Darkest Seduction, available now.

65 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

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7173 people want to read

About the author

Gena Showalter

263 books27.9k followers
Gena Showalter is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of over seventy books, including the acclaimed Lords of the Underworld series, the Gods of War series, the White Rabbit Chronicles, and the Forest of Good and Evil series. She writes sizzling paranormal romance, heartwarming contemporary romance, and unputdownable young adult novels, and lives in Oklahoma City with her family and menagerie of dogs and cats.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 389 reviews
Profile Image for Exina.
1,275 reviews417 followers
January 29, 2020
Chronologically, The Darkest Prison is between The Darkest Pleasure (Reyes’ story) and The Darkest Whisper (Sabin’s story). The story sets mainly in Tartarus, and tells the story of Atlas, the Titan god of Strength, and Nike, the Greek goddess of Strength and Victory.



While The Darkest Fire is beautiful, but dark and tragic, Atlas and Nike’s story is fun and fast-paced. I loved to be in Atlas’ head and witness his adorably ambiguous feelings.



Nike’s strength is awe inspiring, but she also has a vulnerable, insecure side. Ms. Showalter’s female characters are as much admirable as her male characters.



The story is simply unputdownable, sexy and lovely. Love Greek mythology, adventures, steamy romances, and unforgettable characters? Read this series!


"Let's get the hell out of here. I need your pretty head connected to your amazing body."


Profile Image for Sophia Triad.
2,241 reviews3,766 followers
June 3, 2017
Atlas: Titan god of strength
Nike: Greek goddess of strength


A great “Enemies to Lovers” story.
Greeks and Titans are enemies.
Atlas was a prisoner and Nike’s slave in the beginning…and she tattooed her name on his chest.
Until Titans win the war.
After that Nike will be a prisoner of Atlas… and he will tattoo his name on her back.

“I will kill you for this,” she growled at him.
“Why? I’m not doing anything to you that you didn’t once have done to me.”


Atlas will try to punish her, but it is too late. They have fallen hopelessly in love with each other.

“Why won’t I let you go?”

In case you wonder if they appear again: Atlas and Nike will find the Lords of the Underworld later on in the book “The darkest touch". Nike is apparently a friend of Anya.
Profile Image for Azet.
1,095 reviews284 followers
February 7, 2021
"The Darkest Prison" is a novella that takes time between "The Darkest Pleasure" and "The Darkest Whisper".The story follows Atlas, Titan god of Strength who takes Nike, Greek goddess of Strength as his captive and brands his name on her back as she did him all those years ago.It was fun being in their Heaven World,and watching Nike and Atlas hate to love each other.I was surprised to see that King Cronus has Paris mate Sienna beside him,she seems to be a empty Shell of herself.Now that Nike and Atlas has escaped the clutches of the Titans they plan to visit the Lords of the Underworld so i am happily looking forward to it!
Profile Image for Anna.
484 reviews371 followers
April 27, 2016
“Together, they fell backward, onto the softness of the fur. He kept his arms around her, unwilling to let her go. Now…always?
Yes, always, he thought, and his eyes widened. He wanted her always. Wanted more of this. Had to have more of this. When he’d forgiven her completely, he didn’t know. When he’d softened, he didn’t know, either. He only knew that she’d become an important part of his life. Perhaps she always had been; he’d just been too foolish to realize it.”

I loved this novella ! Now I need more !!!
Profile Image for Leah.
1,322 reviews342 followers
May 5, 2017
The Darkest Prison is a short novella that is part of Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series. This novella tells the story of Atlas, the Titan god of Strength, and Nike, the Greek goddess of Strength and Victory. Many years before, Atlas had "seduced" Nike and convinced her to free him from Tartarus. That is, until she ran into one of the other guards that he had been schmoozing. As a result, she tattooed her name on his chest and threw him back in prison. We join the story many years later, after the Titans have already overthrown the Greeks and imprisoned them. Nike is now one of the prisoners while Atlas is now the warden and he has tattooed his name on her back. Despite their mutual hatred, they share a mutual passion and love towards each other. Atlas attempts to get permission from Cronus, the god king, to move Nike from the prison to his house under the pretense of making her suffer more, but Cronus does not give his permission. Despite that, Atlas takes Nike out for a day alone and they finally give in to their desire completely. Not many days later, Atlas frees Nike and sends her away the only way he knows how: with cruel words. As a result of defying the god king, Atlas is punished by getting Nike's name, a brand he had grown to love, cut out of his skin, fulfilling a vision Danika had painted in the beginning of the story; then he is thrown in prison. Once Nike realizes that he sent her away to keep her save and because he loved her, she devises a plan to rescue Atlas. Once they are free, they decide to go to earth and live among the humans. They also come to the realization that they would do well to make friends with the Lords of the Underworld, eternal enemies of Cronus.

I loved this story. It was very passionate and fast-paced. The passion between Atlas and Nike was sexy, steamy, and made me wish that I was Nike. To have that man's full attention, passion, and love aimed at me...Heaven. Characterwise, I loved Atlas. He was so adorable and he was pretty funny sometimes, too. It was a surprise to see Sienna, but I knew that Cronus was playing Paris before! It was interesting to see Reyes and Danika in the beginning to set the premise for Atlas' punishment. I actually squealed when Nike and Atlas said that they should befriend the Lords and I hope that they will show up in future Lords novels.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Mizuki.
3,370 reviews1,400 followers
April 7, 2024
Have to admit I like the comic version a lot better, the artwork and the character's design is terrific.

Huhh........another day in the land of troubles which is the warring gods and the immortal warriors, I guess?

The story is interesting, the main couple is okayish but for two people who are supposedly ageless deities, I'd expected more depth and wits for them instead of some run of the mill feel-good guilty pleasure.
Profile Image for Ronda.
890 reviews179 followers
May 19, 2012
I LOVED this story about Nike and Atlas and it's only heightened my need to read the next LOTU book.
Profile Image for Sammy Loves Books.
1,137 reviews1,681 followers
March 11, 2015
Wow! I really enjoyed this one!

Nike, the Greek goddess of Strength and Atlas, the Titan god of Strength are enemies that fall in love.

Nike
nike


Atlas
atlas

Showalter packed a lot of story in a small package. I have read all of the LOTU series and thoroughly enjoyed this one. We get a small glimpse of Reyes, and Cronus behaving badly.

This is a fun read for fans of the Underworld Lords!! Though this story is part of the Lords of the Underworld series, it can be read independently as a stand alone.
Profile Image for Shelby.
3,335 reviews93 followers
August 30, 2020
I enjoyed this little short. Instead of the Lords in this one we get to meet a couple of the gods locked up in Tartarus. Nike and Atlas have traded places in the prison after the titan uprising. Where once Nike was tasked with keeping Atlas under lock and key now it's Atlas' turn. But neither can get their past out of their heads. While once Atlas may have only seduced Nike as an attempt to escape, now he can't stop thinking about her and their past relationship. Nike meanwhile hates that she still thinks of Atlas after the way he used her.

I liked watching these two figure out how they really felt about each other. Fun little story.
Profile Image for Francesca the Fierce (Under the Covers Book Blog).
1,886 reviews504 followers
June 14, 2011
This review was posted at Under The Covers

This was a very entertaining story in the LOTU world. Even though we get a glimpse of Reyes and Danika at the beginning, it is only to give us an insight into what is happening in Cronus's side.

Atlas was held captive many years ago, and had tried to seduce all female guards to get someone to release him. Except even then, one of them had been special to him. It wasn't the prettiest girl of the bunch, no, it was Nike, with all her strength, and the way she made him feel. Except before she went against her people and released him, she found out about his other relations with other guards, and thought she was just a means to an end to him. Of course she should've known better. Why would a beautiful man like him want a woman like her. And to punish him, she carved her name on his back.

Now, years later, the positions are reversed, Nike is the slave in the cell, and Atlas wants revenged, he wants to see his name on her skin, but he didn't expect to feel possessive of her, he didn't expect that he would want no other man near her, touching her. She was his. But what future could they have together?

Sienna and Cronus make a small appearance as well, and the Lords are briefly mentioned, but other than that, this novel has nothing to do with the Lords and their continuing storyline. However it was a very entertaining short read.
Profile Image for Liz F.
719 reviews
June 15, 2012
This one was listed as #3.5 of the Lords of the Underworld series. Its a really super short story and is about Atlas, a Titan male and Nike,a greek goddess. Remember that the greek gods had put the Titans in this big ol' jail and recently, the Titans escaped and put the greek gods in the prison.

So Nike was once the prison guard of Atlas and gave him a tattoo of "Nike". Now their positions have changed and Atlas is Nike's prison guard and he gives her an "Atlas" tattoo as revenge. But, they are realizing that they are in love with each other. Atlas defies Cronus to free Nike. Cronus puts Atlas in the jail and removes the "Nike" tattoo, which he now cherishes. Nike comes in and rescues Atlas and they decide to flee to Earth because they know that the Lords of the Underworld are a pain in Cronus' butt and they hope to join up with them.

And that's it. Seriously. I don't think that its really necessary to read this "book". Its pretty good but its so short and doesn't add much to the overall story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Georgina Parkin.
2,441 reviews65 followers
December 11, 2014
Spoilers. Basically shows how Atlas and Nike, the Titan and Greek god/goddess of strength, fall in love and their past and how they escape Cronus's prison. We also see what Cronus is doing with Sienna, and there are clear hints Nike and Atlas will be joining the Lords for heir protection from Cronus. How groovy. I wouldn't say it was necessary but the .05 about Pandora's box was handy as they didn't explain the story behind it in any of the books and just mentioned the bones. So to see they actually fell in love and why they're against Cronus and how they were enemies once is good to see where things come from and are going.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Natalia815.
1,641 reviews64 followers
April 6, 2015
Los dos relatos que he leído de esta saga, son una maravilla. ¡Que bonita historia de amor! Atlas y Nike me han conquistado. Espero saber más de ellos en los próximos libros de los Señores del inframundo.
Profile Image for (ツ) Has.
753 reviews55 followers
May 27, 2017
Aw that was sweet.

I really hope Atlas and Nike join up with the LOTU guys. Would be awesome to see them in future books them all teaming up living in buda.
Profile Image for Katie's Book Boyfriends.
358 reviews20 followers
February 10, 2023
“If you need to be kissed, I’ll take care of it.”

Oh these gods acting like children. Quick little listen, light listen, def would recommend!

❤️🎧📖❤️
Book: The Darkest Prison Novella
Couple: Atlas and Nike
Series: Lords of the Underworld, 3.5, standalone
Author: Gena Showalter
Narrated by: Max Bellmore
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Kindle Unlimited: ❌
Audio Whispersync: ✅
Author Playlist: ❌

🗣 Narration 🗣: Fantastic!

📖 Tropes 📖: fantasy, E2L, forced proximity, series, 2nd chance, masculine heroine, super masculine hero

⚠️ Safety Squad ⚠️: safe

📚 Similar Books 📚: Kresley Cole IAD

🎵 Katie’s Song Rec 🎵: Veronica Swift’s Prisoner of Love
Profile Image for Nicole P.
784 reviews
November 20, 2018
I'm a sucker for Greek mythology and this just hit all the right spots. The Greek goddess of strength Nike and Titan god of strength Atlas go head-to-head in this one. Sworn enemies who just happen to have explosive chemistry. Gah! Loved it all. I'm loving this series and can't wait to devour the rest.
Profile Image for ReadToBreathe.
870 reviews32 followers
June 12, 2020
5 Stars
Even though it is just a novella, I enjoyed it more than the previous books. It was a lovely, refreshing surprise.
Profile Image for Malinda.
1,852 reviews245 followers
February 11, 2020
4 stars

This was a very enjoyable story. This was a pretty typical nemesis-to-lovers storyline. I was a bit iffy on Atlas' feelings in the beginning , considering his actions when things started with Nike, but I was convinced by the end. I liked Atlas and Nike once they got together...things aren't perfect for them but they're together, free and in love so it's a good ending. :)
Profile Image for Lynsey is Reading.
714 reviews234 followers
October 31, 2011
Oh dear.

I actually quite like the Lords of the Underworld series so I do feel a bit mean for giving it only one star, but I really did not like this. It was just awful. The best thing about it was that it was nice and short so the pain was over fairly quickly.

Message to Gena Showalter: mean bullies who trick you into sex, incarcerate you, carve their name into your back and kiss other women in front of your jail cell to deliberately hurt your feelings, are NOT sexy!

In defence of Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series (of which I have so far read the first three and plan on reading the rest), this was not really set in the same world as the main series, it didn't feature a Lord, and the only actual connection I can find is that it stars a couple of Greek gods from the series' mythology. So I really don't feel like it reflects the series at all, and if you are reading the Lords of the Underworld series you could skip this and not miss a single thing.
Profile Image for Nay Denise.
1,713 reviews89 followers
October 23, 2014
I wasn't too thrilled with this novella. It wasn't a fascinating love story like all the other stories were, but I did enjoy the introduction of two new characters. Nike, goddess of strength and Atlas, Titan god of strength were very similar in how their ability was strength. Their relationship was crazy. When the gods and goddesses ruled heaven Atlas was her sex slave and she branded him on his chest (with her name). In turn, when the Titan's took over he did the same to her. They hated each other, but loved one another.

I think the way Atlas treated her and used her emotions when he was locked up was wrong and Nike did the right thing in making him pay, but Atlas did truly love her which was amazing in itself. I love how he defied Cronus and stood up to him. I can't wait to see how they come about it The Darkest Whisper when meeting with the Lords of the Underworld.
Profile Image for Gigi Tous.
32 reviews1 follower
October 8, 2015
3.5 stars
If I could describe the taste this book left me with:

I like my hot chocolate fervent, spicy with different flavors. The problem with in-betweens is that to prolong too much what was hot chocolate turns to be... uh... warm milk.

The plot is... nice, kind of funny... but just so because it's short.
It's Gena, it's good. ?? Not a motto anymore. Please, Gena, move on, you can do another LOTU. I don't need it next month. I can wait a year, or two, even three. I just want a new plot as good as the LOTU's.
Profile Image for Alison.
3,685 reviews145 followers
August 9, 2016
Nike and Atlas are bitter enemies, not only is she Greek whereas he is a Titan but also, when he was locked up in Tartalus he seduced her in order to get free. As revenge she ha her name permanently tattooed on his chest!

Now the Titans are in charge again the positions are reversed and Atlas is going to enjoy his revenge.

The trouble is ... a lot of his revenge appears to involve kissing Nike!

A short story but sweet.
Profile Image for Kat Desi.
Author 2 books73 followers
July 27, 2015
I'm surprised that I liked this novella! I wasn't really keen on Atlas with what he had done to Nike in the past but then again Nike had it coming to her! This short packs quite a punch, too. I look forward to seeing them interact with the Lords of the Underworld.
Profile Image for Julia.
Author 3 books13 followers
October 5, 2021
The Darkest Prison by Gena Showalter review.

Synopsis:

Once Atlas, the Titan god of strength, was the Greek goddess Nike's slave. Now he is her master. And soon these sworn enemies, who are destined to destroy one another, will be forced to risk everything for a chance at love…

‘She should have known he was playing her the moment he’d turned those dangerous eyes on her and they lit with “interest.” Men just didn’t look at her like that. Not even Erebos had, and he had loved her.’

A nice little novella about Atlas and Nike. I hope we will see more of them in the coming books for the LotU series!

‘He loved her. Perhaps he always had. He’d never felt so strongly about a woman. He’d never wanted to spend his every waking minute with someone before, had never wanted to cuddle someone into his side for every sleeping minute. He’d never wanted to eat every meal together. To talk and laugh about their days. To spar, verbally and physically. But he did with her.’

‘Only a man in love would do such a thing. Only a man in love would keep such a thing in such a prominent place. Only a man in love would want to see a woman’s portrait every night before he fell asleep, then wake up looking at it.’

4/5 Stars!
Profile Image for Laura.has.too.many.books.
724 reviews6 followers
January 20, 2022
* It would be helpful to read the previous books in this series.

When the titans overtrew the gods in Olympus, they tossed all the gods they didn't kill in their old home, Tartarus. Then they have Atlas, titan of Strength, the key, unknowing of how deep his history with the goddess of Strength and victory, Nike. Seemingly destined to love each other, but on two different sides of the war, their love will have to find a different way.

Short, insightful story about the romance between Atlas and Nike. The romance itself was bland, just like the characters, truth be told this is the least connected I've been to Gena's leading people in a while. It feels so very cliche, that nothing in this story really surprised me. They might be a cool hint to see Atlas and Nike in future books, but even that is just speculation right now. This story is nothing special and you don't really need to read this.
Profile Image for Toshita.
593 reviews60 followers
February 4, 2024
It's been so long since I've read a book in this series. I don't remember a lot of what has already happened, but I'm not gonna go back to re-read stuff. I'll just stumble around confused. Anyway, since this book was directly related to the storyline of the previous books, there was plenty of background given which helped. I liked the story but I also think it developed way too fast. Especially because we didn't get to see a lot of flashbacks. I would have liked for there to be some time jumps where we could flash back and forward to see how Atlas and Nike's relationship changed over time.
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