This is technically the nineteenth novel in the Dark Hunter series, Bad Moon Rising is Fang Kattalakis' story. Fang is a Were-Hunter and the brother of two of the most powerful members of the Omegrion: the ruling council that enforces the laws of the Were-Hunters, Vane (his story is told in the novel Night Play) and Fury (his story is told in the short story "Shadow of the Moon"). While this novel covers the past five years of Fang's life, including his introduction to Amy Peltier, and a reader could start with this book, I wouldn't recommend it. There are so many references to different characters from other books as well as previous events from other books, it's easier to follow if you're a fan of the series.
Fang Kattalakis meets Amy Peltier one afternoon when his brother Vane and several of their pack go into Sanctuary, the bar and safe haven for Were-Hunters that her family owns. There's an instant connection. Both Amy and Fang are Were-Hunters. The problem is that Fang is a Katagaria wolf and Amy is an Arcadian Bear (Katagaria and Arcadian species are at war with each other). But despite the laws of nature, the more time they spend together, the more they fall in love and the more they know that they're mates - they're not interested in anyone else.This is strictly a paranormal romance novel. Most of Sherrilyn Kenyon's novels are strictly romance, but some of them have enough plot development, action, and suspense that urban fantasy fans will find a lot about them to enjoy. Probably not with this one.
I enjoy reading all of Kenyon's novels, but I will be the first to admit some are better than others. I was excited to finally get Fang and Amy's story because both characters were first introduced to me back in the sixth book (or was it the fifth?). And the last hardcover and much anticipated Kenyon novel Acheron was the best one of the series, by far.
Bad Moon Rising opens up with the scene when Fang first meets Amy, and as a fan of the series I was delighted with the books start. I was able to get history and backstory on two characters I'd always liked but didn't really know all that well. But as the book went on, I found it hard to keep track of the time. Except for the initial time stamps on the first few chapters, it was unclear how much time had passed between chapters or even within chapters. Because Bad Moon Rising overlaps over almost all the other books in the series, I found myself fighting to try to remember what was going on behind the scenes from other books. And most of the action and suspense is a result of what was going on in the plot of other books.
While I liked was getting an explanation for the coma Fang was in during Vane's book and some of the subsequent books, I didn't like how much time Kenyon spent detailing that explanation. There were a few chapters I skimmed because I just wanted to get to the part when he came out of the coma - since I already knew that was going to happen. And that sums up probably the biggest problem I had with the book - as far as the action was concerned I knew what was going to happen because I'd read the other books.
It becomes a double edged sword. Readers unfamiliar with Kenyon's Dark Hunter series will have a hard time following the action and characters, but fans of the series will be pushing through and skimming scenes where they already know the outcome to get to the good parts - the parts that tell the story they don't know the ending to. Which is unfortunately only the last few chapters of the book.
Where Bad Moon Rising fails, Acheron succeeded because it was a two part book. In Part I, readers got Acheron's backstory and his history along with all of the mythology that Kenyon incorporates so well. Then in Part II the story fast-forwarded to the present and we got a whole new story. In Bad Moon Rising the backstory and fill in on the characters' relationship takes up about 80% of the book and only the last 20% is new.All that said, fans of the Dark Hunter series won't want to miss Bad Moon Rising. Even with its faults, it's an enjoyable read.
