Dark Blood by Nikki Hayes for me was just an average read. I picked this book up expecting to be transported into a world filled with magic, action and awesome characters.  Well, I got the magic, some action, but the characters were woefully lacking with regard to development.

There were moments when I felt like giving up on the story, but I held out to the end. It may not have been a wise choice for me as I ended up spending a whole week with this book.

Now on to my thoughts of this story.

World Building

The author introduced a world set in the year 2040 in a town called Ridgeview.

A disease, nicknamed the Scourge, ravaged the country. Since then the population was never the same. Mental instability and strange occurrences were on the rise. The strange occurrences, which had no scientific explanation, led to the formation of the Paranormal Crimes Unit. 

Characters

The variety of supernatural beings promised an intense and tale. Mages, mind readers, teleporters, the undead and warlocks. Unfortunately, I did not see much interaction from these beings in terms of the use of their abilities. 

The story focuses on a mage, a warlock, a mind reader, a teleporter and a young woman who is just discovering she possesses supernatural powers. Sad to say I had a hard time with these characters as they were two-dimensional, except for the heroine, Natasha, who was static. She annoyed me for most of the story due to her immaturity and indecisiveness. 

The villain appeared and left and I am still trying to figure out what his purpose in the story. Yeah, he wanted to take over the world, but why, that was not clear. Information on him lacked depth, so I had no clue what drove his maniacal desires.

The Guild of Mages, which developed after the Scourge and their purpose, was mentioned, but they played no part in the chain of events. It was not until the end when everything was over that they made an appearance.

Supernatural Elements

I enjoyed this aspect of the story, however I had a few issues.  First, Natasha is just discovering she has supernatural abilities and that her powers are dark. She has little time to adjust this news before she finds herself plunged into the midst of a magical chaos of good versus evil. Then with little training, she soon became badass wielder of her magical powers. She had several misses has a result but thankfully she mastered her powers when it was most needed. 

Story

The story flowed although there were a few parts where I felt lost. Some parts of the needed more explanation. I knew the Scourge wreaked havoc but its origin and the cause was not made clear. It left some persons with abilities and it others sick. It would have been nice to know the reason for this effect.  I enjoyed the action scenes, especially the final battle scene. 

I did not like the manner in which the story ended, as it left me hanging and not in a good way.

Conclusion/Recommendation

Dark had great potential, but it did not live up to my expectations. If you enjoy reading about magic and supernatural abilities, then you may enjoy Dark Blood.

I’m Natasha. Friends call me Tash. The world calls me troublemaker.
No one knows I possess a deadly magic.

It was supposed to be a simple surveillance job, just like the zillion others I had run for my tough-guy benefactor, Tobias. An hour into it, I’m sitting with a dead body after barely surviving a warlock’s rampage.

I thought things couldn’t get any worse, but what did I know? Running point for Tobias or being witness to a murder was the least of my worries. Now I’ve been blackmailed into working with sexy paranormal cop Ian, and I must help him find what the warlock is up to before he destroys whatever is left of our world.

Piece of cake, right? Sure, if you ignored the dark magic I was born with. I just might save the world from a warlock’s evil plans, but can I save it from the darkness that lies within me?