Darkness Brutal

The Dark Cycle, Book 1

By: Rachel A. Marks

Narrated by: Will Damron

Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

Aidan O'Linn's childhood ended the night he saw a demon kill his mother and mark his sister, Ava, with Darkness. Since then, every three years the demons have returned to try to claim her. Living in the gritty, forgotten corners of Los Angeles, Aidan has managed to protect his sister, but he knows that even his powers to fight demons and speak dead languages won't keep her safe for much longer.

In desperation, Aidan seeks out the help of Sid, the enigmatic leader of a group of teens who run LA Paranormal, an Internet reality show that fights demons and ghosts. In their company, Aidan believes he's finally found a haven for Ava. But when he meets Kara, a broken girl who can spin a hypnotic web of passionate energy, he awakens powers he didn't know he had - and unleashes a new era of war between the forces of Light and the forces of Darkness.

With the fate of humanity in his hands, can Aidan keep the Darkness at bay and accept his brilliant, terrifying destiny?

©2015 Rachel A. Marks (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

I got used to it

At first I had a hard time with the narrator’s female voice but I got used to it and after 13 hours it sounds just fine now.

Great story

Loved the story, could have been better without all the language. it was kind of rough and I thought several times to quit listening. I will listen to the next in hopes of less bad language.

Outstanding !

I was pleasantly surprised by the story and narration. Great job guys. Can't wait to read the next one!!!!!

Love the story

But I cannot stand Kara at all not even a little bit. I'm onto book 2 hoping he gets smart & goes with Rebbecca

Completely original and intelligent series!

I don't, normally, write reviews. But this series is so outstanding it deserves praise.

If you're looking for a fun, original, series that hasn't been done a hundred times. This is your series. I will admit it is YA, but more mature than 90% of YA out there. There is a "teenage sex fantasy" vibe to it as another reviewer put it. But its fine. And, lots, of mature language. Which even I use, so its nothing. But if you're a person who is too good for that, I'd pass.

The narrator did a wonderful job! He did each character justice. Even the female ones.

So, in conclusion, this series has become my favorite YA series I've ever read. The Kindle book companion is on Kindle Unlimited. But after reading it. I bought both books. And preordered the third.

I warn you, you'll be missing out if you pass this up!

Amen! Great Story.

One if the best books I have ever read. Totally going to read the entire collection.

Great story!

We listened to this book as a family and loved every minute of it. It was engaging and we didn't want it to stop. It was a great YA book to listen to with our 15 year old during our vacation. Great job Rachel!

No regrets

I enjoyed this book well enough

it seems to me that the author realized about midway through that this could be a larger story and there's a very noticeable shift IMO.

great things were set up but the payoffs felt unearned and slim on Aden and Ava development

Great story surprising characters

Loved the story. Couldn't stop listening to it. Voice acting could have been better. Still an amazing story that was easy to imagine and follow along. Very likable characters.

Unique!!

What an incredible unique and entertaining read.

All Aidan wants to do is keep his half sister Ava safe, and keep the demons from knowing that he sees them. Ava has been passed from foster home to foster home and Aidan is waiting till he is of age and has a safe place before he can take her. But Ava has been marked and is reaching the age when her powers will come and the demons are intent on claiming her. Aidan needs help and fast, so he goes to some people calling themselves the LA Paranormal. These people claim to help with the strange and upon seeing Aidan, they explain that they aren't all they seem and Aidan may be the one they have been waiting for.

That's all I'm going to say about the synopsis because I don't want to spoil it. The only other thing I'm going to say about the plot is that it's fast paced and gripping and the world the author created is amazing. There were some unique parts which really impressed me!!

Character wise, Aidan is a flawed hero, which is always a good thing. He has powers that he tries to hide since he saw his mum murdered by a demon. He knows that if the demons know he can see them, his life will be over. I admired the way he was so protective of Ava and how much of a normal boy he is. So often the heroes of books are all ones with big egos but not Aidan!!

Kara is the love interest (well one of them anyway). She is one of the LA Paranormal gang. She is such a broken character but you know that there's more than meets the eye. She is one tough cookie and whilst I liked her, I didn't think much of the romance between them. It felt like they would of been better off as friends. There is also another love interest for Aidan, whom I really liked, though I loathe a love triangle!!! It really and truly puts me off a book!

Anyway, in all this is an engaging and entertaining read. The audio is over 13hrs long but felt shorter. There is much to like about this and I'm sure the rest in the series is going to be just as good. I'm looking forward to more from this world and author.

Will Damron did a great job with the narration. His tones for the demons was really creepy!! He was able to make each character distinguishable and gave a good performance.

*I received a copy of this for review. This in no way affects my thoughts.*