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The Darkness and the Night 3: Twins of Darkness
Author: Lisa Lane
Publisher: Ravenous Romance
Release date: 2009-06-04
Novel
Erotic, paranormal (vampire) romance
Reviewed by: Fanny Hill
Author submitted book
Blurb:
Karen learns quickly that being both a mother and a vampire is no easy task, especially since her children, fraternal twins Anna and Andy, are not typical kids. Anna, although seemingly human, has the unique ability to not only travel the Astral, but also manipulate objects and people between planes. Andy also appears to be a normal human boy, but appearances prove disastrously deceiving.
With the help of her blood donor and lover, Jason, Karen does her best to offer the twins a “normal” suburban life. Despite them, Anna and Andy come into their own, exploring their family’s past . . . and the very different beings they are both slowly becoming. In the process, the author takes us on a wild ride that breaks beyond the boundaries of time and reality, sexual exploration, love and sacrifice . . . and back to the vampire commune.
Review:
When I started reading, I struggled to get into the book. It took several attempts over a period of days to get truly interested, and I didn’t understand why until I had finished and visited the Ravenous Romance site to see it was book 3 of a series. Slap me and call me incompetent for not reading the full title of the book prior to reading. So, now I understand why I couldn’t get into it right from the off, I can suggest that if you’re thinking of buying this book, buy books 1 and 2 first.
With that out of the way, it wasn’t until today when I told myself that I WOULD sit down and give this book a chance, because the plot is superb. I managed to get right into it, so again, if you’re going to buy this book, make sure you have the time to read it in one sitting, because the plot is so intricate and many people are in the book—you may find yourself, like I did, forgetting who is who and who did what if you try and read it in snatches.
Having read the first twenty-nine pages off and on, I continued straight through to the end. As I’ve already said, the plot is superb, and when such a plot comes along, I always marvel at the human imagination and what it can produce. I also sit and wonder if the author plotted the book out in a notebook, or whether they wrote it as they went along. I’m interested in that kind of thing.
The blurb tells all, so I don’t feel the need to repeat it in different words or give out any spoilers that the blurb doesn’t cover. What I will do is talk about the aspects that I liked the most. Karen’s daughter, Anna, can visit astral planes, and Karen is able to follow her there. I really enjoyed these scenes, and Ms. Lane’s descriptions of the places were just enough to give me an idea of the locations without boring me senseless. Later in the book, Anna brings someone back into their life using her abilities, and this lent a great twist, especially for Karen. I won’t reveal the spoiler here, but what I will say is what happens between Karen and the person ‘brought back’ gave me pause to wonder what I would do in her situation. Yes, it made me stop reading to ponder, but I see that as a good thing. A book that can make you think like that…well, it’s good, right?
Now, although I enjoyed the plot, there were issues that spoiled the read for me at times. Editorial issues. I realize no book is perfect, but there were too many things in this book for me to overlook. We expect a typo or two, an awkward sentence here and there, a few missing commas (but those, at times, are subjective anyway), but…now for the gripes. There are many more that I haven’t mentioned, but I will stress here that I have heard rumors that Ravenous Romance take over the editing process and the author has no say in what the final product is like, so if this is the case, Ms. Lane isn’t responsible for what her final book contains.
Bad grammar:
Karen’s apprehensions of the twins also had begun to wane [had also]
Here is an example of tell/passive and the overuse of ‘as’:
“She heard the motor home’s engine rumble in the distance, the sound growing louder as the seconds ticked. Karen felt her body begin to perspire, her heart rate increasing as she considered the possibility of one or more deaths added to her little girl’s conscience.
She held her breath as she heard them enter downstairs. She heard idle chatter as the family noticed the house smelled inhabited. She heard a couple of people storm up the stairs…”
Here is how I would have fixed it:
The motor home’s engine rumbled in the distance, the sound growing louder as the seconds ticked. Karen’s body perspired, and her heart rate increased. She considered the possibility of one or more deaths added to her little girl’s conscience.
She held her breath. They had entered downstairs, their idle chatter evidence the family noticed the house smelled inhabited. Footsteps—one, two sets?—stormed up the stairs…
More tell:
“She wore her hair long, and she wore little makeup…” Many instances like this.
Typo that leads to a misunderstanding:
Spring was also a Turn, and she had proved he had a soft spot for Karen, back when they had first met. [she not he]
Pet word/s: continued to/continued/continuing to. Used 76 times. Here is the worst example from chapter one:
“Andy’s behaviour continued to remain normal, his development progressing like any typical child, but she continued to have nightmares involving his feeding. [And two lines later:] Anna continued to…” ‘Began to’ and ‘became’ are also used often.
I frowned at:
“Their surroundings changed again, and Anna placed them in a meadow, outside.”
Are there meadows inside?
Other gripes:
The mention of a character writing a novel made me groan.
“Watching her mother to her best to calm Andy…” Typo.
Up until part two, the points of view are one head per scene. From part two onwards, headhopping occurs, sometimes three heads per scene. Ick.
Comma/hyphen issues. Example of odd comma placement.: “Dad looked really hurt that you contacted him, in the first place.”
Inner thoughts in italics in 3rd person. If in 3rd, why bother with italics?
Awkward lines, though it is very clear this is something left in during edits, but a proofer would have/should have caught this:
- “Neither of them burned, both fully tolerant of the sun, and Ron and after about a minute, he let go of them, and they raced to the door.”
- “The back door had a window through top two third of it…”
Site used instead of sight.
Billy shrugged, his face hurt and offended. [How is a face offended?]
Issue with a body being cold when the person has only just died.
Cover comment: I like it except for the ghastly yellow banners.
Heat level: 
(Not added to final grade.)
Storyline/plot, characterization, and dialogue: 5
World-building, mood: 4
Overall structure, grammar, punctuation, spelling: 3
Final Grade: 
Thank you so much for the honest and thorough review!
“I also sit and wonder if the author plotted the book out in a notebook, or whether they wrote it as they went along. I’m interested in that kind of thing.”
Fanny, I write a rough outline for all of my books before I begin, but I leave many of the finer details to the muses. When I began writing TWINS OF DARKNESS, for example, I knew both Ron (Karen’s father) and the Xavier clan (Billy’s family) were going to return, that Anna was going to use her Astral abilities to create a tough moral dilemma for Karen, what was going to happen with Cody and his girlfriend, and that the story would end in the commune. The rest was just a matter of watching the movie play out in my mind and documenting it as it unfolded.
I also create detailed character profiles, which really does allow the characters eventually to take on “lives” of their own. I know it’s silly, but I really do believe in muses.
Darn it, “Cody” keeps creeping back in … Cody was Andy’s original name, lol. Please forgive the triple post; I am at the tail end of a writing binge and it seems that my brain is not yet functioning at full capacity.
You’re welcome.
I believe in muses too.
I did wonder who Cody was and whether I’d missed something there. Phew!