SACRIFICE THE WICKED by Karina Cooper

A Dark Mission Novel, #4
Avon Books, October 2012
Paperback
Obtained via:  publisher
ISBN: 978-0-06-212769-3

Paranormal Romance

** 1/2

The fourth book in Karina Cooper’s Dark Mission series, SACRIFICE THE WICKED, is a fast moving and very confusing paranormal romance filled with witches, church agents and lies.

Parker Adams is the new Mission Director.  She is in charge of ridding the new world of witches.  Recently, she has noticed several things that don’t add up and has started to dig for answers.  Simon Wells is everything Parker has been taught to fight:  a spy, a murderer, a witch.  When he attempts to steal a file from Parker, the beginning of their entanglement ensues.  Simon was created in a lab and his shelf life is running out.  When the new Mission Director is targeted for elimination, Simon decides it is time to help the enemy.

Karina Cooper has made the critical mistake of failing to supply any back story.  In SACRIFICE THE WICKED, she jumps right into the story assuming readers will have read the first three books in this series before picking up this book.  Trying to figure out who the good guys were from the bad guys and then placing who and what all the added characters were made enjoying this story somewhat impossible.  It appears that the church, or Mission, is in charge of everything.  The Missionaries are charged with policing the witches.  Witches (are they born, created, or both?) are apparently bad, mostly.  Though why they are bad appears to be a closely guarded secret.  Then there is another Mission Director who is apparently a bad guy (though his scientist daughter doesn’t believe it).  And who are these other people and where do they fit in?  It cannot be said enough that reading whichever book in the Dark Mission series describes the world and people inhabiting it is vital to understanding what is going on in SACRIFICE THE WICKED.

On the positive side, the story moves at a nice pace and has lots of action on its side.  The main characters are multifaceted and the story is threaded with characters from other books.  Unfortunately, the positives are not enough to overcome the incredible confusion of who is who and what they have to do with the big picture for this reader to appreciate the storyline.  And I am still at a lack for why witches are so awful to begin with….

Reviewed by T. Barringer

tammyLRM@gmail.com

"This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book."

Sacrifice The Wicked by Karina Cooper

Publisher: Avon 

Date published: October 2012

ISBN: 9780062127693

Paranormal Romance

Print

Reviewed by Gabrielle

Weblink: http://www.avonromance.com/book/karina-cooper-sacrifice-the-wicked

Obtained via publisher

Simon is on a job and nothing stops this spy and agent that is until Simon meets Parker. She stirs something in Simon that he cannot ignore. The two find themselves fighting for more than just their own lives. Can the two find a way past it all and decide if love and the truth are more important? 

As a witch Simon should not be attracted to the enemy but he cannot ignore the pull Parker has on him. She is a witch hunter and he a witch two opposite ends of the spectrum that should never come together. Right from the first pages of their story the sexual tension is there and only burns hotter as their story unfolds. 

Simon is a good man who finds more than one reason to fight. Parker is a smart woman who is not as cold as others think that she is. Simon makes her burn like no other and she must decide if that burn means something or not.

It was nice to watch the two learn to trust each other. Seeing the two together made for a hot and sexy read. Separate they are both tough but together they can take on the world and possibly win.

I enjoyed the buildup of their relationship and the love that they share. This fast paced book is full of action and romance that keeps you intrigued and turning the pages to see what will happen next and has you eagerly awaiting the next installment of this series to see just where the author will take this world next.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.

 

LURE OF THE WICKED by Karina Cooper

Dark Mission Book 2
Publisher: Avon Books
Date published: June 2011
ISBN: 9780062046901
Mass Market Paperback
Paranormal Romance
Reviewed by Tammy
Obtained via: publisher


Karina Cooper’s second Dark Mission book, LURE OF THE WICKED, is a romantic thriller with a good helping of urban fantasy thrown in for good measure. Definitely an interesting mix.

Naomi Ishikawa West is a witch hunter for the Holy Order of St. Dominic, the organization tasked with hunting down and killing witches. Naomi has been sent to the luxurious Timeless spa on assignment to uncover a man who murdered two church officials. Phinneas Clarke runs Timeless with his two mothers and secretly keeps an underground railroad of sorts for witches on the run. So it comes as little surprise that the moment Naomi and Phinneas meet, their lives are turned upside down.

Like Karina Cooper’s first Dark Mission book, BLOOD OF THE WICKED, LURE OF THE WICKED, centers around the Holy Order and those either working for it or being hunted by it. In LURE OF THE WICKED, Naomi, our heroine, takes the assignment given her by the church even though acting the part of a rich and pampered heiress is about as far from her comfort level as she can get. But she has a job to do and is extremely determined to complete her assignment with flying colors. Phin knows there is more to Naomi than meets the eye, but she attracts him like no other. Of course, these two seemingly opposites, are bound to be intrigued by each other.

Reading LURE OF THE WICKED is like unpeeling an onion; as soon as one layer is revealed, another is discovered. While the romance between Naomi and Phin builds throughout the story, so does the mystery as the paranormal aspects of the story unfold one by one. How this story is going to end happily ever after for everyone becomes as big a question as the ones surrounding the story’s mystery. The only real problem this reader had with this story was that the romance never felt especially passionate. If at the end of the story, Phin and Naomi ended up going separate ways, the story still would have been just as enjoyable. This is not a desirable thing to have in a romance novel in this reader’s opinion.

That said, if you enjoy a paranormal romance with a kick butt heroine and a plot that’s original and surrounded in mystery, Karina Cooper and LURE OF THE WICKED are destined to find their way to your “to be read” pile.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.