Book Review: Last Kiss Goodnight

Author: Gena Showalter

Publication Date: December 26, 2012

Publisher: Pocket Books

Series: Otherworld Assassin # 1

The breathtaking first novel in New York Times best selling author Gena Showalter’s new paranormal romance series, Otherworld Assassins, featuring a black ops agent who is captured and enslaved…and the beautiful deaf girl who holds the key to his salvation…

THE SWEETEST TEMPTATION…

Black ops agent Solomon Judah awakens caged and bound in a twisted zoo where otherworlders are the main attraction. Vika Lukas, the owner’s daughter, is tasked with Solo’s care and feeding. The monster inside him yearns to kill her on sight, even though she holds the key to his escape. But the human side of him realizes the beautiful deaf girl is more than she seems—she’s his.

THE ULTIMATE PRICE…

Vika endures the captives’ taunts and loathing, hoping to keep them alive even if she can’t free them. Only, Solo is different—he protects her. But as hostility turns to forbidden romance, his feelings for her will be used against him…and he’ll be put to a killer test.

“Whenever he experienced a surge of anger, Solo’s skin would darken to a frightening shade of crimson – the last color his enemies saw before dying horribly. His teeth would elongate into something far worse than fangs. His cheekbones would double in size and his ears would grow and develop sharp points at the end. Metallic claws would sprout from his nails.” – Paperback Copy pg. 13

“He was Allorian – a race the humans knew nothing about – and because of the power of the guardian given to him by his biological parents, he healed quickly.” – Paperback Copy pg. 25

“Vika walked to the supplies her father’s worker had left behind, never allowing herself to shift her gaze to study the lips of the otherworlders to discover what they were saying about her – and they were saying something, she knew they were, because she could feel the vibrations of their words against her skin. At times like this, she was almost grateful for her deafness.” – Paperback Copy pg. 49

“So. Moving on. Each of the different species bore different physical characteristics, as well as different innate abilities. Some Bree Lians could poison an enemy with their teeth and nails. Some Cortazes could teleport. Some Mecs could hypnotize with the changing colors of their skin. Some Terans could leap a mile in a single bound. But it was utterly impossible to know each and every one of the abilities these particular otherworlders possessed, which was why her father had gone black market and purchased slave bands.” – Paperback Copy pg. 51

“‘How wonderful,’ she replied in the driest tone she could manage. ‘My eighth death threat today. I’ll be sure to make a notation in my diary.’”  - Paperback Copy. 63

 

I am slowly sinking my teeth in Urban Fantasy and I find myself craving to read it more and more. I picked up Gena Showalter’s newest young adult book, Alice In Zombieland, a little over a month or so ago and I really really enjoyed it. This was the first book that I had ever read by Gena but I have heard wonderful things about her other works. This was a step out of my comfort zone, but I am so glad that I did it. This story involves an otherworlder, Solomon Judah, and the girl who is going to set him free, Vika Lukas. Vika’s father, Jecis owns a zoo of sorts where he displays these so called otherworlders for the general public to mock and criticize. Vika hates her father’s abusiveness and his cruelty towards her and the “animals” that he keeps locked away in his precious zoo. She lays eyes on Solomon, of Solo, and becomes bound and determined to set them all free, and hopefully escaping with them.

Vika’s character totally impressed me. Showalter writes a deaf girl who is under the brutal care of her vicious father, and yet the girl still manages to have some sort of compassion for the beasts that rebuke and condemn her every day. It is Vika’s job to take care of all of the otherworlders in her father’s zoo, and while I admired her, I hated her lack of backbone when it came to her father. But Vika is constantly beaten by her father and knows better than to leave the zoo for fear of the consequences she will face. I honestly hated reading scenes between Vika and her father, especially after I learned that he was the reason that she was deaf. Vika had a lot of courage and had to dig deep to wake up every day and face her father and his awful sidekick, Matas, who has asked for her hand in marriage. I was beginning to bite my nails about halfway through the book because I began to wonder if she was ever going to break free from these awful men.

This is where Solomon Judah comes in and saves the day. Solo has been known as an ugly beast his whole life and has been feared by everyone that he has ever come into contact with. That is until he meets Vika. Vika immediately finds a fascination in Solo despite his rather odd skin tone and the fact that he can sprout claws. Vika’s romantic interest in Solo is like seeing the sun after forty days and nights of pouring rain for her. Her life has been no boat ride and I was glad when she formed such an infatuation with Solo. Solo is a little rough around the edges and it took me a few chapters to understand his “alter egos,” I guess that is what you would call them. He had two tiny voices, X and Dr. E, throughout the book that spoke to him on a daily basis. I believe they were supposed to be shoulder angels, good and bad. I felt like there was a lot of Solo’s story that we weren’t getting and I hope to find out more soon.

The entire concept of a zoo for otherworlders was very dark and evil but was not written about in such a manner than it was too painful to read. Vika lightened the mood a lot of the time because of her good-natured spirit. Her father was just downright evil and would drug all of the human guests that attended his circus. It was just an awful place, but as evil and as narcissistic as the place was it was almost necessary in order for Vika and Solo’s love to bloom. They found each other in the most horrendous of circumstances and their love helps Vika realize that she really deserves more. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and this will be a series that I keep up with!

***Thank you to the publishers at Pocket Books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review***