Sheep Book Review: King of Darkness

King of Darkness, by author Elisabeth Stabb, is her debut PNR novel. There is a lot of potential in this saga, but I'm not sure if sticking around to see where the series goes is worth my time.

Plot:

ETERNAL COMMITMENT IS NOT ON HER AGENDA...Scorned by the vampire community for her lack of power, Isabel Anthony lives a carefree existence masquerading as human--although, drifting among the debauched human nightlife, she prefers the patrons' blood to other indulgences. But when she meets the king of vampires this party girl's life turns dark and dangerous.
BUT TIME'S RUNNING OUT FOR THE KING OF VAMPIRES...Dead-set on finding the prophesied mate who will unlock his fiery powers, Thad Morgan must find his queen before their race is destroyed. Their enemies are gaining ground, and Thad needs his powers to unite his subjects. But when his search leads him to the defiant Isabel, he wonders if fate has gotten it seriously wrong...

I can say that to date I have yet to read about a raver vampire gal, well until King of Darkness. Stabb takes her female lead and presents Isabel to readers as a drug addicted party girl who's selfish, shallow, and only interested in having a good time. At no point during the story did I ever get behind her as a character at all. Isabel needs an intervention and quick! You're lead to believe that this vamp was abandoned at a young age and thus has had to fend for herself and somehow turned to the party life. Maybe Lindsay Lohan is a point of inspiration here, I'm not really sure, but frankly I was not impressed.

The newly crowned King of the Vamps, Thad, is very emotional and a tad too soft around the edges for my liking. Set out to find his Queen and gain some new powers, Thad and his trusty sidekick Lee hit all the vamp clubs in town. Cause really, when a King out looking for a wife why not check the raver/bar scene?! (No offense to raver/bar scene women) Look, I like glow-sticks as much as the next gal, but come on! Twisted pasts and unthinkable loss is one thing, but Isabel has no job skills at anything. Except partying. And you want to marry her? You're the Vampire King, dude, you can do better than this! 

The greatest problem with this story was that the side characters held more depth than our leads. Lee and the human female he's lusting after were far more exciting than what our mismatched pair had going on. Also, enter the wizards! Supposedly these wizards are pretty tuff but all I can think of is Harry Potter with bad breath. Stepping into this story felt like a lot was missing, nothing was thoroughly explained and overall I was not impressed.

If you want to play a fun drinking game than pour a shot for every time the phrase "Ya know?" comes up. You'll be drunk before you reach the midway point. Overuse is an understatement. 

I will strongly suggest checking what other reviewers think before purchasing.

Getting 2 Sheep
KD