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Dark Oracle
by Alayna Williams
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| TARA SHERIDAN HAS A GIFT . . . AND IT ALMOST KILLED HER. As a criminal profiler, Tara used science and her intuitive skill at Tarot card divination to track down the dangerous and depraved, including the serial killer who left her scarred from head to toe. Since that savage attack, Tara has been a recluse. But now an ancient secret society known as Delphi’s Daughters has asked for her help in locating missing scientist Lowell Magnusson. And Tara, armed with her Tarot deck, her .38, and a stack of misgivings, agrees to try. Tara immediately senses there is far more at stake than one man’s life. At his government lab in the New Mexico desert, Magnusson had developed groundbreaking technology with terrifying potential. Working alongside the brusque but charismatic agent Harry Li, Tara discovers that Magnusson’s daughter, Cassie, has knowledge that makes her a target too. The more Tara sees into the future, the more there is to fear. She knows she has to protect Cassie. But there may be no way to protect herself—from the enemies circling around her, or from the long-buried powers stirring to life within. . . .
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ISBN:
978-1439182796
ISBN10: 1439182795
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Published:
May 25, 2010
Publisher: Pocket
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GENRES: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
PLOTS: Mysterious Past
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Amazon.com: |
| Customer Reviews |
Avg Rating: 
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| Showing 1-5 of 14. |
A good read!
by
Pamela
(Los Angeles, US, Canada)
Very interesting plot with characters you care about. The author has included some elements that are different and unique, creating lots of excitement with a dash of romance between opposites. Finally, a different twist to the urban fantasy using divination as a crime-fighting tool. I loved it! Nice job Alayna! (2010-08-09)
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Lovin' Me Some Tarot Cards!
by
VampFanGirl
(San Diego, CA)
Plot:
Broken and isolated in self-imposed exile, Tara Sheridan haunts her remote cabin in the back woods of Tennessee burdened by nightmares and loneliness. Once a renowned criminal profiler, an unfortunate stint under the thumb of a twisted serial killer left her with white striated scars that traverse both her body and her mind leaving her glowing career in shreds. Gifted with an affinity for Tarot card divination, Tara's cards once predicted the mind and path of the killers she sought allowing her the long-time desired ability to help people. But the cards care not for Tara after having led her to the nightmare fate that she narrowly escaped. Love and hate wars within Tara as her relationship with her cards has long been one of resigned acceptance. Now Delphi's Daughters, a matriarchal cult society that can trace their lineage to the original Oracle of Delphi and the very same society that Tara continually strives to separate herself from since childhood, is knocking on her door desperate for her help. The balance of power has tilted with global destruction a fate foreseen making the location of a missing scientist a paramount issue to Delphi's Daughters.
Harnessing an elusive energy particle known as dark matter, missing scientist Dr. Lowell Magnusson has created an endless energy source at a time of crisis, one that could power the world. However, this power can also be vastly affective as a weapon and it appears that the government is leaning hard in this direction, so hard in fact that it appears that Magnusson destroyed his life's work to avoid this very outcome. But where is Dr. Magnusson? There are three possibilities. One, Magnusson destroyed his work in the giant explosion that successfully wiped away any ability to recreate it, then disappeared. Two, Magnusson destroyed his work as with possibility one but was kidnapped. And finally three, Magnusson died in the explosion. Feeling the pull of Magnusson's picture left with Tara ... (2010-08-04)
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Another great series for a burgeoning talent
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A reader
(Columbus, OH)
"Dark Oracle" is the first book in a new series by the author of Embers (written as Laura Bickle). Much of what I enjoyed in Embers is present here: a strong female character, a compelling story, and a lovable pet. I will note that Tara Sheridan strikes me as a more distant and brooding character than Anya in Embers. But then, Tara is coming from a much darker place and has a lot of baggage to deal with. That baggage is well-explored in this story.
I also love the sci-fi flavor Williams adds (a scientist has gone missing amid experiments with dark matter). And her nemesis is frightening, leading to a chase that had me glued to the pages wondering how it would end. This is a second intriguing series for this impressive new author. (2010-08-02)
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Dark Oracle
by
Ithlilian "Ravenous Reader"
I read this book first in my to read pile because I thought I wouldn't like it. I was pleasantly surprised, and was immediately drawn into the story. Of course the main character's past is supposed to be a driving point for readers, but I didn't really care. Why the main character is scarred didn't interest me as much the actual mystery of the missing scientist. It's been a long time since I read a mystery in an urban fantasy book that I actually cared about, so that helped boost Dark Oracle in my esteem. Unfortunately, around page 200 everything crashed and burned. A romance developed that wasn't very believable or exciting. I wish I had gotten to know the characters more before the romance was thrown in. A slowly developed romance is always more interesting to me than one that happens all of the sudden for no reason. Then, the love interest decides to get mad over something trivial and I became annoyed. The mystery solving slowed at that point and my interest decreased more and more each chapter. Characters started to become more shallow and less exciting, and the action scenes just weren't appealing to me. The tarot readings, which were originally unique and entertaining, because extremely repetitious and the entire thing started to wear thin. I felt much the same about Embers, interesting premise but the story fizzled. There is definitely potential for a good book from this author if she could just keep up the steam from the beginning of the book the entire way through. This book was well on it's way to being a four or even a five, but it just didn't work out. There are plenty of good ideas, the author is great at writing an entertaining mystery, and it almost came together, but not quite. (2010-07-17)
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fluffy fast read that could have had more depth
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Rabh Marrach "rabh_marrach"
(OK United States)
Criminal Profiler, Tara Sheridian, reluctantly agrees to take on an investigation into the disappearance of Dr. Magnusson, a scientist working on a top secret military project. Still suffering from her attack at the hands of serial killer, The Gardener, Sheridian joins forces with Agent Harry Li.
This book breaks from the gate with a strong start and as a reader I quickly became interested in Sheridian, her past, her abilities and her relationship with the women power group, Delphi 's Daughters.
The first third of the book is very engaging and if you were an X-files fan you get some of that feeling. How Tara plays the relationships at Major Gabriel, Corvus and Li shows a complex understanding of human psychology and gives the character some street cred. Her use of the Tarot cards is a sideline power that she doesn't reveal to her mainstream co-workers until forced later in the story.
However, about halfway through this story starts to stall out which makes me think that the first half was held and re-worked for some time and then it was hurriedly written to a finish for publication
The backstory of what Tara underwent under the hands of The Gardener doesn't, unfortunately, give depth to the story. I am guessing that the author felt that this realism (an actual rape) would not sit well with her reading audience and would turn the book too dark. So we get Serial Killer Lite theme which seems to be artificially tacked on to provide a Tragic Past.
Like her other book, Embers under her Laura Bickle name, the heroine's love interest is another boring, "boy-next-door" guy who's only standout is he is Asian. While I am enjoying having more minorities in books, this alone isn't something that is going to engage me. Li is a nice enough guy and comes through at the end, but really, do I want to read an ongoing series with him as her lover? Not really.
The author shows her real strength with minor cha ... (2010-07-11)
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| Reviews from Amazon.com |
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