Product Description

All her life, Ashlyn Darrow has been tormented by voices from the past. To end the nightmare, she has come to Budapest seeking help from men rumoured to have supernatural abilities, not knowing she llbe swept into the arms of Maddox, their most dangerous member aman trapped in a hell of his own. Neither can resist the instant hunger that calms their torments and ignites an irresistible passion. But every heated touch and burning kiss will edge them closer to destruction and a soul-shattering test of love.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5656 in Books
• Published on: 2009-09-18
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Review
'Showalter at her finest.' --New York Times bestselling author Karen Marie Moning

'One of the premier authors of paranormal romance.' --New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole

About the Author
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Gena Showalter has written over 17 novels and anthologies, including breathtaking paranormal and contemporary romances, cutting-edge young adult novels, and stunning urban fantasy.

Customer Reviews

"Lords of the Underworld" series book 1
When Pandora was chosen by the Greek Gods to protect dimOuniak; a sacred box containing demons too destructive even to be trusted in Hell, other warriors, those that guarded the King of the Gods were left embarrassed. Determined to prove their skills, these Guardians stole the box and unwittingly released the most vile demons imaginable into an unsuspecting world; unable to recapture them as Pandora's box had mysteriously disappeared. In retaliation and to prevent further destruction in the world, the Gods cursed these warriors to each contain a demon within their bodies throughout eternity; creating the Lords of the Underworld.

Maddox is not only cursed to house the spirit of Violence within him, he is further cursed by the Gods for the death of Pandora; slaughtering her unknowingly whilst under the control of his demon. Every night at midnight he is killed by Reyes (who houses the demon Pain) and his soul is escorted to Hell by Lucien (who contains Death). Constantly battling for control over his demon, Maddox is left unable to form any meaningful relationship; always worried that Violence could explode during a moment of heated passion. Yet both he and his demon are destined to meet a very special woman; a woman capable of taming Violence, twisting his darkness into sensuality and his destructive nature into a deep possessiveness. For once Maddox and Violence are in complete agreement; Ashlyn Darrow has captured the heart of both man and demon.

Ashlyn Darrow is utilised by an Institute that studies the paranormal for her ability to hear any conversation ever spoken in any given location, no matter how long ago it was or the language used. Yet she longs for silence and a normal life and searches for someone who could possibly train her to control her gift. Whilst in Budapest she encounters conversations of a group of men with strange abilities so seeks them out hoping they can help her. Unfortunately the men she looks for believe her to be Bait, a beautiful woman used to lure a warrior to his death by a group of mortals known as Hunters. This organisation has one goal only; to destroy the Lords of the Underworld and the demons they contain.

I've got to say this may be GS's best book yet, and that's quite an accomplishment considering how much I have enjoyed her "Atlantis" and "Alien Huntress" series. "The Darkest Night" made me smile, laugh and during one particularly emotive chapter featuring an event Maddox is helpless to prevent; blub like a baby. Ashlyn too faces her own horrors; namely the nightly murder of the man she loves; leaving her determined to break Maddox's curse at any cost.

From the first page, GS skillfully draws the reader into an exciting new paranormal world. Her heroes certainly have their dark sides, Disease, Wrath, Promiscuity, Lies and Disaster amongst others, all with individual torments created by their unbreakable bond to their personal demon. The adventure is none stop as the splintered tribes of the Lords of the Underworld unite to battle the Hunters that stalk them and the romance between Maddox and Ashlyn absolutely perfect; ranging from tender to heartbreaking to blazingly hot in all the right places. I finished the last page of this book with a deep sigh of satisfaction and have already pre-ordered "The Darkest Kiss" (Lucien's story due for pub. June 08) and "The Darkest Pleasure" (Reyes' story due for pub. July 08), whose love interest is introduced in this book.

Very good paranormal -just don't compare it to anything else
The Lords of the Underworld are a band of immortal warriors who have, for thousands of years, fought for the king of gods (Greeks). Insulted that they have not been chosen for the monumental task of guarding a sacred box (Pandora's box), the warriors decide to teach the gods a lesson. They steal the box and set the hordes of demons free. In the fray the box is lost. Thus, the evil can not be returned inside. As punishment for the deed, the individual warriors themselves become the *homes* for the each of the demons. So the demons of Violence, Disease, Death, Pain, Wrath, Promiscuity, Doubt, Lies, Disaster etc. are now inside the warriors forever. Like having a split personality, the demon urges the warrior to do its bidding. They all struggle against the demon inside.

Fast forward to present-
The warriors now live with their curses in Castle high upon a hill in Budapest. They keep to themselves for fear of reeking havoc upon the humans. Their enemies are the *Hunters*, a band of human warriors out to kill all the perceived evil in the world -the lords being their main target.

This book is about the warrior Maddox, who has Violence demon inside. His heroine is Ashyln a human who posses the uncanny ability to hear all the conversations ever made in a particular place. Voices constantly battle inside her head. She seeks the warriors in an effort to silence the voices inside her head. But she gets more than she bargained for......

I admit when I started reading this book I got flashes of Ward's series. But really who wouldn't? - the six warriors living all together, the gods controlling them (scribe virgin), the hunters (lessers), the description of the warriors (ones tattooed, beautiful, scarred etc). Then I realized that I'm doing a complete injustice to this book by thinking this way.

To me this book is more Greek mythological than paranormal. The war these warriors are fighting is mostly within themselves. They are not out to protect anyone else, merely to survive their own curses and possibly get free of them. And frankly I thought that was fascinating. I mean who wouldn't like to read more about a warrior with a compulsion to Lie, one who causes Disasters wherever he goes, one who has to inflict Pain on himself, or one who cannot be touched (anywhere) for fear of causing Disease? And lets not forget Promiscuity. ;)

So, I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be looking out for the sequels. And for those die-hard Black Dagger fans? I say go and read the three chapter excerpt on Showalter's website and decide for yourself.

Just didn't grab me
I did not want to compare this to the J R Ward series but it is very, very hard not to. From the first couple of chapters it starts to be very Black Dagger Brotherhood-y. I found the charachters very hard to take much of an interest in and the females in the book were neither here nor there. The love scenes were pretty average - I think there was one pretty good scene.
My whole read of this book was pretty much the same, take it or leave it. It was very hard not to keep thinking "this is the poor man's Black Dagger".
I have read the second book (for lack of reading material) but won't be following on.