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Noah: The Nightwalkers

Jacquelyn Frank

Published 2008        471 pages

Summary (from the book jacket)

As Demon King, Noah is dedicated to protecting his kind from their human and Nightwalker enemies. Yet for six months he has struggled with vivid dreams that threaten his very sanity. Every night he's tormented by images of a woman both achingly real and tantalisingly beyond his grasp. And his bone-deep need leaves him no choice but to force her to leave the life she's known and enter a world beyond her imagining…

Every day, Kestra risks her life in perilous missions that veer just shy of the law, but she instinctively knows that the imposingly sensual figure before her is a danger unlike any she's ever faced. Kestra has sworn never to trust or need another man, but Noah's lightest touch scorches her with fevered desire, branding her as his mate, blinding them both to the terrifying truth. For within ranks of their own people lies an adversary growing in number and power. And nothing and no one will be safe again…

The Review

Noah is the fifth and final book in The Nightwalkers paranormal romance series by Jacquelyn Frank.  With the first couple of chapters recapping important events from the previous novels it isn’t necessary to have read all the earlier novels to understand what is going on in this one but you might want to check out the earlier books because the previous stories (Damien’s in particular) sound pretty exciting.

The Nightwalkers series is populated with elemental demons, druids, lycanthropes and vampires and while previous books have explored the romance and relationships between various members of the Nightwalker races Noah returns to the demon and human-turned-druid romance combination that was initially seen in Jacob, the first book in this series.

So once again we have a demon that desperately needs his destined mate before he succumbs to madness and a human woman who has no idea that the whole world as she knows it is about to change (including herself changing species from human to druid.)

Plenty of opportunity dramatic heart-stopping romance then?  Alas no, for the romance elements in Noah are less about relationship development and romantic conflict resolution than they are about sex.  Hot sex seems to be pretty much the entire the basis of Kestra and Noah’s bonding and while the book makes for enjoyable reading the actual romance between Kestra and Noah seems a little lacklustre and fails to pull at the heart strings.

This doesn’t stop the book from being a good read though. The marauding rogue vampires (who are now after Nightwalker blood for the demon powers it would give them) make for an exciting enemy and provide plenty of action to keep the plot moving forward.  In addition to the vampires all the central characters from previous novels make an appearance in Noah, allowing readers who have followed the entire series to catch up with favourite old characters.

As the final book in the Nightwalker series Noah doesn’t conclusively wrap up all the loose ends and this may leave some readers feeling cheated but real life rarely comes in a neat package so other readers may find it a more realistic and fitting ending to the series. 

For all of this books faults, which I can (and have) explained, I still can’t explain why Noah is such an enjoyable and engaging novel.  Maybe it’s the fast pacing and the fantasy action? Maybe it’s the whole destined mate thing…?  I just don’t know. Check it out for yourself and make up your own mind…

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