Review - Surrender the Dark

Surrender the Dark

BY: L.A. Banks

PUBLISHED BY: Pocket Books

PUBLISHED IN: 2011

ISBN: 978-1-4516-0778-9

Pages: 573

Reviewed by Billy Burgess

In this urban fantasy from author L.A. Banks, Celeste Jackson doesn’t have much in her life except for her Aunt Niecey, whom she takes advantage of too often. With no job support and a good-for-nothing loser-of-a-boyfriend, Celeste had nothing to turn to except for her substance abuse. After she stood up to her boyfriend, he is suddenly thrown out of a window by and unseen force. Fearing that she would be blamed for his death, she fled from her rotten apartment building and into the night streets unknown of where she is going.

An angle of the Light, Azrael, makes his descend onto the earth, but in the form of a living-flesh body. There are scars on his back where his wings once were. Confused and naked on the street, he is confronted by young thugs. He quickly picks up their language and begs them for help. Azrael realizes that he had no other choice, but to defend himself and take one of the thugs clothes.

Azrael finds Celeste in a sleazy bar and tell her to come with him. Of course, she doesn’t want to go with a psycho. He eventually tells her who he is and that he is there to protect her from the evil forces that have been ruining her life. A horrible battle for control of the mortal realm is coming, and Celeste is now in the middle of it. The angel has one problem, the longer he stays in his half-human form, the more he becomes human. He starts to have desires, and is very attractive to Celeste. T

To same the human race, Celeste must show Azrael the dark world and addictions that she has been living in her entire life, or the forces of evil will take over.

There are many books written about fallen angels falling in love with humans, and a few movies too. When I signed up to review Surrender the Dark, I didn’t realize that it was about angels. I changed my mind after reading the intriguing prologue, as the Azrael leaves heaven and descends upon the Earth. Many heroines are clichéd, but Celeste is a bit of fresh air and realization. She is a strong willed women with many weaknesses. She was never looking for a knight in shining armor to rescue her from her bad lifestyle, until Azrael came into her life. I can easily see this as a blockbuster movie. I recommend Surrender the Dark to all urban fantasy fans.

*I would like to thank Pocket Books for sending me a copy to review.