Retribution (Dark-Hunter, #16; Were-Hunter, #8)

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Retribution (Dark-Hunter #20)

4.06 of 5 stars 4.06 · rating details · 8,813 ratings · 788 reviews

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon comes the next thrilling installment in her blockbuster Dark-Hunter® series

Harm no human…

A hired gunslinger, William Jessup Brady lived his life with one foot in the grave. He believed that every life had a price. Until the day when he finally found a reason to live. In one single act of brutal betrayal, he lost e...more

ebook, 1st Edition, 235 pages

Published August 2nd 2011 by St. Martin's Press (first published January 1st 2011)

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Aug 01, 2011 Jen (Red Hot Books) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: arcs, dark-hunter, pararnormal-romance

Any fan of Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter books, can tell you that this is a series that requires you to pay attention. Sure, on the surface, each book is a romance featuring a different couple with some preternatural connection. But from the very beginning, these books have had an ongoing story playing out in the background. First it was just the battle between the Dark-Hunters and the Daimons; Greek mythology played a big part. Then we had some Atlantean lore thrown in the mix. Beyond Acheron'...more Any fan of Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter books, can tell you that this is a series that requires you to pay attention. Sure, on the surface, each book is a romance featuring a different couple with some preternatural connection. But from the very beginning, these books have had an ongoing story playing out in the background. First it was just the battle between the Dark-Hunters and the Daimons; Greek mythology played a big part. Then we had some Atlantean lore thrown in the mix. Beyond Acheron's book, demons began to play a bigger role and by the time we got to Bad Moon Rising, we had a new subplot that Kenyon is calling the Hellchasers, featuring Thorn and his bad-boy gang. I made a real effort to try to connect to that because I thought that's where the series was going next. I was wrong.

Sundown's story is, in some ways, a throwback to the old books. It features characters we haven't seen much of in a long time. Characters like Sundown, himself... Zarek, Sin, Sasha, and Talon. But in other ways, it's dramatically different. Kenyon put almost everything she's been building on pause for this one to introduce an entirely new Pantheon of Native American gods and mythology. There are Dark Hunters and Daimons in the books, but at times I felt like it was unrecognizable from the books preceding it. Ash is just a mention (other than a "bonus scene" at the end.) Artemis & Nick each have a cameo. No Savitar. No Stryker, Jaden or Jared. It just felt disconnected.

That's not to say it was bad. It wasn't. The romance features Sundown and Abigail. It begins with the heroine trying to kill the hero because she thinks he murdered her parents. After their deaths, she was raised by Apollites. When she was grown, they gave her demon blood to make her strong enough to kill Dark Hunters. In her quest to get to Sundown, she kills someone important in the Native American pantheon, which sets the stage for an apocalypse. As the book progresses, she must overcome her misconceptions about Sundown and work with him to try to avert the disaster she has set in motion. And they fall for each other in the process. Kenyon is at her best when she does romance. And while this relationship isn't my favorite of hers, I did enjoy it.

(I could have done with a couple less pop culture references, though. I enjoyed the first few, but after about the 10th one, I was ready for her to reign them in. )

It seems Kenyon plans to continue with the Native American storyline in the next book. It will feature Dark Hunter Ren, who was a major player in this story. I don't know how I feel about that. The bonus scene at the end, featuring Ash & Tory really brought home for me how much I missed the New Orleans gang and the mythology I know. But I have no doubt I'll be there next year, to follow where Kenyon leads. It's never a dull ride. 3 1/2 stars.

*ARC Provided by St. Martin's Press(less)

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Aug 27, 2011 Liz rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-reads, urbanfantasy-paranormal

Give me some slack in reviewing this book. It's my third read in less than 24 hours and the two previous were really good so I'm feeling a little cynical.

I was really excited to finally see Jess's book. He's mentioned in multiple previous books and I love how Kenyon writes stand-alone stories but uses the characters to preserve continuity in the series. However, Retribution is a HUGE departure from the series. Previous books have addressed ancient European mythologies - Greek, Sumerian, Celtic,...more Give me some slack in reviewing this book. It's my third read in less than 24 hours and the two previous were really good so I'm feeling a little cynical.

I was really excited to finally see Jess's book. He's mentioned in multiple previous books and I love how Kenyon writes stand-alone stories but uses the characters to preserve continuity in the series. However, Retribution is a HUGE departure from the series. Previous books have addressed ancient European mythologies - Greek, Sumerian, Celtic, Atlantis ect. This book deals strongly with Native American mythologies that are largely ignored in previous books. I didn't quite understand how this fits into the rest of the series. The Sumerian Gallu demons are being killed by the Greek Daimons to grant them more power than boring-old human souls. The daimons are no longer bound to darkness and can stalk their prey during the daylight. The book opens as Jess is receiving dire warnings from several friends - a human woman, surrounded by daimons, is tracking and killing Dark-Hunters. However it's worse than any of them imagine, the woman, Abigail has a specific vendetta against Jess and all the other Dark Hunters were just a bonus. She and her daimons lure him to a sewer, where she is overpowered and taken to Jess's house, where they are overwhelmed by their attraction to each other. But being a book, it's not quite that simple. Unfortunately Abigail did not just kill dark hunters, she managed to get a fanged Native American protector of the apocalypse. Abigail and Jess need to navigate through the Native American myths to prevent the apocalypse.

This book is a case of too much. The series is already dealing with the blending of multiple mythologies - several of which should be ending the world before too long. The other mythologies blend well because the people who worshiped the various deities would have theoretically interacted on some level - even if they were just trying to kill each other. We have no evidence that Native American's interacted with the ancient Greeks or any other Europeans at that time. I've been really worried that the series is becoming too convoluted for the past few books. Retribution is confirmed many of my sinking suspicions. Only so many apocalypse myths and causes can happen simultaneously.

Some of the humor in this book gets a little cheesy. Jess makes Abigail so hot that "if she were a chicken she'd be laying hard-boiled eggs." While used as a joke it's completely over the top - and I'll probably use it should the situation present itself, ok forget probably I'd totally use it. As cheesy as somethings got I was relieved to see new jokes rather than repetition of the same jokes in multiple of the previous books - I was getting a little tired of hearing the same joke in every book.(less)

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Oct 12, 2011 Jacqueline rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: ANYONE!

Recommended to Jacqueline by: Auto-buy author

Shelves: series-dark-hunter, author-sherrilyn-kenyon

As always...WOW! Sherri, yet again, has amazed another fan with another new release! Of all the male characters Sherrilyn Kenyon has ever written, William Jessup Brady has to be the most unique, if for no other reason than the sheer loveability and fun loving attitude of his personality. And, Abigale was just plain amazing. I always find something fascinating in each of the DH heroines and Retribution was no exception. Paired together, these two characters were fun to read from prologue to epilo...more

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Aug 11, 2011 ♥ Sam ♥ ~S2~Im made of awesomness rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sherrilyn-kenyon, august-2011, e-book, but-paperback-also, next-in-the-series, own-and-need-to-read, part-of-a-series, romance, vampires, cowboys, shifters

http://samsawesomness.blogspot.com/p/...

RETRIBUTION...

I think is my first ever three stars read in the Dark Hunter series. This was not what I expected and I am shamefully disappointed. This book was so far detached from the previous novels that this by itself could be a standalone and you wouldn’t even know there were past books in the series. There is a lot of maybe even to much focus on Native American Mythology and very little, if any focus on Dark Hunter Myths (e.g.) Greek, Atlantis etc......more

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Aug 03, 2011 Elena R a.k.a. Lunies R rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-paranormal

I don't have much to say on my liking of this novel. I liked it, didn't love it, and it wasn't amazing. I'm dissapointed as a reader, I had to keep repeating too myself "This novel is part of the Dark Hunter series" It was a total shift change compared to the rest of the series. The only thing that would remind me what series I was reading, is when they mentioned the "Dark Hunters and Daimons" I looked forward to being aquainted with majority of the characters in this series,but got zippo!

The a...more

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Oct 04, 2011 Colette marked it as did-not-finish · review of another edition

It's sad when a beloved series loses it's mojo. Even more sad when the best thing about the book is it's cover. The poor Dark Hunter series has at book number 20, lost that loving feeling for me. I never ever thought I'd say this, but Retribution was a do not finish for me. It pains me to write it, because as I've stated before this is one of my all time favorite series.

I haven't read the Chronicles of Nick yet,(because I think it's stupid to have 10 books to get to one dark hunter book) but fri...more

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Dec 21, 2011 Zeek rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: pnr, favorites-pnr, favorites-all-time, vamps, pnr-kitchen-sink, angels-gods-demons, shifters

the heroine, Abigail, srsly got on more nerves in the beginning, but as Kenyon usually does for me, I ended up surprisingly endeared to her. This was not one of my favorite dark hunters but I did like where it eventually went. (I loved the native american twist and am interested in seeing more of it- which I believe we will with the next release.)

Abigail's parents were killed when she was a child and she knows the killer- Sundown Brady. She also knows he's a dark hunter and that she's going to b...more the heroine, Abigail, srsly got on more nerves in the beginning, but as Kenyon usually does for me, I ended up surprisingly endeared to her. This was not one of my favorite dark hunters but I did like where it eventually went. (I loved the native american twist and am interested in seeing more of it- which I believe we will with the next release.)

Abigail's parents were killed when she was a child and she knows the killer- Sundown Brady. She also knows he's a dark hunter and that she's going to be the one to avenge her parents deaths.

Only when she finally comes face to face with him, things dont add up and when she inadvertently begins the next apocalypse, she begins to realize everything she's been led to believe in has been wrong.

Sundown knows exactly who Abigail is- the descendent of the woman whom he once loved enough to become an avenging dark hunter for. He wants to protect her and she wants to kill him- so what's a man to do? Protect her of course, because he's that kinda guy- with his life if has too.

But there's more to their story then even he has realized and it'll take sacrifice- and blood- to get to the bottom of it.

Ahh I love a good vs evil story that involves someone laying down their life for another- after they've learned that vengeance is never theirs to take of course. Sure its cliched as all get out- but I still fall for it everytime.

As i said before, the story started out really working on my nerves because Abigail was srsly too stupid to live to continue to believe the load a crap she had been fed all her life when the truth was so glaringly obvious. But then she finally woke up and when she began to love the hero as much as I did, well I forgave her much

Sundown was fantastic, even with his ill-timed humor as were his companions. Kenyon played his laid back cowboy routine perfectly and I honestly felt he did come from the old west with his way with words and all. The wolf shifter was a bit over the top but he did have me chuckling out loud after an extremely tense moment in a runaway semi.

Despite me liking how it ended, I cant really justify giving the book a higher grade. It was relatively short for a hardback (ripoff)- nice stretch job Kenyon- and srsly... Abigail in the beginning. annoyingly obtuse! ugh. OH and how many philosophical quotes can an author squeeze in as one liners? I think SK was trying to find out. wtf? Was she looking thru facebook status's and thought- why not?? so yeah, sticking with the 3 out of 5.

(view spoiler)(less)

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Aug 12, 2011 Krista (One Love) (Critical) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult, cheesy, heroine-i-hate, heroine-i-wanna-slap, heroine-is-a-villain, heroine-tstl, own-ab, paranormal-rom, shifters, wall-banger

1. I think it's inappropriate for Tory to wish the pain of castration on Ash, a man who was once castrated. First of all, she mentally rants about how Ash needs to know what it feels like to have great pain down in his lower regions (as if he doesn't already) and then she thinks about how she wants to be the one to do this, so she fantasizes about castrating a man who has already been castrated. Interesting.
I'm sorry, but giving birth is not an excuse to wish extreme pain on someone, especially...more 1. I think it's inappropriate for Tory to wish the pain of castration on Ash, a man who was once castrated. First of all, she mentally rants about how Ash needs to know what it feels like to have great pain down in his lower regions (as if he doesn't already) and then she thinks about how she wants to be the one to do this, so she fantasizes about castrating a man who has already been castrated. Interesting.
I'm sorry, but giving birth is not an excuse to wish extreme pain on someone, especially someone whose entire life has been one big ball of pain and suffering. Now, I've never given birth, but I specifically asked my mother and several other people who have, if (while they were giving birth) they literally wished their husband's to be dead/in unbearable pain, and they all said that they didn't. Case closed.

2. Abigail sucks as a heroine. She's stupid and blindly kills people without making sure they're evil and without even knowing who they are! And everyone forgives her for no reason.

3. Where was the romance? Also, there was only one sex scene. Also, they didn't figure out they loved each other until the last paragraph.

4. I didn't enjoy the scenes during which Abigail was a little, tiny child and Jess was a full grown man. It was creepy. It's one thing to know he knew her when she was an infant, but it's another to have to bear witness to those scenes.

5. I swear to God, if Kenyon thinks Artemis will make an acceptable heroine for anyone, let alone Nick, she is crazy. It seems to me this is being implied. Artemis changing because of Nick? No. There is no redemption for someone who brutally beat Ash, the most beloved character of the series, over and over again, allowed him to be castrated, beat him some more, and then watched while he was murdered. No.

6. I think Kenyon thinks that just because Artemis helped Tory give birth, that she has been redeemed. Are you kidding? NO!!! That woman deserves eternal torment. If she becomes a heroine, I will never read a Kenyon book again. That's sick.

7. Jess is just a replica of some of Kenyon's past heroes. They all have the same sense of humor. He had a bit of Dev, a bit of Talon, a bit of Ash, and a little bit of Raven. Abigail is a lot like Tabby, Maggie, Susan, Astrid, Kat, Danger, pretty much a replic of Tori. They all have the exact same personality, just with different jobs/interests. (less)

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Mar 25, 2012 Lady Valee rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: pnr-romance

I think this is the first time I rate a book with 1 STAR!

I couldn't finish it. I went through an 80% of it and I just couldn't keep going. So slow! Pages and pages of things and nothing really went on. Or maybe too much did. I'm not even sure any more. I swear I wanted to like it because this has been one of my favorites series for so long that I just can't believe what it has become. WHERE have the original Dark Hunters gone? Their true purposes? Why has this series CHANGED so much? It just was...more

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Oct 27, 2011 Audrey rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-sci-fi-or-otherworldly

A good, action-packed story with a romance that decidedly did NOT blow me away. I liked Jess and his unexpectedly tender and vulnerable side well enough, but Abigail rubbed me the wrong way. I just couldn't see how Jess could go from (a) fighting with Abigail for his life and, oh, by the way, she also killed some Dark-Hunters, too (albeit based on mistaken information) to (b) "damn, girl, you fine, let's make out." Just didn't make sense to me, really. Sherrilyn Kenyon has a fantastic imaginatio...more

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Aug 17, 2011 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was really looking forward to the latest addition to the Dark Hunter series. We’d initially met Jess in Dance With The Devil (Zarek’s story) and he came across as another character with a story to tell.

I feel a bit let down by Retribution. There was something a bit haphazard and rushed about it, and for the first few chapters I found myself a bit confused and rereading back thinking I’d missed explanations. At times, the scenes are written as though we were privy to information about the chara...more

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Aug 21, 2011 Megan rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-romance, vampire-romance

Book 20 in the Dark-Hunter series

Sorry, I couldn’t finish reading this book. It was just too painful. I thought the plot was weak, no chemistry between Jess and Abigail (and I didn’t like Abigail at all), introduction of new Native American mythology which had not existed in the previous novels, too much angst from the big strong brutish Dark-Hunters, and too many cheesy lines!

And I’ve heard Ren is going to get his book next. Sorry, I had zero interest in him. I don’t think I’ll continue this se...more

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Debbie I agree. Elena wrote: "I am never disappointed in her depiction of her male characters, since she writes what we love...sexy bad boys, with an underto...more
Nov 25, 2011 08:22am

╰☆╮ Elena ╰☆╮ My reason for my loyalty and passion for this series is very personal to me. They were given to me after my brain tumor diagnosis and brain surgery, a...more
Feb 11, 2012 11:38am

Sep 12, 2011 Hbeebti rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: used

Sigh..............its over. I tried to go slow and I just couldn't. Ok so I see what everyone was talking about. This book is different than SK's other books in this series. But I enjoyed the Native American parts. Yeah it brings a whole new level to this series. I really really missed my Acheron in this book. There just can not be a book without him in it. Thankfully there was that awesome bonus scene. I lovedddddd that. Simi just cracked me up from her small role. I will say that I was thankfu...more

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Aug 13, 2011 Nicole rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fav-series, paranormal-romance, paranormal, vampire

This was a great addition to the dark-hunter series. I have loved all of Kenyon's books but I was not particularly excited about Sundown's story. Halfway through the book I felt disappointed that we were not getting any of the typical Greek pantheon back story and action but was surprising delighted at the native american legend and myths angle of the story. This could have been a stand alone book and was very happy with the end result. Not to mention the bonus scene at the end with the birth of...more

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Jan 28, 2013 Olivia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-shelf, enriched-reading-semester-2-2013

William Jessup "Sundown" Brady, a former hired gunslinger, backs out of his gunslinger ways to create a family. Plans have to change though,faced the greatest betrayal he has a second change to get revenge, but little does he know of the challenges he will have to face later in his life. Now living life as a Dark-Hunter, the goddess Artemis's chosen warriors, he faces things and situations that only should excite in nightmares. When a human with the bad guys as her army starts killing Dark-Hunte...more William Jessup "Sundown" Brady, a former hired gunslinger, backs out of his gunslinger ways to create a family. Plans have to change though,faced the greatest betrayal he has a second change to get revenge, but little does he know of the challenges he will have to face later in his life. Now living life as a Dark-Hunter, the goddess Artemis's chosen warriors, he faces things and situations that only should excite in nightmares. When a human with the bad guys as her army starts killing Dark-Hunters what will Sundown do?
Abigail Yager was orphaned as a toddler when her parent's friend murders them. Taken in by a family a vampires, she vows at that point on she will hunt and kill any Dark-Hunter she comes across, but most of all, she wants the blood of William Jessup Brady. What will Abby do when the things she was told were all lies? now with the end of the world coming in a few hours, what will she sacrifice to save the world? But the Fates have another twist for them, that will surprise them both.

Sundown: gentleman, a joker at the worst possible moments, honest,and the person you would want behind you in a fight.

Abigail: Jokes with all the guys,insults them too, trained fighter, loyal, and can hot-wire a semi.

Ren: Sees the world as cruel, insults almost everyone, has secrets best left hidden, slow to trust anyone, and can demolish armies with the flick of the hand.

Choo Co La Tah( NOT said as chocolate): talks like a fortune cookie, been through a lot of apocalypses, wise, and is a person to help you when you want a certain type of weather.

These characters go through many challenges. Like trying not to get killed, letting go, trusting people, and leaving your mind open instead of narrowed.
I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars because it was a thrill ride and had many twists and turns through out it.I couldn't put this book down once I started it, it was that amazing! I think any one who is into action, romance, humor, or science-fiction would love this book.

This book is for mature readers only due to language and mature situations. (less)

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Nov 14, 2012 ♡ Sassy ~ Amy ♡ rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: dark-hunter, vampire, part-of-a-series, paranormal-romance, shifter, werewolf, greek-mythology

I knew i wouldn't like it before I read it, because I read Time & Untime & The Guardian first. Those books explained a lot of the basics of this book after the fact. The one thing I absolutely cannot stand is the 1800's cowboy talk. I have no idea why. Maybe it's my mom who had to watch all the western oldies (even back then) when I was a kid. AND her fantasy of being a cowgirl & marriying the kid on the Rifleman series... Johnny something.

Any whooo.... This takes place in Las Vegas...more

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Nov 09, 2012 Carrie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I didn't really like this book or the one following in the first read through. While we've seen Jess pop into previous stories, I didn't really feel like we got to kbow him as anything other than Zarek's only friend. And Abigail! Where did she pop out from? She's been in the Appollite world practically her whole life, but this s the first we have heard of her or any of her family.

I completely understand the sentiment of other revies I read. These two stories do seem like a departure from the my...more

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Sep 26, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Although Retribution took a different turn from Kenyon's normal Dark-Hunter series, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I LOVED the fact that she was dipping into another pantheon of Gods because, to me, it demonstrates are religions really aren't all that different, and many of the beliefs (apocalypse anyone?) are the same at the core. I loved Jess's character and enjoyed that Kenyon kept him true to his gunslinger roots with the slang that he used, and usually resulted in me laughing because I've...more

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Apr 07, 2012 Jae Roth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As a Kenyon fan, I don't think I've ever said "Okay" about one of her Dark-Hunter books. Retribution is not bad. I'm not much into Native American Mythology and lore. It just doesn't interest me and this book moves almost completely away from the mythology that anchored the series to something new.

One of the main problems I had was that without a working knowledge on NA mythology much of the story was difficult to follow smoothly. New creatures and enemies were introduced and each time the chara...more

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Apr 04, 2012 Carolyn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved this book, but I have some issues with it.

1. I could have done without the quickness of Jess and Abby's relationship. Abby was an unrealistic roller-coaster of love, uncertainty, and hatred for Jess. Seriously, it was like blinking. I think he's hot. What if he didn't kill my parents? Oh there he is, I suddenly forgot what I was pondering and I hate him again. HOT HOT HOT KILLER HATE LOVE. At least be a little consistent with it. I would appreciate her starting off hating him, keep it t...more I loved this book, but I have some issues with it.

1. I could have done without the quickness of Jess and Abby's relationship. Abby was an unrealistic roller-coaster of love, uncertainty, and hatred for Jess. Seriously, it was like blinking. I think he's hot. What if he didn't kill my parents? Oh there he is, I suddenly forgot what I was pondering and I hate him again. HOT HOT HOT KILLER HATE LOVE. At least be a little consistent with it. I would appreciate her starting off hating him, keep it that way while slowly transitioning into the uncertainty as she follows him closely, watching his every movement. Then the realization of him not being who she thought he was, finally developing affections for him.

2. Too many quotes of wisdom. They are scarce in the beginning, but then builds up to almost every page towards the middle and end. At one point, Choo Co La Tah manages to turn a whole paragraph into like three quotes. Even flipping Abby, who trained her whole life to kill DHs somehow knows a quote from Plato. I get it, a quote here and there enhances the story, adds light to the character's eyes, but I don't need to be bombarded by brainyquote.com wisdom. enough.

3. Artemis was too out of character for me. Kenyon might be trying to redeem her, but some people are irredeemable. She has done far too much to Acheron and everyone she has trapped into immortality to ever be considered good. I didn't like Tory threatening Acheron during childbirth either. Her pain is NOTHING compared to what he had endured for thousands of years, so just take a pain pill and bite your tongue. Petty to say that I know, but Kenyon depicts all her heroines as raving lunatics when they are in labor, it's a tiring stereotype now. Not all woman scream and curse and threaten the man they love. So why not make Tory the kind that sort of deals with it by squeezing his hand and whimpering, or any other way women have been know to deal with it?

4. Cheesy southern euphemisms. "Why are you more flustered than a preacher in a whorehouse?" etc.

Other than that I found the story refreshing. The personalities were actually different. Usually you get a dark, brooding man and a sassy, annoying, nagging woman. Not this time, at least with the main characters. I could have done with Abby getting angry at the drop of a hat whenever she discovers another one of his abilities, but meh.

(less)

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Jan 23, 2012 Angie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult-fiction, paranormal, werewolves-shape-shifters

Oh how I hate to give Sherrilyn Kenyon such a low rating, but I really couldn't rate this one any higher. I am not sure where this book came from, but I really don't think it was the Dark Hunter Universe. It seems like she is just trying to pull out all the pantheons now and bring on whatever apocalypses she can even if they don't really fit into the world she created. Sure we have seen a lot of different pantheons (Greek, Roman, Sumarian, etc.) in the Dark Hunter series, but they all seem to wo...more Oh how I hate to give Sherrilyn Kenyon such a low rating, but I really couldn't rate this one any higher. I am not sure where this book came from, but I really don't think it was the Dark Hunter Universe. It seems like she is just trying to pull out all the pantheons now and bring on whatever apocalypses she can even if they don't really fit into the world she created. Sure we have seen a lot of different pantheons (Greek, Roman, Sumarian, etc.) in the Dark Hunter series, but they all seem to work, maybe because they all come from a relatively small geographical area and could possibly have interacted with each other in theory. The Native American one just doesn't fit and this storyline just didn't fit either.

Let's forget the problems with the new pantheon and apocalypse for a minute and just focus on the love story. It kind of follows the same path as most of Kenyon's love stories do. Dark Hunter and love interest meet, don't care for each other and then fall in love (view spoiler). However, in this case the love interest, Abagail has been raised by Appollites and believes that the DH is the one who killed her family. She has been dosed with demon and trained to kill DHs for revenge. She is blinded by rage and revenge, sets off an apocalypse, yet somehow in the space of a day has a complete turn around realizes she has been duped and her memories corrupted and then falls in love with the DH Sundown. Really?? I'm sorry but even for a paranormal romance book that is a stretch. And then there is their one little quickie in the car, in a carwash, surrounded by killer wasps...seriously one of the worst love scenes ever!

There are some decent parts to this book. We get to see some of our regular DH group: Talon and Sin make appearances. And the bonus chapter where Tori and Ash are having their baby is wonderful. But the continuing storyline that had seemed to be building in previous books seems to have been thrown out the window with this one and it does appear that there will be atleast one more book on this theme with Ren. So we will see where it is going but I don't have high hopes. (less)

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Jan 15, 2012 Allison rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

William Jessup “Sundown” Brady, who you might remember as Zarek's only friend in Dance with the Devil, finally gets his own book. He is stationed in Las Vegas when he hears of a human who has teamed up with the Daimons and is killing Dark-Hunters.

Jess was a friend of Abigail Yager's family when she was a child until he murdered her parents. She was then raised by Apollites who taught her that Dark-Hunters feed on human souls, terrorise their Squires and blame the Apollites for their crimes. With...more William Jessup “Sundown” Brady, who you might remember as Zarek's only friend in Dance with the Devil, finally gets his own book. He is stationed in Las Vegas when he hears of a human who has teamed up with the Daimons and is killing Dark-Hunters.

Jess was a friend of Abigail Yager's family when she was a child until he murdered her parents. She was then raised by Apollites who taught her that Dark-Hunters feed on human souls, terrorise their Squires and blame the Apollites for their crimes. With help from her new family, she learns how to kill Dark-Hunters and wants nothing more than to avenge herself on Jess.

Retribution delivers everything that makes Sherrilyn Kenyon such a staple of the paranormal romance genre. Even though they are enemies at the beginning of the book, Jess and Abigail treat each other with honour and their inconvenient attraction adds spice to the tension.

Abigail is a true heroine. As the story progresses, she learns the truth about the “evil” beings she's killed and that there will be consequences for her actions. Instead of complaining that she'd been lied to, she takes responsibility and prepares to sacrifice herself to restore the balance she upset. So although the title of this book is Retribution, it's really a story about redemption.

Since a Dark-Hunter is created when they are betrayed and killed, a matched set of emotional baggage comes with the territory, so it's heart-warming to see Jess open up and trust again after his character was overlooked for so long. One of Sherrilyn Kenyon's strengths is her ability to present the same story from different sides and challenge perceptions of established “facts”, which enables her to convincingly make enemies fall in love and trust each other.

Other elements I enjoyed were appearances from favourite characters and a very special bonus scene at the end *ahem*Acheron*ahem*

The world Sherrilyn created has grown with the introduction of the Native American pantheon, but there are so many pantheons at the moment that I expect each one to contribute to the overall plot and time will tell if this one does.

The underlying message in her writing is that bad things happen to us all, but what counts is how we deal with it. There are no whiny heroines in her books and the guys in particular keep up a steady stream of sarcasm in the face of disaster. Along with the romance, this provides more than enough light to keep you reading through the darkness. Don't miss this book.(less)

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Dec 19, 2011 Tamara rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-romance

It pains me to admit that I had the worst time trying to finish this book. Kenyon has been on my favourite author list for a number of years, and this is the first book of hers that I read that I actually didn't care to finish. I almost closed the book never to open it again numerous times.

First off, my biggest problem with this book was the lead female. Abigail was a character I just did not like. She was predictible, ridiculous and so incredibly narrow-minded that I wanted to physically slap h...more

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Oct 21, 2011 Pete rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sk

Retribution was a great Dark Hunter episode with a new Pantheon of Native American Gods. Understanding Sherrilyn Kenyon’s style of a romance between former antagonists is a huge part of my attraction to her stories. Greek mythology is still a huge component, but Cherokee mythology added new dimensions and appeal. This Native American element may be foreign to many readers, but since I attended college in the Cherokee headquarter town listening to Tsalagi (Cherokee language) stories of the Trail...more

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Sep 28, 2011 Jessica at Book Sake rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I’ll admit, I haven’t read any of this series before. Actually, I’ve never read the author’s work at all. Everyone else in our house has (Chronicles of Nick) but me. I was tempted to start from the beginning of the series, until I realized how many books are in the Dark Hunters series…yeah…then I realized you didn’t have to read the others to make sense of them since they feature different characters. Yay for me! So on with the review.

First off, I listened to the audiobook and now I think I will...more

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Sep 26, 2011 Sheri rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Hmm..I'm not sure about this one. It definitely had no shortage of action with all the various plagues running amuck,(happy she decided not to go there with the whole flesh eating virus plague..ewww). But because of that there was only one love scene..and it took place in a car wash no less..in a cramped car...awkwardly..whilst being attacked by killer wasps. Call me crazy but that didn't do it for me. Honestly the entire love story between Jess and Abby pretty much fell flat for me. They just d...more

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Sep 07, 2011 Book Him Danno rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: giveaway-wins, 2011

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I realize now that this in number 20 in the Dark Hunters Series. This is good because it helps me realize why I was so lost at times in the reading. I think the books can be read out of order, but starting with 20 left me a bit confused.

The story was entertaining and held my interest most of the time, only when the story switched from present to past it took me a minute to realize the shift. Lots of characters fill these pages, many names, sha...more

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Sep 06, 2011 Jessica(WonderlandReviews) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 03, 2011 Jaimie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-romance

I was unsure how to rate this book. It was very different than previous books but whenever we venture out of the New Orleans setting we typically get something out of the norm. I still enjoyed the book though. I started it at lunch on Thursday and finished it Friday night after work so it obviously kept my attention. It just wasn't what I was expecting. Because we were introduced to a new Mythology there was a lot of time spent developing that and not a lot of time spent developing the relations...more

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Aug 30, 2011 Aimee (Coffee Table Reviews) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

I love the world that the Dark Hunters are set in. I was given an audiobook to review and I've only recently started listening to them more and more and this one was one that everyone should listen to. The man who reads, Holter Graham, it does it perfectly. He does all the accents, all the voices, even the women's, perfectly. I had actually thought that men growling stuff out was just something you read in a book. Oh man. Did he ever get that growl going! I just about melted in my chair! I highl...more

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Hardcover Quality	9	70	Feb 11, 2012 02:41pm
Advanced Review R...: GIVEAWAY: Audiobook - Retribution by Sherrilyn Kenyon	2	9	Feb 03, 2012 10:22am
Paranormal Romanc...: GIVEAWAY: Audiobook - Retribution by Sherrilyn Kenyon	2	16	Feb 03, 2012 06:07am
Shut Up & Read: GIVEAWAY: Audiobook - Retribution by Sherrilyn Kenyon	1	8	Feb 02, 2012 05:10pm
Who's Your Author?: GIVEAWAY: Audiobook - Retribution by Sherrilyn Kenyon	1	9	Feb 02, 2012 05:10pm
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About Sherrilyn Kenyon

Sherrilyn Kenyon lives a life of extraordinary danger... as does any woman with three sons, a husband, a menagerie of pets and a collection of swords that all of the above have a fixation on. But when not running interference (or dashing off to the emergency room), she's found chained to her computer where she likes to play with all her imaginary friends. With more than ten million copies of her b...more

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Books by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Dance with the Devil (Dark-Hunter, #4; Were-Hunter, #1)

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Quotes from Retribution

“Acheron always says that our scars are there to remind us of out pasts, of where we've been and what we've gone through. But that pain doesn't have to drive or determine our future. We can rise about it if we let ourselves. It's not easy, but nothing in life ever is." -Sundown” — 70 people liked it

“Got to say, dying would really wreck my best day. Been there, done that, and now that I think about it, Artemis forgot to give me the t-shirt.” — 39 people liked it

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Retribution (Dark-Hunter #20)

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