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Dark Descendant (Nikki Glass #1)

3.86 of 5 stars 3.86 · rating details · 2,870 ratings · 330 reviews

From the acclaimed author of the Morgan Kingsley, Exorcist books comes the gripping first novel in a new series about a private eye who discovers, to her surprise, that she’s an immortal huntress.

Nikki Glass can track down any man. But when her latest client turns out to be a true descendant of Hades, Nikki now discovers she can’t die. . . .

Crazy as it sounds, Nikki’s man...more

Paperback, 325 pages

Published April 26th 2011 by Pocket Books (first published April 11th 2011)

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Nov 18, 2011 The Holy Terror rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy, color-black, color-blue, owned, bought-04-11, gods, mythology, surprised-i-didn-t-hate-it, 2011

A solid start with some intense characters and a fascinating world and mythology. I'll definitely be reading the next installment when it's released.

Nikki Glass is Black's smartest character yet. She's pragmatic and resourceful, and I just about cheered when she made choices that an intelligent person would make. Thank you for not making her too stupid to live, and for also not making her whiny, bratty, or a cliché. She doesn't trust people right away, she doesn't fall into bed with anyone, and...more

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May 06, 2011 Mariya rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy, favorites, books-i-own, action-packed, all-nighter, epicness-happening, kick-ass-heroine, tortured-herione, cover-lover

An adult Urban Fantasy novel about Greek Gods? I have been waiting forever to pick up a book like this. And trust me when your read the first chapter of this book you will be hooked in a way you never thought possible.

I cannot express how much I love Greek Mythology, so the concept of there being immortals called Liberi that are the children of a Greek god was so fascinating and also this story is so very action packed at different times too. I mean every chapter you're at the edge of your seat...more An adult Urban Fantasy novel about Greek Gods? I have been waiting forever to pick up a book like this. And trust me when your read the first chapter of this book you will be hooked in a way you never thought possible.

I cannot express how much I love Greek Mythology, so the concept of there being immortals called Liberi that are the children of a Greek god was so fascinating and also this story is so very action packed at different times too. I mean every chapter you're at the edge of your seat wondering what's going to happen next? And we also develop strong feelings for characters we love and hate.

Nikki, our protagonist was quite an interesting character, but I took an instant liking to her immediately. She is your typical kick-ass urban fantasy gal. I think since the beginning of this book she has been through quite a bit and I look forward to her character growing more with each book.

Even though I loved this book, there was one thing that bothered me. There were a lot of trust issues throughout the whole book due to an incident at the beginning of the book and it really drove me crazy. I just wanted to shout out at some characters in the book, "haven't heard of until proven guilty, have you?" But I do think by the end of the book these trust issues have become a bit better.

"Anderson sent me to give you this," he said. "I believe the subtext was "kiss and makeup." This time I was sure I made a face. "I rather kiss a copperhead." I grabbed the envelop from his hand.
He laughed and held up his hands in surrender. "Don't worry. It was only a figure of speech."

There not really a romance in this story except for some secondary characters and I am okay with that. I love to read urban fantasy books only if they have romance, but this book rocked my world so much that I didn't mind that there was no romance and I think it would be awkward if there was a love story with Nikki.

Things do tend to get a little bloody in the world of the DARK DESCENDANT but these are immortals and they come back. I loved watching the threats, the "I'm a bad-ass" talk and the ass kicking. This was quite a crazy world, but also a fun one too.

I admit that this book is a bit darker than what I am used too, but I loved it all the same. I am completely new to author Jenna Black, and I like what I see. This is a definite read for urban fantasy readers.

More of my reviews at Mystifying Paranormal Reviews(less)

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Aug 09, 2011 Melindeeloo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy

When PI Nikki Glass discovers that she's a descendant of the goddess Artemis, her introduction to the 'good' descendants of the old gods, and the bad Olympian descendant purists doesn't make her a fan of either faction. But as both groups grapple to get the Nikki on their team, Nikki's going to have to choose sides, even if her choice is just the lesser of what may be two evils, or her loved ones will suffer the consequences.

Dark Descendants ended up being an interesting start to Black's newest...more

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Nov 19, 2012 Kelly-Jane rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: cover-or-title-lust, i-haz-dis

3.25 stars

Review to come.

5 likes · like · see review

May 15, 2013 L-D rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: cop-pi-bountyhunter, mythology, paranormal-abilities-superpowers, series

Nikki Glass is a private investigator. Orphaned and raised in the Foster care system, Nikki was adopted by the Glass family. After running into members of a strange "cult", Nikki discovers that her birthright is something she never suspected. Nikki is a decendant of the Greek Goddess, Artemis. Because Artemis was the virgin goddess, descendants of Artemis are extremely rare. The "cult" that Nikki was investigating, turns out to be a band of Liberi, descendants of other deities, each with their o...more Nikki Glass is a private investigator. Orphaned and raised in the Foster care system, Nikki was adopted by the Glass family. After running into members of a strange "cult", Nikki discovers that her birthright is something she never suspected. Nikki is a decendant of the Greek Goddess, Artemis. Because Artemis was the virgin goddess, descendants of Artemis are extremely rare. The "cult" that Nikki was investigating, turns out to be a band of Liberi, descendants of other deities, each with their own unique powers. Things do not go smoothly at first because there are two warring factions of Liberi and while both sides want the rare Artemis descendant to join them, both sides are also extremely paranoid and distrustful. Their initial suspicious aggression causes Nikki to run from both factions.

As a goddess-touched heroine, Nikki is surprisingly mundane. She has no super strength or any kick-ass fighting skills. Artemis is the goddess of the hunt so Nikki is good at "finding" things which was probably what led her to become a PI in the first place. She also becomes a great shot - like Artemis with her bow and arrow. But other than that, there is nothing spectacular about her. She is described as pretty but basically unnoticeable compared to her bombshell sister, Steph. I think I like the fact that Nikki is a "subtle" kind of superhero. Some authors feel the need to make their heroines overly amazing (like Cat from Night Huntress who gains even more ridiculous powers with every book). Nikki was kind of refreshing.

While I really enjoyed the premise of this book, I could've read about 500 more pages. The book wasn't short, but I did feel like I only got the smallest taste of where this storyline can go and I'm dying to read more about Nikki and the other Liberi. If I were to review this book again in about a month, I might give it 4 stars, but the ending of the book really got me amped up to read more about the Liberi. I'm glad that I had to read this book for a monthly challenge because otherwise I'm not sure how long it would've sat on my TBR shelf. There were also some scenes in the book that really had me tense. I'm excited for the next book and wish 4.2012 wasn't so far away!(less)

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Apr 21, 2012 Theresa rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Greek mythology always fascinated me when I was a kid. Despite the fact that popular fiction will overdue any given trend, I have been interested in the recent flood of books that I've seen that feature Greek gods. So when I was conveniently sent a copy of "Dark Descendant" by Jenna Black, I thought I'd give it a try. Unfortunately the Greek myth that is supposed to be the backbone of this particular story isn't featured the way the back-of-the-book description (shown above) would have you belie...more Greek mythology always fascinated me when I was a kid. Despite the fact that popular fiction will overdue any given trend, I have been interested in the recent flood of books that I've seen that feature Greek gods. So when I was conveniently sent a copy of "Dark Descendant" by Jenna Black, I thought I'd give it a try. Unfortunately the Greek myth that is supposed to be the backbone of this particular story isn't featured the way the back-of-the-book description (shown above) would have you believe.

Like most paranormal fiction "Dark Descendant" is told from a first-person perspective. Nikki Glass, our heroine, is a fairly common staple character in the paranormal genre in that she is a private investigator. The twist in this particular story is that she is a descendant of Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt, which is supposed to make Nikki unusually good at her job-- so were frequently told. She is unwittingly pulled into the world of the Liberi Deorum, or "children of the gods" and the ongoing conflict between two groups of descendants.

Unfortunately I have more critiques of "Dark Descendant" than I do compliments. It is, like most books of its type, very readable, but it also has the most common flaw of lacking depth. Nikki is a likable enough character who, at first glance, has some decent character development. But the problem is that we're mostly told what kind of person Nikki is rather than shown. And we're told so often that Nikki is a good investigator or that she is a "bleeding heart" that it gets to the point where I wanted to yell at the pages I know, I know, I get it already. There are a couple of flashbacks that do a lot for establishing Nikki's character, but the overall trend was to let Nikki tell us in her first-person narrative who she was rather than let her actions do the talking for her.

But the biggest disappointment for me was the total lack of content concerning the gods the Liberi were supposed to be descended from. I was especially intrigued by the idea that the book wasn't only supposed to draw on the Greek gods, but instead include gods from all pantheons. I don't know much about Kali or Loki and I thought it would be fun to read about characters that drew from those mythologies-- except that "Dark Descendant" didn't include any mythology featuring those gods. At all. In fact there wasn't any mythology of any kind included in the book other than the notion that Zeus had a way with lightening bolts.

"Dark Descendant" was a frustrating book for me because there was really no back-story about Liberi Deorum. We're given a sketchy notion about the characters and what powers one or two of them have, but they are mostly outlines and caricatures that feel like they're there to give the main character something to do. The summary above makes it sound as if we're going to read a book that has something of an ensemble cast, maybe something like the X-Men series, but instead of having an intriguing set of characters with varying powers, most of them are merely mentioned by name before they disappear.

What could have been a unique book ends up being extremely pedestrian as Nikki ends up trying to prove herself to the good guys while trying to avoid capture by the oh-so-evil bad guys. The potentially interesting aspects of the story are virtually ignored. The characters are the stereotypical good vs. evil, though the "good" characters start off as extremely unlikeable and then make a very sudden-- and unlikely-- turn into much more benign personalities, which makes the narrative very uneven and not terribly believable.

I don't like to rip a book to shreds, so I hate to do nothing but knock "Dark Descendant." But the truth is that the book didn't really do anything for me. Perhaps it's a style thing. Maybe I'm unfair in that I expect paranormal fiction to have more depth than this. But I couldn't help but feel that "Dark Descendant" was over 300 pages of missed opportunities. It was okay, but not something I could recommend.(less)

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Jul 03, 2012 jerica rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebooks-i-have

On Woowoos and Boo-boos

I actually liked reading this book enough to not discontinue and put it in my 'can't-get-through-it' list, but there were some things that bothered me about it which is why it's only getting two stars.

First: I love things to do with mythology. So when I read the summary for this, I was all, HELL YEAH GET ME ON THAT TRAIN! And it would be something I haven't read before, since most fantasy books that dabble in mythology I've read are in the Young Adult section. This one ha...more

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May 12, 2011 Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars

Nikki Glass is a private investigator, and her latest job has her scoping out what her client tells her is a cult compound. When the job goes horribly wrong, however, she learns two things. One, the “cultists” are actually Liberi, the children of the ancient gods of mythology. And two, Nikki is herself descended (more distantly) from Artemis and has just accidentally stolen the immortality of one of the Liberi. Artemis, as you’ll recall from mythology, was far from promiscuous, so her descendant...more Nikki Glass is a private investigator, and her latest job has her scoping out what her client tells her is a cult compound. When the job goes horribly wrong, however, she learns two things. One, the “cultists” are actually Liberi, the children of the ancient gods of mythology. And two, Nikki is herself descended (more distantly) from Artemis and has just accidentally stolen the immortality of one of the Liberi. Artemis, as you’ll recall from mythology, was far from promiscuous, so her descendants are rare and their talents much sought after. Now Nikki is caught between two rival factions of Liberi, neither of which she trusts. She’ll have to trust one of them, though, in order to protect herself and her beloved sister from the nastier of the two factions.

Dark Descendant is comparable to the origin story of a superhero. Jenna Black shows us how Nikki becomes powerful and reveals the world of the Liberi to the reader as Nikki discovers it. Infodumping is skillfully avoided; each piece of information is organically woven into the plot at the point when it becomes important.

Nikki is a refreshing heroine. Unlike some PI protagonists, Nikki actually does a ton of PI work, even the unglamorous parts such as snooping for information on the Internet. When she finds herself in danger, she takes steps to learn how to protect herself. She doesn’t become an invincible combat monster; instead she is really good at one particular thing but still vulnerable in other ways, such as her small size. Later, she reads up on mythology and uses that information to help her apply her inherited powers to her investigative work.

I was surprised by how emotionally raw Dark Descendant is. All of Nikki’s fury and frustration and sadness come right through the page. She’s been thrust into a dangerous world she never dreamed existed, terrible things happen to her and her sister, she still has some issues left over from her childhood in foster care, and there’s the incredibly frustrating lack of trust she receives from the other Liberi. By the time she’s been accused for the zillionth time of being a spy, I was ready to tear my hair out right along with Nikki — aarrrgggghhh, what would it take for some of these people to give her the benefit of the doubt?

Unusually for an urban fantasy, there is no romance for Nikki — at least not yet. She is attracted to several men, but that’s as far as it goes, and there are very good reasons why. I’m often frustrated with multiple love interests, but this time I’m genuinely curious about what Black will do with Nikki’s love life.

Dark Descendant is a really quick read; the pace is rapid and the book is not very long. Jenna Black introduces us to an interesting world and a terrific character who is strong without being over the top. The Descendant series promises to be a good one.

I originally wrote this review for FantasyLiterature.com.(less)

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May 13, 2011 Cyp rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, 2011-reads, urban-fantasy, 2-star, dont-bother

Cool plot, cool synopsis, sool idea, and of course, cool heroine!

Nikki has been a PI for quite some time, but her friend comes to her one day and screw everything up for her, and now she's hated by whole hordes of powerful people(both pyhsically and politacally), and by both the good and bad people, which practically leaves her on no-man's land. She's also an outcast at the only safe sanctuary she was offered. All throughout the book, she has to prove her worth and loyalty to Anderson and co. ca...more Cool plot, cool synopsis, sool idea, and of course, cool heroine!

Nikki has been a PI for quite some time, but her friend comes to her one day and screw everything up for her, and now she's hated by whole hordes of powerful people(both pyhsically and politacally), and by both the good and bad people, which practically leaves her on no-man's land. She's also an outcast at the only safe sanctuary she was offered. All throughout the book, she has to prove her worth and loyalty to Anderson and co. cause otherwise they would not protect her or her family from the bad people who wants her desperately(away from Anderson,the head of the good people, anyway) cause she's the rare Descendent of Artemis, Greek goddess of the Moon, the Hunt and Patron Goddess of all virgin maidens. Anderson, the only one who could butt heads with the main protagonist Konstantin, asks her to find someone for him, and it somehow became a test to prove her loyalty, and someone was bent on thinking her the betrayer. So when Nikki's sister, Steph, was threatened and Nikki had to rush to save her, that annoying someone held her back, thinking to ambush her and give her a good beating HE thought was his right to mete out and HE thought she deserved. So yeah...poor sister... The ending was kinda a happy one, and it hinted at a little romance for Nikki and also a hell of a conflict brewing up(ok maybe not hinting for the conflict, but downright shouting it at us).

Nikki was the usual heroine-nice, intelligent, carried the rare and sought-after genes, but strangely, her looks were only average. Y'know, usually the main girl's all pretty and kind and gay and stuff? She sucked up all the misfortunes that befell her like a man and she's really independent. I was disappointed about her powers tho. You would expect the rare Descendent of the cool Goddess to be all "oooh here is my magic bow and self-refilling spiritual arrows" and no one ever being able to sneak up on her because of her uncanny tracking powers...But nooo, everyone, including and especially that irritating someone, Jamaal, kept getting past her rather laxed guard and ambushing her. And throughout the whole book, she only managed to track 1 person(if i remember correctly).

Steph, Nikki's sister, is too pretty and too kind to be true. And seriously, after getting brutalized and almost raped, i would expect more of a reaction from her; what with her pampered, sheltered life and all. This type of people is kinda too impossible so...yeah i didn't really like her. And i seriously don't think she's the girl for Blake.:(

Anyway, learning about Anderson's parentage had been a real kick. Haha it was kinda cool. I thought we could've read more about Logan tho...He seemed to have much potential to be an enteraining lead hero.:/

OK, i confess that i've been procrastinating doing this review up so the feelings are not fresh anymore, and i can only remember 2 of them clearly now, which are:

OK firstly, this book has some serious fighting mojo(is this how you use this word?) going on. It's literally one fight after another, like 接二连三 kinda thing, which is definitely a good thing. Also incorporated with those awesome greek myths, that is the total cherry on top of the freaking cake. haha. After readong the synopsis about how the protagonist is Artemis' Descendent, i started looking frantically for the ebook...and i think i half-spoiled my mouse in my haste:( Anyway, the action was totally jam-packed with cool moves and choreography. But it was kinda weird, but also kinda cute that Nikki apologizes after the first few times she shoots at someone who's with the good guys(not purposely, but rather in self-defence). It was like 'BANG!', the guy falls down with some crazy chest wound(he's an immortal Descendent so he'll heal) and she goes up to him with a chagrined expression(in my head anyway)and says,"I'm sorry." Hah! Oh oh, and i think the part where she accidentally stabs Jamaal's eye with the heel of her stilettos was just plain lame(hey, it rhymes). Haha, but cute at the same time. I don' harbor any sympathy since he was the one who cause Steph(Nikki's sis)to be brutalized by Alexis(bad guy's right hand man)by holding Nikki up. Totally uncool...

And secondly, most YA books, if not all, would have a little romance in it and this one only just subtly hinted at it in the end-for Nikki anyway. And let me tell you, i am so not happy with the way things are developing. For all the things that he had done and caused,like bashing and choking Nikki and causing her siser to be ruffed up so badly and all, Nikki actually started developing, i don't know, a soft spot for Jamaal! Ew. Gross. He was my least fave character because of his unstable mental condition and hater-attitude, and she just goes traisping off with him? That's just wrong dude. And...ok this is probably gonna sound racist, but i kinda prefer the same races of people being paired up, and this is like Darke Academy by Gabriella Poole all over again, which is just plain weird. And why pair someone of her calibre with someone at the bottom of the food chain?>:/

Not as interesting as Percy Jackson, but definitely worth a shot. Try it. I mean, i don't regret picking it up, but it just wasn't the best book that i've read and with PJ as a comparison, that's tough cause PJ is just plain unbeatable. Haha. For greek myths anyway.

(less)

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Aug 22, 2011 Maddie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: myths-gods-goddess-heros

Ok so over all I thought this book was pretty good with a few problems, though. The idea of all these descendants of gods from different cultures was really interesting and i liked how they were from DIFFERENT cultures instead of just focusing on one. I also enjoyed the suspense of waiting to find out what or who Anderson really was. The thing that bothers me is how they introduced Nikki's (main character) sister into the story. It was kinda fast and I didn't totally buy the story of her and Bla...more

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Jul 18, 2012 Janus Vielle (The Blair Book Project) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned-paperback, yabc-tbr-2012

You know you got a good book when you can hardly put it down. Dark Descendant, for me, is just one of those books.

Nikki Glass, the leading character for Dark Descendant, works as a Private Investigator and she’s damn good at it. Ironically, she finds out she’s a descendant of Artemis, the goddess of the hunt when she stumbles into the world of the Liberi. Her world then after has become far from ordinary...

I love Mythology, so I don’t think there’s any use in questioning why I picked up this bo...more You know you got a good book when you can hardly put it down. Dark Descendant, for me, is just one of those books.

Nikki Glass, the leading character for Dark Descendant, works as a Private Investigator and she’s damn good at it. Ironically, she finds out she’s a descendant of Artemis, the goddess of the hunt when she stumbles into the world of the Liberi. Her world then after has become far from ordinary...

I love Mythology, so I don’t think there’s any use in questioning why I picked up this book. I have also read some books by Jenna Black (the Faeriewalker series/trilogy). I love Jenna’s writing. She can create characters that, although you may not love, are interesting and memorable. She also seems to be a huge coffee addict; I mean fan, a huge coffee fan (to put it lightly). I remember, Dana, the protagonist of Faeriewalker, cannot go a day without getting a cup of coffee and here I find Nikki always taking a moment to get herself a cup too. I have nothing against this really, I love coffee myself and I can’t let a day pass without it, but I really find it entertaining to see that the author kind of made it a point to always have coffee. Teehee!

Anyway, back to Dark Descendant, I have to say that the concept is really what I love the most. Gods and goddesses having human descendants is already a common idea, but how the characters here in this book get to earn their immortality was a unique approach. I’m not going to say how but once you find out, I think you’ll think likewise; probably a little too morbid but unique all the same.

Jenna Black introduces us to a rather interesting set of characters (I’ll only mention a few since there are too many of them): there’s Blake, a descendant of Eros the god of Love, can you imagine being controlled by his power of persuasion? Wow that might be totally embarrassing once you get a hold of yourself again; then there’s Alexis, a descendant of Zeus, also known to me as the jackass (yes, I seriously don’t like him); Anderson, the leader of the Liberi and the descendant of... actually... never mind let’s skip him, there’s a lot you’ll discover about him in this book *sheepishly grinning at you*; Jamaal, descendant of Kali the god of Death who has gone half-mad and does not trust Nikki (Jamaal also happened to kick the crap out of Nikki, poor girl). Of course there’s Nikki, whom I love for being very dedicated to protecting her adoptive family in spite of trying to stay detached to them as much as she can. I know she’s not exactly the tough girl kind; she doesn’t get super strength or anything from being Artemis’ descendant, but she uses her skills the best way possible. She has incredibly good aim though, and any item she gets her hands on can turn into a deadly weapon, so what the heck?!

It’s not as action packed as I thought it would be but I got so caught up in the flow of the story that it hardly even bothered me. I did notice that it’s a little short on the romance side but I guess I can make assumptions on see if they're right, as this is a series after all. There’s probably more to come with the next books and I can’t wait to get the chance to read them!

For more of my reviews, please visit my blog:
The Blair Book Project @ www.theblairbookproject.blogspot.com/(less)

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May 12, 2013 S.M. Reine rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Greek mythology was high on my list of squee-worth topics as a child, along with dinosaurs, Ancient Egypt, and astronomy, so I LOVE the idea of people descending from Greek gods. When Dark Descendant went on sale, it was an insta-buy for me. Now I kinda want my 2.99 back.

Nikki Glass is a typical urban fantasy heroine who was abandoned by her parents, grew up with a chip on her shoulder, and has supernatural powers. Uninspired as the character may be, it didn't bother me. I wasn't even bothered b...more

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Nov 08, 2012 Fangs for the Fantasy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Nikki is a private detective with a difficult past, a loving family and an unusual case – emit believes his sister has been taken by a cult and wants her to investigate. Normally she’d listen to her instincts, but since it’s an ideal excuse to get out of an awkward blind date, it sounds much more appealing.

Until she finds herself driving on an icy road – and running over and killing Emmitt as he smiled and didn’t even try to save himself.

Which rapidly leads her in a room full of people who think...more Nikki is a private detective with a difficult past, a loving family and an unusual case – emit believes his sister has been taken by a cult and wants her to investigate. Normally she’d listen to her instincts, but since it’s an ideal excuse to get out of an awkward blind date, it sounds much more appealing.

Until she finds herself driving on an icy road – and running over and killing Emmitt as he smiled and didn’t even try to save himself.

Which rapidly leads her in a room full of people who think she just killed their friend – worse, they think she did it on purpose to steal his power. She’s a descendent of Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, and her powers have been activated now she has killed another descendent of a deity – something the others – the other Liberi – have a hard time believing she did by accident.

And it doesn’t stop there – as a descendent of Artemis, she is one of the rarest deity bloodlines and her powers are in very high demand by both these Liberi – and the Olympians; an ancient, powerful and completely ruthless group of Liberi who will resort to any tactic to bring her to their side.

I like this world – the idea of the immortal descendants of all the gods who can only die if they are killed by other humans descended from the gods is a fascinating one. The competing organisations of demi-deities promises to be a fun and epic fight.

The story itself is very focused – we don’t have much in the way of side plots or distractions and the action happens appropriately, downtime happening off the page rather than having to laboriously detail the grunt work and the daily grind. This comes together to make it a very well paced book, it’s not a long book and not a word is wasted; it’s on target and at no point is it not telling the story. If anything, I think the book may be sparse in places; Nikki’s interactions with the Liberi she lives with would have been interesting to see and to add more than just names to characters. At the same time, it wasn’t necessary knowledge for the story and we were never left without information we needed to make the plot hold together – so all of this development can pause for a later book. The only issue I can raise on the excellent pacing is that Nikki often doesn’t drive her own plot. This is understandable given that she has been immersed in a completely new, alien world. But at times she does seem to hide from it and just hope it all goes away – again, that’s probably understandable.

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Jul 15, 2012 Douglas Meeks rated it 4 of 5 stars

Dark Descendant by Jenna Black

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I finished Dark Descendant and I can see where people had a hard time rating this book. The story is compelling and the crux is that she is a descendant of the goddess Artemis. The problem is the reaction of the heroine to a lot of the things people do to her, she is forgiving to the points of TSTL (to stupid to live) and her behavior is not consistent. In spite of these distractions I think I did enjoy the book but given that much of my enjo...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Deborah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: series, fantasy

Review

Our main character Nikki, a descendant of Artemis, becomes an immortal by accident, literally. The writing style was very easy to follow, the characters a bit shallow, but as this is a series I hope they will get better developed over the next installments. The idea was really promising and actually well executed, but I felt that people where just a tad bit annoying at times. Nikki is always very compassionate and even emphasizes this herself, telling us about being a 'bleeding heart' over...more

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Jun 08, 2012 Candace (Lovey Dovey Books) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Originally posted on Lovey Dovey Books

Dark Descendant is a decidedly original work of fiction. Yes, we've all read stories that somehow relate to the gods of Greek mythology. However, I can safely say that none of those stories were quite as unique as Jenna Black's first novel introducing Nikki Glass, private-eye extraordinaire.

Through a twist of fate, Nikki Glass finds herself thrown into a world of immortal beings and Greek god descendants. She doesn't know of her heritage from the goddess of...more

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May 12, 2012 Lindsay rated it 3 of 5 stars

Private Eye Nikki Glass has always had a knack for finding things - people or wallets, her hunches often turn out to be right on the money. Not surprising, as she's a descendant of Artemis, Greek goddess of the hunt. Now exposed to the mystical side of the world where descendants of the old gods from every culture (Norse, India, you name it), Nikki finds that the the bad guys are really, really bad, and the good guys aren't so fabulous either. Both sides are vying for Nikki's allegiance, but her...more

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Feb 20, 2012 Natasja rated it 4 of 5 stars

Dark Descendant by Jenna Black is the first novel in the Descendant Series and I have to say that I liked this novel. Although I have some other books on the shelf by this author, I never read any of them but that is going to change. The way she wrote this book made mu curious to see how these other books are.

Nikki Glass is a strong young woman and a great private investigator, but her last assignment turns out to be one hell of a job. Not only get she involved in a major car accident, she is al...more

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Jan 16, 2012 Naoms rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: best-paranormal-romance-urban-fanta, library, paranormal-urban-fantasy, read-in-2012, non-human-magic-users, favorites

I've had this book from the library for awhile, but resisted reading it. I like Urban Fantasy, but I prefer Paranormal Romance and so I was all "I want to read a romantic book, I'm in a romantic mood." So I read a few other books before this one. Then I picked this book up around 4 hours ago and now I am done.

I could not put this book down. Maybe, because I am obsessed with mythology. Or, because Nikki is seriously badass. Whatever it was, I was absolutely enthralled, couldn't put the book down....more

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Dec 23, 2011 Jessica rated it 1 of 5 stars

There's a great concept for a book at the heart of DARK DESCENDANT. Unfortunately, the writing is terrible and the concept never really gets developed.

If I found out I were a descendant of Artemis, and people were trying to kill me, the first thing I'd do is go somewhere safe (which the heroine does). But the second thing I'd do is, oh, try to find out whatever I could about Artemis.

Of course, Nikki doesn't need to, because that would be a useful step in the real world, where gods and goddesses...more There's a great concept for a book at the heart of DARK DESCENDANT. Unfortunately, the writing is terrible and the concept never really gets developed.

If I found out I were a descendant of Artemis, and people were trying to kill me, the first thing I'd do is go somewhere safe (which the heroine does). But the second thing I'd do is, oh, try to find out whatever I could about Artemis.

Of course, Nikki doesn't need to, because that would be a useful step in the real world, where gods and goddesses aren't limited to one or two characteristics. People aren't, either. Unfortunately, all the characters in DARK DESCENDANT get short shrift, as everyone is defined by one or two traits. Artemis was a goddess of the hunt, so Nikki is great at finding people and a sharpshooter.

But Artemis was also a virgin goddess. This gets touched upon, but only in the sense that it makes Nikki a Rare And Precious Snowflake, not in the sense of finding out who her mortal ancestor was, why Artemis decided to have a child, etc. Artemis was also the goddess of wild animals, but that doesn't figure into it at all, either in the sense of Nikki having an affinity for animals or them particularly liking her. Disease, childbirth, the moon and Artemis' other aspects never get touched upon.

Of course, Nikki is such a shallow, bland character that there's not really room in her personality for any exploration of what it would mean to be descended from a goddess, or what sort of responsibilities (besides surviving) that might entail, etc.

Jenna Black fills the book with on-the-nose, sometimes cringe-worthy dialogue, and violates the cardinal rule of storytelling (show, don't tell) at every turn. (How about letting us figure out that Alexis -- or maybe it was Konstantin; their personalities were so identical that I have a hard time telling them apart -- is evil by, oh, his actions? His facial expressions and reactions to what Nikki is saying? His attitudes toward other people? That's too much work, apparently, because she'd rather just tell us straight out that he's evil, and have him start right in on the evildoing forthwith.)

The only remotely interesting character is the head of the group of descendants that Nikki joins, who convincingly spins out the "evil or not" question until near the end.

What a waste.
(less)

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Dec 10, 2011 Vanessa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy

Nikki Glass is a descendant of Artemis. Yes, that Artemis. But it isn't until she unwittingly becomes one of the Liberi that she becomes immortal and her powers of the hunt manifest.

The result of this sudden change in status is that the two warring groups of Liberi—who happen to be based in the Washington D.C. area—want her on their side. You see, Liberi are descendants of gods from many different pantheons (Greek, Hindu, Norse, etc.), and have inherited the abilities of their god ancestors. Unf...more Nikki Glass is a descendant of Artemis. Yes, that Artemis. But it isn't until she unwittingly becomes one of the Liberi that she becomes immortal and her powers of the hunt manifest.

The result of this sudden change in status is that the two warring groups of Liberi—who happen to be based in the Washington D.C. area—want her on their side. You see, Liberi are descendants of gods from many different pantheons (Greek, Hindu, Norse, etc.), and have inherited the abilities of their god ancestors. Unfortunately for most of them that doesn't include a sense of morality or responsibility for the human race and Nikki would be the perfect person to hunt down their enemies. She wants nothing to do with it, but they won't let her off that easily.

Jenna Black isn't new to the Urban Fantasy scene, considering her Morgan Kingsley Exorcist novels. But here Nikki is less 'kick butt' than Black's previous series, and that seems to be on purpose. Sure she's a P.I., but not the take-risk type, and as a result this more about how this once normal woman must now cope with a supernatural world.

For the most part Black does pretty well. Nikki is likable (despite feeling a bit Mary Sue-ish), and her attempts to deal with the situation are believable and entertaining enough to read. The Liberi who work for Anderson Kane are the more interesting assortment of beauty, brains, and brawn, each with their unique set of abilities and personality. Black writes in black and white: the bad guys are truly evil and while the good guys aren't spotless angels, it's hard to see much grey area. Still, they are entertaining in their own way.

Black's first person narrative is straightforward and quick paced, despite hiccups in narration, the occasional suspension of belief, and the cliche prose. Black does her best to explain things (for example, why a virgin goddess has descendants in the first place), but it isn't exactly subtle. There are other oddities like how Nikki's relationship with her adoptive sister feels awkwardly written, as well as clunky references to Nikki's emotional baggage.

But by the end, Black hits her stride and delivers on all her promises in a tidy resolution, even if we're left with some questions in the end. Even better: no cliffhanger, and the book still suggests a continuing series.

This is your typical Urban Fantasy fare, but promises a new twist a la Rick Riordian. DARK DESCENDANT is a fluffy palate cleanser with some fun ideas. But don't let yourself get caught up on the details.

Recommended Age: 16+
Language: A smattering of stronger profanity
Violence: Mostly peril, a few deaths, but the scenes are only moderately graphic
Sex: One of the main characters is a descendant of Eros, so there's plenty of strong innuendo and references, but no graphic scenes(less)

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

This is my first read by Jenna Black and I was pretty happy I clicked the link from SmexyBooks. As a general rule I don't care to start a series that is new. Patience is not my strongest point and having to wait until 2012 for the next book will drive me nuts! Nuts!

Books involving twists on already well known mythology are genre favorites for me. I read and enjoyed the first book of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan but didn't go beyond that because I had gotten pretty tired of...more

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Sep 22, 2011 Kale rated it 4 of 5 stars

Oh My Gods. Don't let the title fool you into thinking this is another series about demons, witches, or vamps. The name doesn't do the premise justice. Dark Descendant is an excitingly gritty mix of mythos and urban fantasy.

Nikki Glass is a bloodhound in the P.I. business, but her current client is hoping to give her more than a commission. After an accident and near death experience involving her, and her latest employer, strange things start happening. She starts seeing iridescent tattoos on...more Oh My Gods. Don't let the title fool you into thinking this is another series about demons, witches, or vamps. The name doesn't do the premise justice. Dark Descendant is an excitingly gritty mix of mythos and urban fantasy.

Nikki Glass is a bloodhound in the P.I. business, but her current client is hoping to give her more than a commission. After an accident and near death experience involving her, and her latest employer, strange things start happening. She starts seeing iridescent tattoos on certain people, including herself. Her aim is dead on 100% of the time, and two rival tattooed factions are vying for her time and allegiance. Turns out Nikki is a mortal descendant of Artemis, goddess of the hunt. Descendants like Nikki are rare and can become immortal, one of the Liberi. But there's a catch. One that Nikki may never forgive herself for.

Jenna Black puts a new spin on Heroes. Creating a refreshingly new series out of an eclectic array of mythology. I always love that first book in a series where everything is being developed, the world building, story threads, histories, and players. Black doesn't disappoint. The story is fast paced, and set in the D.C. area. There was a lot of background on Nikki that provided a strong foundation on her personality. Glass has to seriously reevaluate her traits and demeanor as her past definition of herself is altered by supernatural revelations. Using a blend of gods from different cultures really lends it's self to more diverse characters. The supporting cast is just as interesting with descendants of Eros, Kali, Loki, and Zeus just to name a few.

The only thing I didn't like was how often the main character was unarmed. For someone with Nikki's small stature and god given skill set, I find this to be a problem. While I like Nik's resourcefulness, I can only support the David slays Goliath routine for so long. I do hope Nikki gets some better hunting gear like a holster for her gun and vest to hold her phone and stuff. Carrying around a backpack and leaving or dropping her gun in an inconvenient place just seems like a rookie mistake. Maybe when we next meet Nik she'll be more of a pro.

Overall I thought the concept was great. I know Jennifer Estep was doing a YA series with characters like these, and Rick Roidan's Percy and Lost Hero books are some of my favorites as well. So finding an adult series was very exciting to me. There was a lot of world building, but I thought the storyline was woven in there well. It was compelling and entertaining. I am looking forward to the next book to see where Black takes things. I think Nikki has only scratched the surface of her abilities, and a clear path for an overall storyline has yet to be revealed, so I am definitely staying tuned in for that.(less)

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Sep 07, 2011 Brie rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved Jamaal (toward the end, of course). I know thats really weird considering he hurt Nikki so much but... I can't help it. I probably just like him because when he was forced to stop choking Nikki in the beginning I had a random thought that something more was going to end up happening between those two. I kinda love to be right so I honestly hope they're (and i use the term very very loosely) "relationship" grows for purely selfish reasons.

I hope Nikki grows into a more bad ass character i...more

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Aug 27, 2011 Mer rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: a-f, a-pr

Read on your own risk.

4 stars are given because Nikki Glass is awesome, there are loads of action stunts, those boys are bastards and hardass, no romance whatsoever at least not with the main character and this book tells with different form of mythology.

Nikki Glass is a private investigator. She's a smart girl and she has a very good critical thinking. All this time, she thought she's just nobody, an ordinary woman, just like others but one night, one tragic accident, changes everything. Her li...more

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Aug 17, 2011 Talizmyn rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, mythology, urban-fantasy, my-library, reviews, 2011

Dark Descendant is a quick read. Jenna Black has a way of writing that is very fast-paced, and I managed to finish the book in just a few hours.

While the quick pace keeps the story moving forward, it doesn't leave much time for character development, or much elaboration in other areas. Aside from mention, not much else is given about the Gods, or their descendants. Even with the main villains, Konstantin and Alexis, the reader is left wondering much about these characters. Even by the end of the...more

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Jul 10, 2011 (´*•.¸ღBexღ¸.•*´) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Nikki is a private investigator specializing in skip traces and missing persons and she is exceptionally good at her job. Nikki's own history is brought to the front of the story when she accidentally kills her client while trying to help him save the person Nikki was hired to find from a cult. While badly injured she is met with more injury from one of the "cult" members upset that she has killed his best friend. This turns out to be no ordinary "cult" and is instead the descendants of mytholog...more

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Jul 02, 2011 Aparajitabasu rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, fiction, mythology, romance, young-adult

Contrary to what the title suggests the book is not that kind of dark - like no demons or witches or anything like that. Read on to find out about Jenna Black's new series Descendants #1 Dark Descendant .

Here is the summary:

From the acclaimed author of the Morgan Kingsley, Exorcist books comes the gripping first novel in a new series about a private eye who discovers, to her surprise, that she’s an immortal huntress. Nikki Glass can track down any man. But when her latest client turns out to be...more Contrary to what the title suggests the book is not that kind of dark - like no demons or witches or anything like that. Read on to find out about Jenna Black's new series Descendants #1 Dark Descendant .

Here is the summary:

From the acclaimed author of the Morgan Kingsley, Exorcist books comes the gripping first novel in a new series about a private eye who discovers, to her surprise, that she’s an immortal huntress. Nikki Glass can track down any man. But when her latest client turns out to be a true descendant of Hades, Nikki now discovers she can’t die. . . . Crazy as it sounds, Nikki’s manhunting skills are literally god-given. She’s a living, breathing descendant of Artemis who has stepped right into a trap set by the children of the gods. Nikki’s new “friends” include a descendant of Eros, who uses sex as a weapon; a descendant of Loki, whose tricks are no laughing matter; and a half-mad descendant of Kali who thinks she’s a spy. But most powerful of all are the Olympians, a rival clan of immortals seeking to destroy all Descendants who refuse to bow down to them. In the eternal battle of good god/bad god, Nikki would make a divine weapon. But if they think she’ll surrender without a fight, the gods must be crazy. . . .

Nikki Glass is a bloodhound in the P.I. business, but her current client is hoping to give her more than a commission. After an accident and near death experience involving her, and her latest employer, strange things start happening. She starts seeing iridescent tattoos on certain people, including herself. Her aim is dead on 100% of the time, and two rival tattooed factions are vying for her time and allegiance. Turns out Nikki is a mortal descendant of Artemis, goddess of the hunt. Descendants like Nikki are rare and can become immortal, one of the Liberi. But there's a catch. One that Nikki may never forgive herself for.

I always love that first book in a series where everything is being developed, the world building, story threads, histories, and players. Black doesn't disappoint. The story is fast paced, and set in the D.C. area. There was a lot of background on Nikki that provided a strong foundation on her personality. Glass has to seriously reevaluate her traits and demeanor as her past definition of herself is altered by supernatural revelations. Using a blend of gods from different cultures really lends it's self to more diverse characters. The supporting cast is just as interesting with descendants of Eros, Kali, Loki, and Zeus just to name a few.

I loved the gutsy heroine and her surprisingly deep and charming sister. The Descendents each have different inherited skills from the specific God they descend from. It was fascinating to read about each of them and how they use their gifts in their fight against their deadly rivals. I especially liked how Jenna Black manages to give all the members their own personalities and quirks. Each character has a dark past and not all of the team members like each other. This made them very realistic and added a lot of tension to the story.

What I really like about this book is that at first there are no "good guys." When Nikki first comes up to the house where the Descendants live, she is mortal. The only way an immortal descendant can die, is if a mortal one kills them. Once that kill happens, their immortality gets transferred to the once mortal descendant. I know it is a bit confusing and I was definitely confused in the beginning of the book. But the more you keep reading the more it makes sense. She unknowingly kills Emmitt, and his immortality gets transferred to her. At this point the Descendants think she is working for the Olympians. So they don't trust her. But that is not to say the Descendants are pure innocent. Bad things happen in this book, and even by the end, Nikki still doesn't trust all of the descendants and they all don't trust her.

This isn't the most complex gods and goddesses/mythology-based book I've read this year and yet it's the best, in some part because of it. I loved that there weren't big pockets of infodump and that each Descendant's power was straightforward and related to their god or goddess. It was refreshing that when Nikki became immortal, it didn't come with the Artemis instruction manual. The setup of the two groups is also pretty clear and the reasons they don't get along are spelled out. The Liberi may be the good guys but they're not sunshine and light.

There were so many things I liked about Nikki in addition to her not being insta-supergirl. She stayed wonderfully suspicious of everyone who wouldn't trust her even if she felt a twinge of conscience when she had to hurt them. I usually feel pretty let down if there's no romance of any kind for my heroine in a book, but I was okay that there wasn't any here. She had a little bit of a connection with the cranky Jamaal that might go somewhere eventually but I also thought she had something twitchy happening with Anderson. In either case I would have thought it weird if anything had happened considering how much distrust there was in the story.

DARK DESCENDANT is a thrilling new urban fantasy with large doses of mythology. Nikki is a terrific heroine; complex, gritty and yet, she still retains her feminism. The world-building is fascinating, the cast of characters eccentric and compelling and the dialogue sharp and entertaining. DARK DESCENDANT grabs you from the first page and holds you in its relentless grip to its exciting ending. Don't miss it! And keep waiting for the next one Deadly Descendant which releases in May 2012.(less)

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Jun 21, 2011 Cassandra rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Warning: this is probably a bit spoilery.

This book wasn't very good for my blood pressure. The pace started out intense and never let up. I mean it never. let. up. It was actually a little exhausting to read it. It also made it hard to put down.

There was some very grim stuff in here, which in most cases the author was kind enough to either gloss over or have happen offscreen. There didn't seem to be any real "good guys" except for the heroine and her sister, and they are put through the wringer...more

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Jun 12, 2011 Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was the kind of read that pulls you along-- I finished in in the space of an evening. Although the main character does a bit of floundering around in the latter-middle section of the book, the plot keeps you guessing and DEFINITELY keeps you reading-- the tension level is high right to the end.

It's unfair to describe it this way, but if I had to boil down the book concept to a typical movie pitch, what this most brought to mind was "X-Men meets Percy Jackson" with a hard R rating (there's q...more

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About Jenna Black

Jenna Black is your typical writer. Which means she's an "experience junkie." She got her BA in physical anthropology and French from Duke University.

Once upon a time, she dreamed she would be the next Jane Goodall, camping in the bush making fabulous discoveries about primate behavior. Then, during her senior year at Duke, she did some actual research in the field and made this shocking discovery...more

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Books by Jenna Black

The Devil You Know (Morgan Kingsley, #2)

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Quotes from Dark Descendant

“There is no lock strong enough nor wall thick enough to keep Death out," he murmured, his lips close to my ear so that I could feel the puff of his breath against my skin. The ends of a couple of his braids had found their way under the collar of my flannel night-shirt and tickled the base of my neck.
"Are you speaking literally or metaphorically?” — 12 people liked it

“Anderson sent me to give you this he said. I believe the subtext was kiss and makeup. This time I was sure I made a face. "I rather kiss a copperhead." I grabbed the envelop from his hand.

He laughed and held up his hands in surrender. Don't worry. It was only a figure of speech.” — 11 people liked it

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Dark Descendant (Nikki Glass #1)

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