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Publisher:
St. Martin's Paperbacks
Release Date:
November 4, 2008
Genres:
Paranormal Romance
Mythology
ISBN:
Print
9780312947064
Bookmark Rating:
Reviewed by
Jennifer Ray
Review Posted:
October 2008
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Stryker has finally devised a way to destroy his long-time enemies. To this
end, he rouses an ancient evil – War. Virtually unstoppable, War will not rest
until his mission is accomplished. But War’s agenda reaches far beyond the
plans Stryker has, and the world will never be safe while he walks the earth.
Having lost everyone he loved, Stryker was prepared for his own annihilation as
long as it meant that of his foes as well.
Enter Zephyra, the ex-wife he never stopped loving. The woman he believed dead
centuries ago. The lover he once betrayed.
Zephyra may be intent on killing Stryker herself, but Stryker wants nothing more
than to win his way back into her heart for good. Now Stryker has a reason to
want to live, he must stop War before it is too late.
How do you take
a villain who has long been reviled in a popular series and make him a
sympathetic character? You tell the story if his life, the betrayals that
turned his heart to stone, the incidents that erased any trace of humanity from
his soul until he was left a cold-hearted creature bent on vengeance against a
world who wronged him. You show his doubts, his fears, and meet the people he
once loved more than life itself.
Believe me, I had misgivings about how Sherrilyn Kenyon would make me actually
like Stryker. But this author has never let me down yet, and so I looked
forward to ONE SILENT NIGHT with great anticipation.
Ms. Kenyon does indeed show Stryker in all of his faults, never glossing over
his misdeeds. Yet she also shows him as a being with a strange, yet somewhat
honorable, code of ethics. Yeah, he has no qualms about going after those he
deems his enemies, but there are some limits as to just what he’ll do to achieve
his nefarious goals.
We feel his regret over the way his relationship with his son Urian ended. The
loss of his son is something that haunts Stryker without mercy, just as the loss
of his other children and grandchildren throughout the centuries has done.
When Zephyra unexpectedly enters his life again, she returns his soul to life,
his heart to warmth, and restores in him something long ago lost – hope.
Will Stryker ever change his ways and give up on his vendetta against Acheron,
Nick, and humanity as a whole? Only time will tell for sure, but with the
return of love in his life, there is a very good chance that Stryker will seek
redemption for his past evil. To say more would certainly be a huge spoiler
here, and I wouldn’t want to spoil the story for other readers.
What I will say is that Sherrilyn Kenyon has succeeded admirably in fleshing out
a character who had been easy to despise up to now. After reading this story, I
may not like what Stryker does, but I can understand how he became the way he
is.
ONE SILENT NIGHT is a fascinating character study exploring just
what events create a villain, and demonstrating once again that all creatures
have the capacity for good and evil. It is the way we respond to the obstacles
and tragedies in our lives that determine who we are.
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