Book Review: Dark Energy by John O’Riley

Title: Dark Energy
Author: John O’Riley
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Age Group: Adult (18+)
Rating: 4 stars
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Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

Josephine uncovers an important secret about the Valituras, a power-hungry organization that has lived in secret for centuries. They have amassed powerful dark magic and infiltrated all levels of the government. Now that their existence is publicly exposed and Josephine’s discovery leads to the capture of more Valituras agents, they decide to make a big move and declare war against the country. Josephine scrambles to protect herself and her loved ones from this powerful foe.

As she uncovers more clues in her search to expose the hidden identities of the Valituras leaders, her boyfriend grapples with his new talent of white magic which proves to be a potent yet unreliable source of power. Even as Mark’s abilities expand, he struggles to avoid burnout which will lead to a coma and reversion back to mainstream magic. When the U.S. government’s MADA department hires him to attempt restoration of an ancient historical site, American Stone Henge, the Valituras target him for termination.

As Josephine’s psychometry brings her closer to the truth about the Valituras, she fears the answers will come too late.

Dark Energy offers a great setting, with impressive world building. In the world author John O’Riley has crafted, there are magic users of different levels, and our main character, Josephine, is a level six wizard. But there are also vampires, succubus’s and even immortals thrown in the mix. There are different kinds of magic – white magic, which is very rare, for instance, and whih is practiced by Josephine’s boyfriend, Mark. Josephine is destined to be young forever, immortal in a way, but for once, here we have a character who actually acts like an old person stuck in a younger person’s body. Every time I read books about immortals, I’m surprised by how childish these immortals are, even though having lived for centuries. Not here – Josephine is in every way a grumpy old wizard, albeit a fun one.

It’s a little weird to see the relationship between Josephine and Mark, because he’s much younger than she is. In terms of how they look, they look more or less the same age though. And Mark tends to act like a person much older than his age – he’s very wise for his years. So after awhile, the weirdness disappears, and I actually started to like them as a couple.

The magical world created by the author for these novels is vast and impressive. Since I haven’t read any of the other books in the series, it was a little hard to follow, but after a few chapters, I started to get the hang of it. josephine and her friends kept being attacked by a construo letalis curse, which makes a human-looking creature that follows them, intent on killing them. The curse doesn’t stop until its target is dead, or the curse itself is destroyed. I loved this – it’s so fresh and original. There are other original elements in the book, and it really feels like a fresh breath through the supernatural genre.

A great book for fans of supernatural stories who want something new and different. The author did an outstanding job creating a magical world that feels fresh and original.

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