The Book Trollop: {Review} Darkest Before Dawn by Maya Banks

Tuesday, October 27, 2015

{Review} Darkest Before Dawn by Maya Banks

THE ALL-NEW KGI NOVEL from the “incredibly awesome" (Jaci Burton) #1 New York Times bestselling author of When Day Breaks.

The Kelly Group International (KGI): A super-elite, top secret, family-run business.
Qualifications: High intelligence, rock-hard body, military background.
Mission: Hostage/kidnap victim recovery. Intelligence gathering. Handling jobs the U.S. government can’t...

The enigmatic Hancock has been both opponent and ally to the KGI teams for as long as they've known him. Always working a deep game, Hancock's true allegiance has never been apparent, but one thing is for certain—he never lets anything get in the way of duty.

But now, his absolute belief in the primacy of his ultimate goal is challenged by a captive he's been ordered to guard, no matter how much she suffers in her prison. She's the only woman who's ever managed to penetrate the rigid walls surrounding his icy heart, but will he allow his perplexing feelings for the beautiful victim to destroy a mission he's spent years working to complete or will he be forced to sacrifice her for “the greater good.”

Intense. Painful. Action-packed. Dark.

This story was dark and nerve-wracking from almost the beginning and it never really got any better. There were hardly any happy parts and very little romance, but for this type of story, it fit.

This is my first KGI book and I appreciated the background Maya gave every once in a while with the characters from the other books in the series, because I hadn't read them and I would have been lost on who they were.

I really enjoyed Hancock's story. His character was one that I found interesting, especially the way he portrayed himself to others but had a lot of heart at the end of the day. He was a protector from the very core and I saw that from the moment he was introduced.

I also enjoyed the fact that the heroine stayed true to her character since the very beginning. She was a do-gooder, born to serve people, and even if it costs her life, she is willing to go to bat for people who need help the most.

It was admirable, as much as it was dangerous. She was the pure definition of a martyr and I wondered why the author didn't just name her Mary?? Even though she was selfless, she had a lot of fire in her as well. She didn't take things lying down or at face value, she was smart and calculated her options in a way that I knew she was highly intelligent.

Hancock and this heroine was a match made in heaven. Where he was badass and granite, she was innocent and soft. They meshed well because they were opposites in some ways and the same in the most important aspects.

The only thing I didn't care for were the wordiness and repetitiveness. There were a lot of paragraphs that could have been deleted because it just reiterated what the paragraph before said, just in a different way. I skipped a LOT of the paragraphs and even some pages because the descriptions were just too much.

*Disclaimer: I didn't have the final copy of this book so it could have gone through another round of edits before it was released*

But even though I skipped, I still got the gooey, mushy, tears in my eyes butterflies that helped to swallow the wordiness a lot better.

Overall, I give this book a 4 "Hancock can control me any day" Stars!!

If you want to find this book for yourself, look below for the links...