Dark Time: Mortal Path Book One (Mortal Path Series, 1)

by Dakota Banks

Book Overview

Three hundred years ago, she sold her soul to a demon. Now she wants it back. For centuries, the woman calling herself Maliha Crayne has lived a second life--as an assassin for the malevolent creature... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061687308
• Release Date: July 2009
• Publisher: Harper Voyager
• Length: 306 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.3" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

Amazing beginning to what looks to be a wonderful series

Susannah made a deal with a demon to avoid death by burning as a witch and has subsequently spent the last three centuries as an assassin for her demon master. However, she starts to have problems with following through on the assassinations - finding herself plagued with remorse and guilt. So she finds a loophole that will allow her to find freedom from her contract - she just needed to save as many lives as she had taken before she dies. Since she is now stripped of most of her demonic powers - including, obviously, immortality, and the fast healing she enjoyed under the demon's guidance - this is obviously easier said than done - especially considering the number of victims she has had over the years. This is a taut, well-written debut novel in a series that looks to sparkle. I can not wait to read the rest of it. Definitely pick this up if you are interested in dark urban fantasy - it's a keeper!

Mystery/Urban Fantasy

This is a wonderful new author of Urban Fantasy as well as mystery. The mystery is just as good as the fantasy and I really enjoyed it. She has a new take on Urban Fantasy and I am looking forward to the next book. There are very few books that I look forward to sequels, but this is one. Burned as a witch in the sixteenhundreds, Maliha Crayne was saved by a demon-lord to become his weapon and [...]. Now after three hundred years and numerous killings she wants her freedom. ONly now has she found the way to save herself. She must save a life for every one she took. Sounds easy, but not so easy to do. She also finds that she is not the only one. Rabishu is the demon-lord, but she is finding that he has rules he must obey too. Now she must find out his story and how she can finally overcome him. Pitting herself against the demon is deadly but now she has a chance. Fighting the demon leads her into a deeper mystery that can possibly save her life. I loved it, the drama, the mystery interposed into the story is great, and the characters are intriging. Do not miss the first one.

Yet another sleepness night reading with flashlight

It's funny, I tend to read reviews for a book I loved or hated AFTER reading it rather than before. This way I'm not swayed by the judgments of other readers with whom I may share no affinity. It also keeps me from getting annoyed at those reviewers who insist on lacing their reviews with SPOILERS! No spoilers here, just my honest appreciation for Ms. Banks' skill at weaving a tale that covers all my criteria for for a great read! Dark Time Mortal Path has both an engaging protagonist, an original storyline, and the kind of pace and excitement that kept me reading far past my bedtime. While it's not a new concept to have a demon enslave a human to do its bidding on the surface world, Dakota gives this concept so many elements to make it her own and breath new life into it. In just a few hundred pages she manages to make us mourn, hate, love and lust after her protagonist. She does so in a way that flows seamlessly toward an ending that makes me wish I had waited to read Book 1 until after Book 2 is available. Now I CAN'T WAIT FOR BOOK TWO!! Pick up this book, you won't be disappointed. Cheers!

A rip-roaring story that combines the occult, sex, martial arts and extreme action sequences

Posted 8/11/2009: Over 300 years ago a young woman who uses herbs to treat others is convicted of being a witch. She is burned at the stake, just after losing her baby. As she dies she is suddenly confronted by Rabishu, a demon who offers her immortality as long as she kills for him. She is renamed Maliha Crayne and carries out assassinations for her master, until she refuses to kill an infant. Rabishu offers her a choice: either save a number of lives and be released from her bondage, or fail and be damned to eternal torment. This first book in a series by Dakota Banks is full of Maliha's efforts to attain her goal, but is also loaded with action sequences, raw sexual activity and martial arts. The only flaw in the intriguing cover is that she is holding a sai in each hand, but doesn't use them in the book. Maybe next time, and I hope there is a followup in the series. It is difficult to put the book down, once you start reading it. The ending is a surprise and indicates we will be reading about Maliha in more books.

Fascinating new series!

I just finished Dark Time by Dakota Banks and I can highly recommend it to you! This book has something that will appeal to every reader. It has romance, mystery, supernatural elements, martial arts, and urban fantasy all interwoven easily into Book 1 of the Mortal Path series. I found the story to be highly imaginative, creative and complex as well as exciting. The first chapter of this book is one of the best first chapters I've ever read and I'm a voracious reader. It will stay with you long after you finish reading it. Also I was very impressed with the cover art of this book. The plot weaves together several threads, such as the early part of the story which shows us a young wife, Susannah, in 1692 in Salem, Mass. who is due to have her first child shortly. You will follow along as she is burned as a witch and while burning alive, she calls out to anyone or anything that can save her. She is taken into the foul presence of a Sumerian demon who promises her eternal life, youth and beauty and special powers if she will do his bidding, which when she accepts, finds out his bidding is killing whoever he tells her to kill. Another thread takes place in modern times, when she presents herself as Marsha Winters, writer/ Maliha Crayne, Ageless assassin who calls herself The Black Ghost. Maliha begins to question why she has to kill so many people and finally she refuses when she is ordered to kill an infant. She makes the decision to give up being Ageless and enters the mortal path. Her contract with the demon is that now she must save as many lives as she has taken, with only a few of her supernatural powers left to her and growing older minute by minute, or else he will own her for all eternity. This is fascinating stuff! There is also a political thriller thread woven into the story, as well as the fun of getting to know the circle of friends Maliha gathers around her and how she copes with the very human need to love and be loved by a man. Readers are also introduced to the Sumerian demon Rabishu, one of 7 demon children of the god Anu and the plot thickens! This is well-written, with a tone ranging from metaphysical to outright humor, blending flashbacks together with present day beautifully. I can hardly wait for the next book in the series!