Falling for the Daughters of Twilight

     There are always new takes on old mythology. Think of Romeo

Secrets, and more secrets

and Juliet. Yes, that was taken from a very old Greek tale about Pyramus and Thisbe, a tale I read long before I read Shakespeare's version. The fact is, many of the writers borrow ideas from mythology, from real life, and from religion. Some keep the tales close to the original story, some are only faithful to the basic idea or plot, and others use the story as a springboard to a much different place. If you read the myth of Pyramus and Thisbe, you will see the old bard stayed pretty true to the original myth with only the names and setting changed to protect the innocent. For a sample of the second, look no further than the tons of rewrites of Cinderella. My favorite is Ever After with Drew Barrymore, though this one almost makes it into the first category. There are also these two modern versions of note, A Cinderella Story with Hannah Robinson and Another Cinderella Story with Selena Gomez. At least these two productions give a nod to the original story, using Cinderella in the title. Then there are movies that only use the idea of a poor, mistreated, or under-appreciated girl who finds true love with the handsome prince of a man. Think Pretty Woman, for instance. Any number of stories can be generated by an idea from mythology or religion, with some fantastical results. Our new movies include, as an example of the springboard type, Thor and his brother. Today's book,  Daughters of Twilight, by Collette Jackson-Fink, uses ideas from the bible to create an intriguing story full of mystery and wonder, as well as evil and not so evil.



Daughters of Twilight
by Collette Jackson-Fink
Publisher: Outskirts Press
Length 300
ISBN-13 978-1432799485

About the book:
    A naked man, confused, searching for the exit in a dark, slick tunnel, finds his way out and onto a highway where he is nearly hit by a truck. Two sad, winged creatures watch as the truck driver takes off with the naked man in the passenger seat. And thus is the prologue for this intense action packed tale.
    A black tower has been exposed in a corn field in the Midwest. A team of archeologists has been lost within the black tower - or have they? Three teams of highly trained men, lead by Steel, Dane, and        Thorne enter the tower to recover the lost archeologists.
    During the rescue attempt, Dane's team is attacked by beautiful women that have uncanny strength, speed, and the ability to stop bullets. One of the creatures runs off with Dane's second hand man, and when Dane gives chase, he finds himself in hand to hand combat for his life. As he is losing the battle, he asked the creature what she wanted. "You," was the only reply. She stabs his hand, pinning it to the floor. After confirming something with her companions, she pulls up his wounded hand and sucks his wound until Dane's world turns black.
     There is so much more to this than a simple rescue. The general running the operation demands one of these creatures be captured alive. Is this just the army and the government talking or is BioChem Industries, a huge chemical and production company, also involved? Captain Steel and Dane are forced into the role of trying to capture one of the creatures alive, but something simply isn't right. And just what does Steel know that he isn't telling? Unfortunately, after Dane's fight, even though he was allowed to live, he seems to be connected to these creatures via the wound he received. This complicates his mission but as Steel and Dane dig deeper, the unholiness of what is actually planned for these creatures becomes clearer.

My Take:
     This book has several things going for it. It is a brand new take on angels, who they are, why they are, and their relationship with man. It is refreshing to see. The book is truly non-stop action. There is little down time as the story moves from one conflict to another. I was engaged throughout the entire book. Jackson-Fink completes the character of Dane, and while I was wondering why Steel wasn't better fleshed out at first, her approach to this character becomes clear later in the book. The dialog never bogs down the story, most of it clearly moving the story along.
    There are a few problems with the book as well. There are a number of typos. There is at least one spot where the scene break symbol shows up in the middle of a scene, which caused me to reread the area a couple of times. I have a serious question about how Hanna, one of the creatures, was injured. And finally, the resolution with Raymond doesn't fit with his character up to that point and seems forced.
    Overall, this book was fun, interesting, hard to put down, and internally consistent with, maybe, the exception of Hanna's original injury.

My Recommendation:
    I really enjoyed this book. If you like an action drama with science fiction/ fantasy overtones (no witches, werewolves, or elves), and you can overlook a few typos, I believe you will find this a great read. There is foul language and some sexually centered ideas, so caution should be used for a younger reader. (R-17)