Alpha Night

Psy-Changeling Trinity, Book #4

By Nalini Singh

ISBN# 9781984803627

Author’s Website:  https://nalinisingh.com/

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi

Ethan Night has known his entire life that he wasn’t normal, that’s he’s damaged.  He’s an Arrow that can bend light to his will and even use it as a weapon.  His harsh training as a child by Ming LeBon only proved to isolate him more.  He was kept away from the other kids.  In fact, the others didn’t even know he existed!  Ming had his own horrible plans for Ethan.   And, now that the Arrows have been liberated from his control Aden must find a way to reach Ethan before it’s too late.  He doesn’t want to lose him to Ethan’s own demons.

BlackEdge alpha, Selenka Durevs is tough as nails.  She knows how to show her people love, but is tough on them at the same time.  Her mother left the pack when she was young and her father wasn’t fit to raise her.  He was jealous of his own child’s power.  Her grandparents saw what was going on and took Selenka into their home to give her a proper upbringing.

Now all the different species are coming together for the symposium.  The Arrows and the alphas from all the local changeling packs are present to make sure everything runs smoothly.  However, none of them expected the attacks to come from a couple empaths!  Luckily Ethan was there and was able to use his power to render everyone unconscious before any real damage was done.  Now they just have to figure out what caused the Empaths to act out and how to stop future attacks.

Selenka’s wolf lunged at the first sight of Ethan Night.  Something about him the wolf had to have and couldn’t wait.  A mating at first sight is unheard of, a myth.  Most changelings have a courting period before their animals choose.  Now Selenka and Ethan must navigate their new roles to one another while being complete strangers.

“Have you met Mr. Tall, Dangerous, and Smoldering before?” Margo put a hand on Selenka’s shoulder, the contact instinctive between packmates. “It’s a serious breach of the girlfriend code to hide snacks like that.”

Ethan has embraced his new relationship, but struggles with the secret he keeps.  He knows that one day he will have to leave Selenka.  He has the Scarab Syndrome and there is no cure.  Once the immense power breaks free from his shields it will eat him alive and make him completely insane.  He will have to separate himself from Selenka and the pack before he can hurt them.  Memory Aven-Rose is his only hope to extend the time he has with his mate.

However, the PsyNet is deteriorating at a rapid pace and Ethan is needed to help fight the newest threat to it.  But will Ethan have enough power left to fight his own illness by the time he’s done with the battle in the Net?

It seems like it’s been forever since I’ve read a Psy-Changeling novel.  I was excited to delve into this one, but sadly it didn’t quite live up to my expectations.  The Psy relationships tend to do that for me.  Although Ethan, was never Silent, so I was hoping for better results.

I actually enjoyed Ethan.  I loved his loyalty and his desire to please and protect those that depended on him. And, I liked him becoming a soap addict as well!

“After seeing what you did to that car, I don’t think any of these punks are going to be playing chicken with you.” Grin feral, the other man slapped him on the shoulder, his strength reverberating through Ethan. “Trust Selya to find herself a mate who can cut people in half.”

I think my issue with this novel was actually Selenka.  I understand that she’s alpha and that the pack must always come first, but Ethan’s her mate!  I think he should rank higher than he did in this book.  He flames out and she leaves him with others to watch over him while she handles pack issues, even after she was told to protect his body.  She could have at least found a way to bring him in the den so he was more protected.  I hated how Ethan always felt he was lesser than Selenka, like her possession; his knight to her queen.  She disagreed with the statement saying they were equals, but she never really drove the point home or proved it to him.  They definitely never felt like equals.

This book featured unfamiliar characters, ones that either haven’t been introduced or just ones that weren’t prevalent enough for me to remember.  The story was also hard to follow in the beginning with introductions and re-introductions of characters (Ezra, Pax, Theo, the Architect) most of which seemed unnecessary.  The only one that brought anything to the story was the Architect and what she brought was minimal. This all happened as the reader is trying to figure out what the Scarab Syndrome even is.  I found myself paging back to see if I missed the explanation.  I hadn’t.   

Overall, I found this book to be a bit dull and one-dimensional.  It was lacking the emotion, humor, and steam that I have grown to expect from these books.  Not to mention, the book didn’t feel complete.

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*