Skykeepers (Signet Eclipse) [Mass Market Paperback]

STORY BRIEF:
This is the third book in the Final Prophecy series. It is set three years before doomsday. At that time the lords of the underworld (demons) (Banol Kax) will pierce the barrier and take control of the earth. The Nightkeepers are humans with magic powers who are sworn to protect mankind from the Banol Kax. Iago leads a group of enemy Nightkeepers who court the powers of the underworld. The Nightkeepers gain strength and knowledge through a skyroad to their gods. Prior to this book, Iago's group battled with the Nightkeepers which somehow closed the skyroad. Now both the Nightkeepers and Iago's group are searching for the lost library of their ancestors which will increase their fighting magic and might reopen the skyroad so they can communicate with the gods again.

Sasha's father knew where the lost library was. He was killed. Iago kidnaps Sasha because he thinks she knows where the library is. She doesn't. The Nightkeepers rescue her from Iago and hope to work with her to find the library.

Michael is a Nightkeeper who has an inner demon. When the demon comes forward, he has powerful killing abilities. Michael can usually keep the demon suppressed, but when Sasha is near, the demon becomes active. Michael and Sasha are drawn to each other, but Michael stays away from her because he fears his demon will be unleashed and hurt her.

REVIEWER'S OPINION (WITH MILD SPOILERS):
Most of the story is the Nightkeepers fighting Iago's group and trying to find the lost library, with a romance on the side. I would have liked a little more romantic development, where the couple learns about each other and develops a relationship through interaction. Their romance is almost anti-romance because of Michael's kiss and flee habit. There is a powerful sexual attraction between the two. The few times they kiss, Michael feels the demon inside him waking up, so Michael stops the kissing and leaves her. Sasha's reactions vary from hurt, to confusion, to anger. She labels him as having "commitment issues." The typical romance novel has a couple getting together, having a fight/separation and then getting back together in the end. I'm ok with this formula, but I find many authors are unable to come up with a good or logical reason for the separation, which was a problem with this book as well. The heroine simply changes her mind about the relationship - twice: once to cause the separation and later to get back together. I would have preferred something more substantive.

This book was not easy to read. I felt like I had to work and concentrate to keep track of the many complicated rules. Sometimes the magic works, many times it doesn't. There is always some new reason for it not working - the location they are in, a mark on the skin is interfering, someone else's magic is interfering, the skyroad is closed, or the person hasn't yet learned how to use their magic. A sexual bond or a slave bond also affects how magic will work. I don't mind suspending belief when reading fiction, but some of this was a little too much for me. For example, about once a generation someone is born with a unique killing ability. Sometime during their life the gods will send a message to that person with a task to be done. That person must do it within 9 hours or suffer a penalty. (What's with the 9 hours?) Also, since the skyroad has been closed, there is no communication with the gods. So, it didn't make sense to me that the gods were able to get a message to this person. Also, why wouldn't the gods themselves strike the target dead? Why assign this task to a human? Why create a human with this ability that will only be used once in the human's life? Ok, I know this is fiction. I'm fine with the existence of magic, demons and gods, but I need a little more believability and logic than I'm getting.

DATA:
Story length: 454 pages. Swearing language: strong. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 3. Total number of sex scene pages: 15. Setting: 2008 and 2009 Yucatan, Everglades, Florida, Virginia, New Mexico, Texas. Copyright: 2009. Genre: fantasy romance (more fantasy than romance).

Time is winding down for the Nightkeepers - the end of the world as we know it is coming, and unless these magical warriors can find the hidden library of their ancestors, there won't be anything they can do to stop the demonic plague that is going to be unleashed on the world.

Sasha Ledbetter has come to the Yucatan jungle to search for her long lost father. She hasn't seen him in eight years, and while she knows in her heart he is deceased, she refuses to give up until she finds his body. And find him she does, but with him comes a world of hurt - Sasha is kidnapped by Iago, an enemy of the Nightkeepers and an Xibalban. Held captive and tortured, Sasha is no help to Iago; she has no idea where the famed library of the Mayan is hidden. After almost a year, rescue comes in the form of Michael Stone, a man whose soul is divided - a man she learns to love.

Michael Stone is living a lie. Covertly trained to be an elite killer, he learned years ago how to repress his Other side, the side of his personality that is a cold-blooded killer. When given the assignment to rescue Sasha Ledbetter from Iago in his Florida hideout, Michael just wants to do what he is told. He doesn't count on the feelings he will possess for this beautiful woman - and with just one kiss their sexual energy is enough to bring back powers which were thought to be lost. But with those powers comes another, more destructive power - Michael's ability to kill with precise, animalistic accuracy. Michael is ashamed of this Other side of himself and refuses to allow anyone to get close to him - not his king, not his winiken, nor the woman he loves - Sasha Ledbetter.

SKYKEEPERS begins where book 2, DAWNKEEPERS ends. The Nightkeepers are unable to link their power into the sky, and because of this, their powers are waning, and the Xibalbans are becoming more powerful. In order to tap into their powers, or rather, in order for them to know how to tap into their hidden powers, they must search for and find an ancient Mayan library - a library that Sasha's father knew about but died before telling anyone where it was hidden. Their only hope is that Sasha knows where the library is located.

With Sasha's rescue comes many surprises - readers will be wide eyed with the information that is revealed in SKYKEEPERS. Possibly the fastest paced of Ms. Andersen's three novels, SKYKEEPERS will knock you off your feet, keep you on the edge of your seat, and totally captivated from beginning to end. Tons of questions are answered in this exciting novel, and the reader is taken on an emotionally gripping, highly suspenseful, and action packed foray into the ancient world of Mayan prophecy. Thank goodness the Nightkeepers are on my side because they are a group of fighters unlike any I have ever known. Don't miss SKYKEEPERS - it is a satisfying and addicting novel - and a worthy installment to Ms. Andersen's Final Prophecy series.

Natalie S.

I love this whole series, this one not only keeps it going, but would stand alone as well!! Jessica Anderson is a gifted writer whom I will continue to read and enjoy! Thanks Ms Anderson!!