Review: Haunting Blackie

Haunting Blackie by Laurann Dohner

My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars




An alpha male who is lethal yet haunted by a sexy siren who saved him, what more can a romance lover want? Full disclosure, I did not read any of the books in the series before this one. It is recommended to read them, but honestly, if one has read a New Species book by Ms. Dohner, there is very little in this story which would cause confusion. The theme is the same.

Blackie is a cyborg rescued from termination by a beautiful, redheaded human. She promised to meet him when she freed a few more of his race. When the time came to all escape from Earth, she never made it to the ship. Years later, he's still pining after the woman codenamed Hellfire.

Ms. Dohner does an excellent job of creating an easily understood world for someone just reading this book cold. It does help to understand how Ms. Dohner likes her romances. There is always a tortured male who is redeemed by his one true female mate. They both have survived horrors before they can come together. Their love is what brings them peace. Every single book I've read of Ms. Dohner is this way. It's very popular and it's something she does a good job writing. Her stories are angsty romance with harsh realities infiltrating through hateful groups.

In this one, it is the persecuted cyborgs who create a crime so heinous I had difficulty with it. I'm usually fine with mass genocide in a story. In this one, it breaks my heart. I gasped and felt physical pain as facts arise from Eve aka Hellfire. What happened to her people at the hands of humans and cyborgs is not something I can accept. It does make this story more powerful and I like how everything isn't rose-colored and perfect.

There is something I've noticed with Ms. Dohner's books. In her series, there is always the underlying theme of hatred and need for purity. It makes one wonder how in real life, Ms. Dohner's experienced discrimination. Is she one of the half-breeds or mutts who have suffered at the hands of those who are pure breed? Because the scenarios she creates and the thoughts from the haters in her series are very close in alignment with purists I've known growing up. The way they loathe anything tainting their blood comes out in a most inhuman and callous manner. Ms. Dohner captures this perfectly in the book. She shows it in high definition.

The romance in this story is light as most of it is focused on survival. The mating instinct trope thrown in here is predictable and easily understood. This story is recommended for romance lovers who enjoy a little sci-fi.


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