Jayne Krentz creates an entire world, Harmony, in the novels she writes as Jayne Castle. Harmony is a different planet, one that has been cut off from Earth for 200 years, and one that is full of psi-drenched alien artifacts.
Lydia Smith is a para-archaeologist who was forced from her university position after having spent a weekend lost underground in the disorienting and terrifying alien catacombs. She isn’t crazy or unstable although most people who get lost in the catacombs that never recover. Lydia now works as the curator at a 3rd rate museum, Shrimpton’s House of Ancient Horrors. After Dark begins when Lydia finds a semi-friendly rival Chester Brady dead in an alien sarcophagus while meeting her new client, Emmett London.
The novel has many twists and turns with an intricate plot and subplots, and engaging characters. I find I can’t recall the plot after a few weeks and the characters tend to merge into Krentz/Castle’s generic para-powerful romance leads. The real winner is Harmony; we can almost see and feel the green glowing dead cities above and below ground.
Lydia and Emmett both distrust the other. Lydia distrusts Guild ghost hunters and Emmett thinks Lydia may be involved in his nephew’s disappearance. They must work together to stay alive, to find his nephew and to find who killed Chester and why. After Dark explores how each responds to the other, first with almost overwhelming sexual attraction, then with respect and liking and trust.
After Dark has some semi-explicit sex scenes, almost no vulgarity and no blasphemy. Each sex scene lasts about 3 pages so readers can skip through if they so choose.
I read After Dark about every 3 years or so. The plot tends to slip out of my mind rather quickly as do the individual characters. But I always remember the alien city. Harmony is fascinating.
4 Stars
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