Wow I'm just stunned with how good this title was. I just had so much fun reading this title and getting to along for the ride with these amazing characters. I'm so excited to see what's next from this author.

This was a great installment in this series. I love the sci-fi adventure mixed with the fantasy aspects of demons and shifters. Also loving the slow burn romance!

Malpheas , a Prince of Hell , wakes up as a human on the other side of the Galaxy- without his powers . To get his powers back he has to perform 3 acts of kindness/goodness .......... there's not much chance he can pull that off !
Hope Featherstone is a good woman in need of a rescuer ,or so Mal thinks ( she might just have killed someone), - its just she has her own secrets , secrets that could place all their lives in danger .
This is a light hearted romantic read , full of twists and turns and with great supporting characters ........ great escapism

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

This story was very intriguing. I loved all the fantasy/sci-fi themes throughout this book! The characters were very awesome and fun. I was confused a bit of time which is why this is 3-stars, but it was enjoyable.

At the end of Insurrection, it feels a bit like the circle just got squared. Or it feels like the series has either come to a conclusion or is headed for one. It kind of depends on whether you boarded the ship on the way to the Trakis system at the beginning of the Dark Desires Origins series in Malfunction, or whether you’ve been aboard for the whole wild ride starting at the very beginning in Break Out.

Because at the end of Insurrection, while we aren’t exactly where we were at the opening of Break Out, we can certainly see that beginning from here. The pieces that we picked up then are just about in place now, which makes a certain kind of sense as the Dark Desires Origins series, which began with Malfunction and was followed by Deception, seems to be heading towards its conclusion here in Insurrection.

Break Out, the first book of the Dark Desires series, takes place several centuries after the events in Insurrection. Events that are so far back in the rearview mirror that they’ve taken on the patina of myths and legends – even though Rico Sanchez lived through it all, as we’ve seen in this prequel series.

But then Rico has lived through a LOT of human history – even though he is no longer exactly human himself, and hasn’t been since the Spanish Inquisition. While no one expects the Spanish Inquisition in the first place, even less do they expect to meet a vampire who began hunting the night at that same time.

The premise behind the entire Dark Desires and Dark Desires Origins series is that Earth was well on its way to becoming uninhabitable, so a fleet of sleeper ships left the dying planet for what would hopefully be greener pastures.

Or at least pastures less fucked up by humans. At least not yet.

In the series that seems to conclude with Insurrection (I could be wrong about this being the conclusion but it feels close) we watched the maneuvering and the finagling, the bribery and the theft, as the places that should have been assigned by lottery were instead filled with the rich and the powerful. While Rico Sanchez bought, bribed or murdered his way into filling half of one ship with his own people. Not just vampires, but also shapeshifters and other things that go bump in the night, including one warlock (his story is in Deception) and one of the seven lords of the Abyss, more colloquially called Hell.

The demon Malpheas just so happens to be the warlock’s father. True to his demonic nature, Malpheas is used to getting his own way, reigning from the top of the heap, and killing anyone who gets in his way. In other words, he’s an entitled alphahole with the power to back it up.

Power he has been cut off from by the time Rico wakes him from cryosleep at the beginning of Insurrection. Malpheas has to commit three “good deeds”, definition rather nebulous, before he’ll have access to all his powers again. The curse he has to labor under is one last “present” from his old frenemy Lucifer.

All Mal has to do is figure out what “good” means, keep the humans on the other ships from discovering just what Rico has been hiding aboard his own ship, and plot and scheme to take over everything once he’s managed to beat the curse.

Unless Mal learns the lesson that his curse is trying to teach him, first.

Escape Rating A-: Now that I’ve finished Insurrection I have the strongest urge to go back and reread the expanded version of Break Out again. It feels so much like this story puts all the pieces in place for that one, and I want to check just how well it did.

This also feels like a great place to end the Dark Desires Origins prequel series, as we’ve seen in detail just how much the humans of the Trakis expedition brought humanity with them, very much warts and all. Readers who began this journey with Malfunction will leave Insurrection primed and ready to see where things have ended up by the time of Break Out, while readers who boarded this flight there will be sorely tempted to see how well the ends meet.

I’m not sure that readers who start here will be completely satisfied. On the other hand, their appetites may be whetted well enough to tempt them to read the entire series from start to finish!

In addition to all of the historical and human – or human-ish – pieces being put in place for the story to continue in that already explored future, one of the reasons that this story read like so much a part of the original book was that both deal explicitly with the problems not of mortality but of immortality.

The process that is discovered on Trakis Seven makes people practically immortal, just as Rico’s vampirism does. People who have gone through the process CAN be killed – decapitation is always an option – but don’t die from disease or accidents or even extreme old age.

The problem with immortality is that the human lifespan is meant to be finite. Psychologically, we need purpose and surprise and a whole bunch of other things that stop being important if one knows one literally has all the time in the universe. Time enough to have been there and done that for every possible thing one could be or do. It gets boring.

In Break Out, Rico may be a bit bored, but the people who have gone through the Trakis immortality treatment are getting really, really bored. And jaded. Just as the immortal demon, Malpheas has gotten bored and jaded with his already extremely long life.

So the romance in this story is wrapped around Malpheas experiencing the old curse of “may you live in interesting times.” As an immortal demon with all his powers, he can make whatever and whoever he wants happen. Nothing is interesting. With his powers locked away, he’s just human. A big, strong, and very sexy human, but human nonetheless. Everything is frustrating. Everything is weird. Everything is fascinating. His times are suddenly very interesting indeed in a way that he hasn’t experienced for a very long time. For Malpheas, the curse has become a blessing.

And the biggest part of the blessing is Hope Featherstone. Not just because she’s nice and she’s pretty, but because she’s real and so are all her emotions. She may want the big, sexy beast, but she doesn’t actually like him all that much. She also finds him surprisingly resistible, and that’s something Mal has never experienced in his life. He has to become a better person to have a chance with her.

That he discovers that she’s not nearly as good as she appears makes them perfect for each other. Now they just have to survive the mess that both their secrets have gotten them into. And get themselves as far away as possible from the brave new world being established – because it’s already every bit as FUBAR’d as the old world they left behind.

Because of the situation on Trakis Four at the end of this book, this feels like the end of the Dark Desires Origins series. But it may not actually be the end. It was great fun to go back to the beginning, to see how the situation we saw in Break Out came to be, with paranormal beings from Earth flying spaceships in a far-flung corner of the galaxy. I never expected to read about vampires in space but I’m certainly glad I did.

This was a fitting sendoff for the whole thing, as not only do we see how things got to be the way they were, but the ending puts a fair amount of focus back on the character most of us fell for at the beginning, vampire and captain Rico Sanchez. It’s been an exciting ride from beginning to end, and I’m glad I took the trip.

If the author ever chooses to return to this universe I’ll be right there.

This was for me yet another great book from the Series. I like the story and characters. Mal and Hope create with their personality an intriguing, interesting love story, full of passion, suspense, and twists.
I volunteered to review an ARC of this book for NetGalley

Loved! Rico is a crazy genius he tries to mess with people and it turns out never as he expected but always crazy good. Malpheas Prince of Hell, well one of them, father to Milo (from the last book) Demon, apathetic and selfish is now human and to get his powers back he has to perform three acts of kindness/ goodness he feels doomed hopeless. But luckily there is Hope. Hope has secrets of her own and if they are ever discovered all hell will break loose. Mal and Hope...sigh. Great story emotion, action, science fiction goodness and über crazy religious zealots. I seriously need to read the original Dark Desire series.

Insurrection is the third Dark Desires Origins story and an interesting story it is by Nina Croft. Like Star Wars did after several movies to go back to give the backstory Nina has done the same with the Dark Desires Origins Series. With a twist when a former demon must be good to again become bad. What a trial this is for Malpheas especially when he is paired up with Hope, a woman who certainly lives up to her name. Hope is not without her own troubles so that serves to make this pairing even more intriguing.

Rico is still the one in charge but the bad boy, Mal, who doesn’t want to learn to be selfless is so much fun. His growth in the story is great. As for Hope she needs Mal more than he needs her. Love can be protecting as well as redeeming. Like the others in the series Insurrection reads well enough on its own.

An ARC of the book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley which I voluntarily chose to read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

4.25 stars-- INSURRECTION is the third instalment in Nina Croft’s sci-fi DARK DESIRES: ORIGINS paranormal/fantasy romance series. This is Demon Malpheas aka Major Malcolm MacTavish, and human Hospitality Officer Hope ‘Sarah Quintrell’ Featherstone’s story line. INSURRECTION can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary. INSURRECTION and the Dark Desires: Origins is a prequel series, set five hundred to a thousand years earlier, to the author’s DARK DESIRES series.

SOME BACKGROUND: One thousand years earlier Earth was dying, and one hundred and twenty thousand of Earth’s Chosen had set off in search of a new planet able to sustain human life. Fast forward five centuries wherein the seven surviving space ships and their crews find themselves following a self-declared profit and leader, and the formation of the Church of Everlasting Life. These are their stories.


Told from several third person perspectives including Hope and Mal INSURRECTION follows the crew of Trakis Seven as they embark on a journey towards their new home planet but all is not well aboard the Trakis Seven when the security officer is found dead, and a new head of security is sent over by the crew of Trakis Two. Malpheas aka Major Malcolm Mactavish is a demon who is struggling in the wake of losing his powers, and his estrangement from the son he barely knows. Boarding the Trakis Seven, Mal comes face to face with Hope Featherstone a woman who holds more secrets than our story line hero, secrets that are about to place her in the direct line of fire but the planet on which the Trakis Seven is about to explore also has a secret buried within, a secret that is about to take the lives of many, and save the lives of a few. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Mal and Hope, and the potential fall-out as the truth about Hope is revealed, as our heroine must face her own mortality in the wake of rumors, innuendo, destruction and death.

Malpheas is a demon whose powers have been bound by none other than the Lord of H*ll. In an effort to regain his powers, Malpheas finds himself in an uncomfortable position, a position where he must save the life of someone he will grow to love. Hope Featherstone is not the woman she claims to be and in this her secrets are about to place everyone’s lives in danger. When the Church of Everlasting Life claims custody of our story line heroine, Mal is desperate to protect and rescue the woman he loves, a rescue that will ultimately reveal the who and what of our story line hero.

The relationship between Mal and Hope is a slow burn romance in which Hope has been assigned to show Malpheas the ropes but Hope’s secrets burn very close to the surface, and even without his powers, Mal is able to ascertain some of the issues for our story line heroine. Trying to keep his distance, Mal fails as his wants and desires override his need for control. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters many who were first introduced in the original series: Trakis Two crew –vampire Rico Sanchez, werecat Katie Mendoza, werewolf Alpha Dylan, warlock Milo Velazquez and his mate Destiny; captain of the Trakis Seven Callum Meridian and his girlfriend/Second Officer Natasha Davies, and crewmembers Aiden, Tyler and Third Officer Ross. The requisite evil has many faces.

INSURRECTION a detailed and complex tale that reveals some of the back story of the planet now known as Trakis Seven, and the formation of the group who call themselves the Collective; the fight for power and control of the Church of Everlasting Life, and its’ need to reign over the newly formed governments for the survivors from Earth. The character driven premise is dramatic, twisted and tragic; the romance is edgy and intense; the characters are spirited, flawed, stubborn and impassioned.



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4 stars

Okay wow!
This was a ride.
I love the complexity of Mal's character. He is Good and bad and so good and doing both although I do wish we saw more of his demonic side but it was amazing still.
Milo... ♡♡♡
The rest of the crew and their "mess" was fantastic too.
I had the best time reading and can't wait to read more about this crew.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review

I truly enjoy dropping into this universe of supernatural spacefarers. Is Rico a bit of a dictator? Yes.
Did he dump people off a ship to save some of the supernaturals? Also yes. But what other choice did he have? To do nothing would have been genocide for his people. But I'm STILL trying to warm up to the guy (a bit of a vampire joke there!)

Malpheas is demon, a genuine prince of Hell (or the Abyss). He's rather self-absorbed and he has been a downright failure as a father. So much so when Rico wakes him up as he is needed for a mission, he has to do whilst not letting the demon-cat out of the bag where Milo is concerned. Milo would not take the news of daddy dearest being onboard well.

Hope was hiding in plain sight on the Trakis 7. But when checking on her brother, she was rumbled and she accidentally might have killed someone. Now there is a new security guy onboard and she has to shepherd him about. All whilst hoping he doesn't find out she's the guilty party!

Mal has his own problems - Rico bound his powers with a sigil and now the only way to get them back is to do the job t hand or do 3 kind acts. Mal doesn't do good or kind - this is going to be a long, miserable mission!

Mal is a joy to read because he was so offended at having to do things the mortal way LOL. Like using a food replicator or healing. Hope was a great character - conflicted over her brother, his acts of violence, and her love for the brother she remembers. It was quite refreshing having our supernatural character having to deal with things without being able to call on his powers.

I can't wait to get back to the rest of the crew's stories.

I was provided an ARC via NetGalley and this review has been left of my own volition and is my honest opinion.

Four and a half
Its no secret that the Dark Desires series is my favourite sci fi read with its futuristic edge combined with paranormal creatures who constantly surprise. There's always action to round off the romance and this time the author gives us an irredeemable hero in Mal, the Demon who knows he is destined to rule if only he could take care of one slight problem ! Okay I lied it's not a small matter at all because Mal has been cursed through a magical sigal to remain in his human form and just needs to perform three entirely selfless deeds, how hard can that be ?
Hope has hidden on the Trakis 7 in plain sight knowing that no one awake is aware of who she really is. Her well ordered plans go out the window though when she gets into a tussle with the security officer and he dies ! Okay she thinks she can smooth things over but every plan Hope has made starts to implode when Mal, the replacement security officer starts to follow her around ! Maybe getting down onto their new home might distract him but no that's just adding even more problems because the planet isn't the hospitable environment that everyone hoped for.
I loved this and that's maybe because Mal was such fun to read about. If you love Rico and all his shenanigans then you definitely will smile at this instalment. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and yes Mal does learn all manner of things on his path to possible redemption. My only slight niggle is we didn't really get very much of his demonic side as for this reader the end felt slightly rushed. Nevertheless I really did have fun reading this and definitely look forward to more adventures set in this world.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

You get quite a mix in this story. Space travel. Demons and curses not to mention shifters and vampire. The characters are certainly diverse. I think had I been Mel I would have unloaded on the Chosen.. It's a good story with a happy ending.