Dark Before Dawn

This story was thrilling. It was the perfect mix between something like Supernatural meets Law&Order: SVU meets Charmed. However bizarre that mix may seem, it worked wonders here.

This book was really hard to put down, there were so many things going on, that there didn't seem to be one second to waste. However action-packed, though, there was still plenty of room for the characters to show themselves and their history (both individual and intertwined with each other's). The way the story's laid out, even with its intricacies and everything, it was still easy to follow, even without having read the previous books- while still mantaining the complexity of the plot, which gives further proof of how clear the author was in her aim, and how skillfully she could display the world she'd invisioned, at all times.

The characters were also another of the book's strengths. It was quite pleasing to see, particularly with the main character, Hope, whom really stands out as unique, in this day and age when most female leads in books seem to be a mirror of each other, save one or two minor details. Outside of Hope, Michael was another pleasant surprise. Even the minor characters had their uniqueness to flaunt. It was truly impressive to see how much work had gone to the shaping of even the secondary characters; they were evidently shaped with as much dedication and detail as the protagonists. Not to mention that the multiple layers (no pun intended) the character of Lucas/Luke had going on, made him a more than worthy adversary to our protagonist- on top of being a brilliant character by himself.

This book had so many layers that it was hard to pin into just one genre: it has some strong elements of fantasy, but it also deals with some aspects more attached to a sort of thriller. However incompatible those elements may seem, in this case they merge in perfect balance, and the result is simply brilliant and enthralling.

Monica McGurk you have done it again! I am a huge fan of this trilogy and this book did not disappoint. It was wonderful to catch up with Hope, Michael, and the rest of the gang. These characters are written so well that I feel like I know them. Monica keeps up the theme of human trafficking and Hope needs help to find someone that has been stolen and entered into a human trafficking ring. This is such an important subject and I am so happy with how Monica handles the topic and weaves it into Hopes story. This book was so good with multiple twists and turns and an ending I wasn't expecting! Read this book!!

Dark Before Dawn is the third book in the Archangel Prophecies series by Monica McGurk, you can find my reviews of the previous books here {Dark Hope - Book #1} and here {Dark Rising - Book #2}.

Twelve years have passed and Hope is struggling to forgive Michael for his silence - two years of silence, where she wondered whether he would ever return to her ... whether he was alive or dead. But there is a greater issue on the horizon, one that has put her family and neighbours at risk - Lucas has been released early, and he's looking for revenge. Can they keep her family safe?

As with the other books in this series, this one deals with the dark side of humanity - that of human trafficking. It is well written, and well researched. It contains descriptions of drug use, teenage prostition and violence - all of which are elements of human trafficking and are therefore relevant to the story.