Embrace the Night Eternal: Envy Chronicles Book 2

'Embrace the Night Eternal' is set in a post-apocalyptic world where a few people have caused devastation to the earth in order for them to gain immortality. A few clusters of people live in new cities, built from the devastation of the old areas, and are trying to restore some kind of order, fighting against some weird zombie-like creatures as well as attempting to avoid the 'Strangers', those now-immortal humans. Simon Japp is an unusual man - he survived for over fifty years without ageing when the earth-shattering events took place. Now he is trying to survive and to come to terms with his violent past. He keeps himself aloof from those with whom he interacts, but something about Sage Corrigan, the beautiful computer geek, gets through to him. Sage knows that Theo, a friend, is in love with her. Perhaps she should feel something for him, but she doesn't. Simon, on the other hand, is strangely fascinating. When Sage has to go undercover to the colony from which she escaped, a polygamous baby-breeding group, she needs a husband - and Simon ends up going with her. But can they play at being husband and wife without feeling more? And can they find the mysterious 'Remington Truth', the man who may be partly responsible for events? This was a fascinating book in that the story wasn't at all predictable. Sage and Simon have their secrets and the reader is often unsure as to what's going on. The setting is well written with the dark, dreary and scary life that the survivors live well drawn. It was a good story and kept my attention the whole way through. Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2010

After reading the first book, Abandon the Night, I couldn't wait to get to the second. I wasn't disappointed, and have already bought book three. Embrace the Night Eternal features Simon, who wishes to hide the truth of his past from his new friends. The ruin of the world has afforded him a new start, but when he's appointed to go on a mission with Sage, the lovely resistance fighter who intrigues him, he finds keeping his soiled hands to himself a more difficult task than battling zombies. Ms Ware has tweaked the marriage of convenience storyline into a fresher, more interesting plot. Seeing Sage emerge from her shell while Simon tries to disappear into his made this story even more fun. A winner.

I enjoyed this book as much as the first book in the series. I cannot wait to read about Quent and Zoe in book three. Great job. I hope there will be more books in the series.

Although the world is not what he remembers having undergone the change five decades ago when he and friends (Dr. Elliot, Quint, Wyatt, and Fence) were trapped in a cave near Sedona without aging, Simon Japp still feels guilty for what he did back then. Still he and his buddies struggle to adjust as they battle the evil Strangers and the deadly Ganga. Elliot having found Jade (see Beyond the Night) is doing the best in their new compound Envy once called Vegas. Sage Corrigan was born after the "change," but like Simon has a nasty past that haunts her. To survive she and her cohorts at Envy need information on their enemy the Cult of Atlantis and the mysterious Remington Truth. What they know leads to Falling Creek, the last place Sage wants to return to; but she knows she is only one who can get inside along with her pretend husband Simon. The setting in Awakening Heroes makes the tale as the futuristic world of Ware feels genuine with references back to the old world and the mysterious malevolent Strangers and the Ganga enhance that eerie feeling. Through the flawed lead couple, readers learn more about the post apocalyptic America. Simon and Sage are a wonderful pairing as their respective past psychologically intrudes on the mission and on a future together. Joss Ware is two for two with this terrific urban fantasy. Harriet Klausner