My Review:: Kingdom of Darkness by Andy McDermott

Kingdom of Darkness by Andy McDermott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I absolutely hate Wilde & Chase for what they do to the ancient monument, treasures that they discover; but I always come back wanting to read their next adventure. Andy McDermott has got the balance perfect in catching my interest and holding it throughout Wilde & Chase's multiple adventures all through these years.

The Kingdom of Darkness involved immortality in the form of an chemically amalgamated water deep in the mountains of Iran which was discovered by Alexander without recognizing it's importance and then rediscovered by his cook Andreas who left behind clues in his fantasy novel Alexander Romance for his descendants to follow.

A minor part of those clues end up at the hands of hidden group of Nazis who emerge from woodwork 70 years after WW 2, looking like 40 year old and wanting to replenish their dwindling source of water forever, this time be finding the source and using it to establish a New Reich.

The plot is the usual Wilde & Chase story, Wilde gets kidnapped, Chase rescues... this time though there is an added element of doom around Wilde as she was poisoned by the eitr at the end of the last novel. It is said that true character is revealed under duress, sadly Wilde disappoints, her constant woe is me, I'm gonna die sometimes gets on the nerves.

Chase tries his best to keep her motivated, but it is soon clear that Wilde is one of life's takers. She's always wants things to go her way, at her command, at her will. I did not like her much in this one, she came across as selfish and plain bitchy... One of the more redeeming qualities was, once they were in pickle and reunited, she does appreciate all the Chase does for her and realizes that her blinding thirst for knowledge and leaping before looking is causing a lot of strain in her relationship with Chase.

Honestly I am not sure a real life couple behaving in such a way would ever survive. McDermott needs to work on bringing his lead characters on a same plane in their relationship. Perhaps a few more pages to develop the characters relation would help...

Overall the book is a good read and the blurb for the next book also looks interesting. I would give this a try if you have read this series, it keeps the fun going.