Noah by J. Frank

The last novel in Jacquelyn Frank’s Nightwalker series, Noah brings us the story of our volatile demon king.  We’re finally given a chance to meet the girl that is met for our fiery fire demon.  I think that’s all I’m really going to say for the overall summary of Noah.  It’s a little short, but for the size of the novel, that’s pretty much all that went on.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved the novel and I’m not upset that I bought it.  Frank hasn’t disappointed me yet, but in relation to the rest of the series, this was probably the most out there.  It really didn’t seem like it was a part of the series except for the presences of the previous four couples.  Noah revolves around the king finding his soulmate, Kestra, and resolving to make it work.  Kestra’s whole presence in Noah probably could have been done better.  At the beginning, she’s this badass mercenery who’s very independent and can survive on her own; but once she meets Noah and moves into the Demon culture, it’s almost like her previous life disappears.  They still refer to her military training, but whatever happened to her partner?  The one she told that she would meet up with again.  That whole part was never finished or explained in my mind.

Another part I have a small problem with is the villains.  The idea of them was good and it would have been fine, but there was already a story arc going on and none of that was addressed.  Where was Ruth and Nic?  They never once made an appearance in this novel and Ruth has been in all four previous novels.  She’s the pyschotic villain of the series and she never once showed her face.  I know that her little vendetta isn’t finished, because they say they haven’t been able to find her or Nic, but why weren’t they at least shown?

Other than these two issues, I really enjoyed Noah and I ate it up.  Frank was a little wordy in some areas, but that’s not really new for her and in some areas it worked.  The flow of the story was good and it didn’t seem to lag in my mind.  There were some interesting conflicts that arose during the search for, and acquisition of, Kestra, but it added a new dimension that I don’t think we’ve seen from the demon side.

I think overall, Noah could actually be read as a stand alone novel.  The more I think about this, the more I believe it.  You really wouldn’t have to read the previous four novels.  There are things that are mentioned from the past, but nothing in the series really depends on the books.  Granted, the reason the new villains are around is based on the circumstances of Damien, but other than that, there’s nothing really else that ties Noah into the rest of the series (besides the obvious characters).

Overall, I loved Noah and I’m really excited for the new Shadowdweller series to start up.  Based on Noah, it’s going to be a given that the Shadowdweller series, which starts with Ecstasy, will pick up on the same story arc involving Ruth (because honestly, I can’t see that being resolved yet); but I think it’ll be fun to see the war from a new perspective.  While I won’t say that Noah is the best novel of the Nightwalker series, I will say that it’s definitely not the worse and it was a great read.  So don’t be afraid to pick it up.

Read Order:
Jacob
Gideon
Elijah
Damien
Noah

Also reviewed by:
Scooper Speaks
Alternative Worlds
Michelle’s Book Reviews