I grabbed Arshad Ahsanuddin’s Sunset (Pact Arcanum, #1) off of the KDP list.
Description from Goodreads:
By Day
Los Angeles, 2040. When the terrorist known as Medusa threatens to kill millions with a stolen nuclear bomb, Nick Jameson makes a fateful decision. He reveals himself on global television as a Daywalker – a vampire with a soul. To save Los Angeles, Nick exposes not only his own gifts but three separate cultures based on millennia-old magic.
By Night
The three metahuman races exist in careful balance, working to maintain a fragile peace. Nick and his fellow Daywalkers successfully master their natural bloodlust. The Sentinels, armed with both magic and steel, repress their warlike instincts. And even some Nightwalkers, normally their natural enemies, have deserted the Court of Shadows to join the triple alliance. Nick Jameson is deeply involved with two such Nightwalkers – handsome Lorcan and powerful Rory. Both men love Nick. But neither can protect the new Ambassador to Humanity from the events he has set in motion.
By the Sword
Jeremy Harkness was lured into Medusa’s service under false pretenses. A loner with no one and nothing to cling to, he was willing to die for his cause. But the night Medusa tried to obliterate Los Angeles, Jeremy met Nick Jameson, triggering the onset of his own psychic gifts. For Jeremy is the third race of metahuman, a Sentinel, born to kill the Nightwalkers with no quarter asked or offered. And neither Medusa nor the Court of Shadows will settle for peace when they can make war
Slightly spoilerish Review:
I don’t know that I’ve ever read anything quite like Ahsanuddin’s Sunset. It presents an extremely structured and well thought out metahuman society that lives alongside a future humanity. Honestly, I thought it was just a little too magically and scientifically advanced, but I was willing to suspend my disbelief for the sake of the fantasy. I’m so glad I did, because it was a lot of fun. I adored the characters. There was a lot of witty repartee that made me laugh, the fight scenes were tight and the adventure kept me on the edge of my seat.
What I find so unusual, however, is that I think it reads a lot like a series of interconnected vignettes. It’s not mind you, but with all of the temporal back and forth it feel that way…like watching the frames of a film go by slow enough to see each one. Snick, a new scene…snick, another one…snick, and another one. They all relate and move the story forward, but not in a smooth continuous flow. There are gaps between each one. This isn’t a criticism, just a comment on the stylised framework of the book. It works well, but is different. Once I was used to it I enjoyed it. I do think some of the characters’ depth is lost though. Important events are referred to, but as the story doesn’t cover a continuous stream from time A to time B they aren’t all relayed to the reader. Like the fact that Nick fought 47 duels to protect Jeremy and his honour, for example. It is discussed after the fact, but not shown. As a result I was really taken by surprise by Nick’s passionate desire to protect Jeremy. He had been off doing things that would have made that apparent, but the reader doesn’t know about it.
Similarly there are a number of details that make up the characters but are not particularly explored. A number of them appeared to have been quite famous in the humane world, but we don’t really know anything about that. Nick’s drug dependency could have been a big deal, but is glossed over. Prior to the events of this story Nick was apparently tortured horridly as well as suffered from a rare and extremely painful disorder that prompts him to seek out others of the same affliction. We know almost nothing of these things other than that they happened. Now, it’s a longish series, maybe some of this will be addressed in future books. I don’t know. But I was left wishing they had been been further explained. Of course, that would have made for a very long book.
All in all I really did enjoy it. It is well crafted (especially the world-building), entertaining, and enjoyable. What more could you ask for?