Reviewer: Paula
Title: The Dark Lord
Author: Patricia Simpson
Publisher: Tor Publishing
ISBN: 0765348616
Release Date: February 2005
Genre/Sub-genre: Paranormal Romance
Year/Setting: Alameda CA -- Present Day
Stand Alone but connected: The Forbidden Tarot series
Overall rating: 4
Sexual content rating: None. Nothing past the "hand-holding" phase.
Patricia's Website:
www.patriciasimpson.com
While on vacation in Egypt with her sister, Angie, Dr. Fay "Rae" Lambers trips and
stumbles over an ornate box with ancient Egyptian writing. Curious, Fay Rae shows the box to
an Egyptian shopkeeper who warns her not to open the box, as it is evil, and to throw it into
the Nile River. Unable to part with the box, Fay keeps the box, which proves too tempting to
Angie who opens it and discovers extremely old tarot cards. Fay decides to bring the cards to
California to see if she can learn more about ancient Egyptian beliefs.
While on vacation, Fay Rae meets debonair Simeon who pursues Fay. After wining, dining and romancing Fay, asks her to marry him. Michael and Simeon become adversaries with Michael not trusting Simeon at all. Is Michael's contempt based on unfounded jealousy or is there something sinister behind Simeon that Michael can sense?
Shortly after Fay Rae's return to work, her mentor and friend, Thomas Gregory dies suddenly leaving half of his house, which she has always loved, to her. The other half is left for his son, successful architecture Michael who was Fay Rae's childhood sweetheart. Secrets pulled them apart years ago after Fay Rae's father disappears and her mother remarries. Going through a messy divorce, Michael needs the money but Fay Rae wants the house as a home for needy women. Rae's longings for Michael start to surface but Fay will not trust her heart.
Rae's world is further torn apart when a psychic who knew her father and Michael's tells her that Michael's father was killed by supernatural forces. Meanwhile, Rae's sister Angie starts sleepwalking but the reason for her sleepwalking is unknown to the sisters. After the second meeting with the psychic, Rae learns that by Angie's looking at the Forbidden Tarot, she inadvertently released Tyron, the devil.
First off, let me say that I'm not a fan of the paranormal. Patricia Simpson is a master of character development when she presents a powerful heroine who has overcome a lot of difficulties to be a successful professor of history. This book is about relationships as we see Rae's painful relationship with Michael and with her sister, Angie and between Michael and Rae's relationship with their deceased fathers. This book keeps you reading more and possibly identifying with Rae's pain until they share their secrets with each other, which I believe is primarily the most important part of the book.
What didn't work for me was the relatively short glimpses of the destructive and evil force of the Forbidden Tarot and Dark Lord. Simeon's character left a lot to the imagination, such as, what was he doing when he wasn't with Rae. The Dark Lord's evil doesn't really appear, just alluded to, until two-thirds into the book.
Paula
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