Dark Time
Mortal Path, Book One

by Dakota Banks

      Even if she looks twenty-something and gorgeous, Maliha Crayne has been around for a while. She was burned as a witch in 1692 and given upon his death the possibility of eternal life and otherworldly powers if she agreed to kill for a demon.

Maliha accepted.

For centuries, she did as told without questioning her master, but in the 1950s something happened that forced her to develop a conscience. Not willing to work as a mindless assassin any longer, Maliha struck a deal with the demon: He will give her an indefinite amount of time to make up for her past. If during this time, she saves enough lives to outbalance the ones she took, she will be free. But if she fails and dies before her task is finished, she will suffer unendurable pain forever.

As part of the pact, Maliha, who used to be immortal, is aging now at an unpredictable rate that is inconsistently related to the lives she saves.

As we meet Maliha in present time, she is investigating the death of two of her sometime collaborators. This takes her on a fast-paced adventure as she is chased by immortals, falls in love perhaps with the wrong guy, saves lives, and tries, for the first time since she was a mere human so many years ago, to make friends.

Scenes from Maliha’s past and her investigation in the present are presented in alternate chapters in an efficient way that doesn’t overwhelm the story.

Maliha is a character who grows on you. This is, indeed, good news because Dark Time is the first book in a series.

I can’t wait for the next one.

Reviews of other titles in this series

Dark Time, Book 1     [review]
Sacrifice, Book 2        [review]
Deliverance, Book 3   [review]