Reviewed for www.thcreviews.com"2.5 stars" I first read Loretta Chase's fabulous book, Lord of Scoundrels, over a year ago, and the book, as well as it's hero and heroine, still remain among my top 10 favorites today. I discovered, after reading Lord of Scoundrels, that it was part of a series, and there were two books which came before it. Having loved it so much, I was quite anxious to check out those other books, but I have to say that by comparison both have greatly disappointed me. While I did see a few faint glimmers of the writing style from Lord of Scoundrels, neither book, and Captives of the Night in particular, lived up to it's superior standard in my opinion. In fact there were times that I found it difficult to believe that the same author had written both books. I found Captives of the Night to be very heavy on the mystery element of the story to the point of overshadowing the romance, and in the end, neither aspect ever really grabbed my attention. To me, the book was very dry and lackluster, with no action to speak of at all. From my perspective, it mainly consisted of rather dull conversations, social interactions, and some character introspection. The first 2/3 of the book seemed to move at a snail's pace, and although the last 1/3 picked up a little, it was not enough to be really compelling. Overall, I'm afraid it was very much a let down for me.As I already mentioned, neither the mystery nor the romance really struck a chord with me. In most of the mystery stories I have read, the author usually creates a line-up of potential suspects right from the start, dropping clues and hints of possible motives along the way, and making the reader think that each one may be the culprit. In Captives of the Night, the heroine is the first one to be suspected of her husband's murder, but of course we know that she cannot be the guilty party. As for who might be, the implication is made that nearly everyone in London hated him and may have had a motive. From there, each of the suspects were basically introduced individually, and thoroughly vetted by the hero and heroine's investigative skills to the point that I no longer took any of them seriously as the potential killer. This gave the feel of a very tedious 19th century procedural examination of a murder case that held little interest for me. It was probably very close to the reality of criminal investigation, even in the present day, but in my opinion, did not make for very compelling storytelling. I really prefer when the author of a mystery leaves a trail of breadcrumbs for me to follow, so that I can attempt to figure out the bad guy for myself. In Captives of the Night, each little piece of the puzzle is laid out far too neatly, giving me virtually nothing about which to speculate. Admittedly, the real murderer was the person I least expected, so in that way I suppose it was somewhat well done. However, the reveal ended up being pretty anti-climactic. In addition, the romance aspect of the story fell completely flat for me. Except for one or two extremely brief moments, I felt no real emotion or true spark of passion between Ismal and Leila, not even any palpable sexual tension. I was simply never able to fully grasp what each of them was attracted to in the other, except that they seemed like two peas in a pod with rather similar personalities, perhaps too similar. They ended up arguing and vying for superiority almost constantly, which made their supposedly loving relationship very unbelievable to me.I'm sure it didn't help matters, that I was not able to truly like either Ismal or Leila. Ismal had been the villain of the previous book, The Lion's Daughter, in which he had done some very bad things, including trying to overthrow his cousin, the leader of Albania (although he was a very distasteful character himself) and completely obsessing over the heroine of that story to the point of kidnapping and threatening to rape her. I knew that Ms. Chase was going to have to do something pretty spectacular to believably redeem Ismal in my eyes, and unfortunately, I didn't feel that she fully succeeded. She went more for the karma approach, with Ismal having repaid his “debt” both monetarily and in service to the British crown for the past ten years, but I would have preferred some good old-fashioned remorse and groveling. As it was written, it seemed like all the characters from The Lion's Daughter who appeared in Captives of the Night, had casually forgiven him and gone their merry way almost as though nothing had ever happened. Because of my knowledge of his misdeeds in the previous book, I personally was never able to fully buy into the notion of Ismal as the hero. Regrettably, Leila wasn't much easier for me to understand. I did have a little sympathy for her over her first husband's horrendous behavior, as well as his making fun of her passionate nature. I also enjoyed the couple of brief moments when she was playing the consummate seductress, and it was nice that she had cunning sleuthing skills equal to Ismal's. Otherwise though, Leila just wasn't very relatable to me. She frequently acted like a spoiled, temperamental, and generally unpleasant woman who was given to throwing tantrums. I can certainly enjoy a good spitfire heroine, but when they behave like Leila sometimes did, they just become gratingly annoying to me. Neither Ismal nor Leila ever showed any emotional vulnerability, which in my opinion, only served to make them seem like two very cold and unfeeling individuals.Even the secondary characters were pretty one-dimensional. The only one I was able to connect with was Avory, a young man who was acquainted with Leila's husband and had been vulnerable to his manipulations. All he really wanted was to seek the hand of his one true love, but unfortunately, that unsavory association had caused nearly everyone to mistrust him. Ultimately though, Avory played such a small role in the story, he was never able to add much depth to it. As for the other characters, I didn't really have much respect for any of them. Everyone in the book, including Ismal and Leila, appeared to be moral relativists. No one was truly good or bad, not even the wretched deceased husband. All immoral behavior was brushed off in a far too casual and accepting way, with nearly everyone making excuses for everyone else. I believe that there are often shades of gray in life, but that there are also things which are simply black and white, right and wrong. Having the entire story be nothing but shades of gray absolutely drove me to distraction. While I didn't have to completely force myself to read the entire book like I have with a few others in the past, I did have to take a few breaks to read something else for a while. I'm sure that there are other readers who would enjoy this novel far more than I did, but I personally would not recommend it for anyone except perhaps, hard-core fans of Loretta Chase.Captives of the Night is the second book in what I have sometimes seen called the Scoundrels series. The first book is The Lion's Daughter, and the ties between it and Captives of the Night are pretty significant. As I mentioned earlier, Ismal was the villain of that book and played a major role in the story. There is also a secondary character, Lady Brentmor, who has a fairly important part in both books. The third book in the series is Lord of Scoundrels, but the ties between it and Captives of the Night are extremely minimal, which would explain why I was able to read Lord of Scoundrels without really feeling like anything was missing. Ismal aka Comte d'Esmond made a very brief appearance in Lord of Scoundrels at the Vingt-Huit pleasure palace in Paris where Dain, the hero of that book, was engaging in debauchery with his friends. These two stories essentially take place simultaneously. Although I have some serious reservations at this point, I will in all likelihood read the final book, The Last Hellion, at some point just for the sake of completeness.
I absolutely LOVED the audio version of CAPTIVES OF THE NIGHT, narrated by the highly talented Kate Reading...IMO the female version of Nicholas Boulton in terms of voice acting, versatility and consummate skill in portraying both male and female characters alike. Listening to her is pure entertainment and sheer enjoyment and delight, what more can we ask for?I wish I had not listened out of sequence as I would loved to have known the Comte d'Esmond/Ismal Delvina as the villain of THE LION'S DAUGHTER, before he becomes the hero of this novel, and he certainly redeems himself. Of course his previous, youthful, misdemeanours and crimes become known as his love for Leila Beaumont develops, and he is utterly delicious....who doesn't like to see the bad boy come good? So intent was I after the rave reviews of LORD OF SCOUNDRELS, which I read and then listened to with the fab Kate Reading in the driving seat, that I wanted more, and didn't check it out properly, seeing only the two names who had sparked my interest. In that novel/audio, Leila Beaumont and her dissolute husband Francis Beaumont fascinated me, also it was apparent in that story too, that Esmond was intrigued by the beautiful, aloof,and highly talented artist Leila. And also that there would be a story for them waiting to be told. I was only a little disappointed that Dain and Jessica did not make an appearance.After the death of her husband under suspicious circumstances, Leila becomes an amateur sleuth with Esmond as her partner. He has atoned for his past crimes and has worked under cover for the past ten years, for the British Government, Leila insists on being kept informed, and indeed on being proactive in the search for her husband's killer, not for any love of him, more because she simply wants to know who perpetrated the crime and also of course, because there is a killer on the loose, and who knows who will be next? Esmond is reluctantly coerced into aiding her in her quest, the Government would far rather leave the outcome of the inquest into Beaumont's death as accidental, he was after all, a waste of space, a drink and drug addict and a sexual deviant, but Leila is intent on her course. And so the two are thrown together frequently, and the inevitable, extremely sensual, slowly simmering attraction between the two develops, and the air positively crackles. Kate Reading's portrayal of the hot headed Leila is genius, there is no doubt of Leila's artistic temperament which fairly sizzles, flying objects, temper tantrums her haphazard, loosely piled hair, falling out of its topknot, conjures up the beautiful, temperamental artist. Esmond as the impossibly handsome and enigmatic French Comte is a husky voiced...come to my bed....delight! When he finally confesses his Albanian roots and past and becomes, to Leila, at least in private, Ismal...phew! Kate Reading subtly changes the accent but not the voice, very impressive. The plot is intricate and clever, the uncovering of it interesting and ingenious. All the strands are eventually pulled together and it becomes apparent that Leila and Ismal/Esmond are inextricably linked and have been, almost fatally, without either realising it for many years. This is romance and mystery in equal parts and I absolutely loved it. Loretta Chase and Kate Reading are to my mind as much of a dream team as Laura Kinsale and Nicholas Boulton. I will certainly not hesitate in downloading anything this talented pair have collaborated on. An absolute 5 star audio listen.
What do You think about Captives Of The Night (2006)?
Loretta Chase is an incredible writer and with Captives of the Night, she writes a near perfect book. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical romance with mystery, suspense and passion from a hero for a woman who becomes his soul, or so he believes- this book is for you. Captives is the sequel to The Lion's Daughter where Comte d' Esmond (Ismal is his real name) was the villain of that story and now he is the hero and after ten years he is back with a vengeance but on the right side of the law. He is undercover trying to stop a man who was even more devious than he was. Francis Beaumont is the true villain of the piece but soon is murdered. He leaves behind a widow- Leila who is an artist and becomes the new obsession of Esmond. Leila is an interesting woman and one that has been though so much heartache. Her husband treated her horribly, even though he saved her after the murder of her own father and allowed her talents to shown through. But Francis had demons and horrible secrets that Leila comes to find out with the help of Esmond who may have been responsible for her father's death over 10 years ago. They become partners and investigate nasty dead hubby's murder and soon their passions for each other collide. Leila and Esmond were written in such a way that was mind boggling. Chase's creative skills are top notch here and when they these two characters finally come together to show their love for each other, well it is everything any romance fan would want between their hero and heroine. This honestly is one of Chase's best works and her hero Esmond is so unique and overall seductive in his talk and actions that Leila had no chance. When she finally surrenders, she does so willingly and those scenes are beyond hot! A definite winner and a keeper for anyone's bookshelf.
—Katie(babs)
This was so disappointing. I think the final straw was Ismal's confession to Leila. It was just such an overdramatized scene. I thought Leila was hysterical and Ismal was just lovesick in the worst way possible. Where is the Ismal who played mind games with those around him? He was interesting. It seemed as if the ten years sucked out all personality of the character. He was just cheesy in this book and to add to that offence, he was such a bore. Leila wasn't any better. I thought she was boring
—Zel Polev
Interesting. This book falls between two genres: it's not just a romance / spy thriller with some mystery elements, it's a proper mystery with a lot of steamy romance. The relationship between Ismal and Leila was a blend of Christie's Tommy & Tuppence, and a very continental and oversexed version of Sayers' Harriet Vane and Lord Peter. There are definite parallels to "Strong Poison". Alas, they are not quite as debonair as either of those legendary crime solving couples, but the chemistry is good. The lady is an artist with a hot temper, a dreadful husband, and little patience for her hordes of suitors. The gentleman is an international spy and Albanian lover boy. I felt the mystery was better crafted than the romance, since there were ample suspects, nicely laid clues, and the necessary red herrings, with a decent amount of deduction and elimination by both investigators. The romance felt... odd. Hot and compelling sex scenes, saucy his 'n hers dialogue, but an unnecessarily long and complex back story, and very contrived reasons for keeping him/her apart. To be fair, I had not read the first book in the series ("Lion's Daughter"), so was unfamiliar with Ismal's history. The recaps we are given of his pursuit of Esme felt overwrought, and detracted from the focus on the present romance and mystery. I found it challenging to believe that the deeply intuitive and keenly observational Leila could recognize a man she'd just met, in disguise, from a distance, in a crowded room(!), AND manage on very slender leads to deduce how he got his scar, figure out his hidden identity, etc. AND YET, lived under the same roof as her husband for a decade, remaining utterly oblivious to his evil schemes & machinations. Seriously? Come on, now.If you've read Edward Said and are easily offended by stark, unapologetic Orientalism, this book has it in spades, right up to a man in silks reclining pasha-like on a bed of pillows. Much talk of harems, etc. This was particularly surprising to me, since the author herself is Albanian, but chose to make her Albanian hero a caricature straight out of the Arabian Nights. Another big "ick" for me was the treatment of same-sex relationships in the book. I recognize that Ismal's casual acceptance of the various homosexual relationships in the story could be seen as "the voice of reason", but I was really put off by Leila's disgusted reaction to the idea that both her husband and her favourite English aristocrat (and his brother) all enjoyed the company of men as well as women. Yup, that's right - everybody likes cock, you love it too, get over it girl.Sure, you can chalk it up as a product of Leila's Regency upbringing and societal values of the time, but this is fiction; in the end the author decides her characters' values and morals. Shitty choice, Chase.The fact that there were no positive models of gay relationships at all was upsetting - having sex or being in love with another man in this novel was a recipe for derision, shame, blackmail, depression, impotence, and suicide. No happy endings for any LGBTQ characters, unless they renounce their early relationships as "childish curiosity" and swear they won't ever feel dirty butt-lust again. DO NOT LIKE!This was an okay romp with some objectionable pieces. Well written, but nowhere near as good as Chase's brilliant "Lord of Scoundrels", the next book in the series.
—Moira Fogarty
