Prince of the Night. He came to her in the night, a predator - strength and power chiseled his features. The seduction was deep and elemental; he affected her soul. She craved the dangerous force of his body - and he had only touched her with his mind. Lady of the Light. She came to him at dawn, his bleakest hour. As the beast raged inside him, threatening to consume him, he vented his centuries-old despair and she answered, a ray of light, piercing his darkness.

The Carpathians are a wise and ancient species, appearing just like humans except that they can live for millennia and have amazing psychic and physical powers. Only sunlight and violent wounding can destroy them. They sleep during the day, deep in the healing earth, and are awake at night, thriving in the darkness. They are in perfect harmony with the earth and all its plants and animals. They can shape shift into any animal and even become as fog. They move, travel and heal themselves with phenomenal speed. And they survive on human blood-yet they never kill the donor and gently wipe out his/her memory of their "feeding."

The male is a predator, dark and dangerous, and this darkness grows until he finds his life mate-the feminine light that perfectly balances and illuminates his darkness. If he does not find his life mate soon enough, the male gradually loses his emotions and his ability to see in color. He is condemned to a lonely, dark and despairing world devoid of all happiness. When he does find her, he regains his emotions and his world becomes brightly colored, full of joy and hope.

But for many hundreds of years no female Carpathians have been born, and few males have survived infancy. To make matters worse, many males who have not found their life mates have become so filled with dark despair that they have "turned," becoming vampires who can then feel exhilaration by murdering humans and Carpathians. Carpathian males have had to focus much of their energy on tracking down and destroying this threat to all life while themselves resisting the overwhelming temptation to turn. Some have tried to take human women as their life mates, but the women have gone violently insane when their bodies were converted to Carpathian and had to be destroyed.

When Dark Prince begins, Mikhail Dubrinsky, the very wealthy and handsome prince of the Carpathians, has decided to walk into the sunlight and thus end his life. He wields enormous power over himself, others and all the elements, but his extreme loneliness and despair at ever finding a life mate have become overwhelming. He can no longer bear to go on, even though he feels a strong duty to lead his people and to wipe out vampires from the earth. He is afraid that he will turn himself if he waits any longer. And then he hears a sweet female voice in his head-one of compassion and comfort.

Raven Whitney has journeyed all the way from America to the remote and beautiful Carpathian mountains for a much-deserved rest. She is a supremely gifted psychic who has assisted the police in tracking down mass murderers-a nauseating task that damages her body and spirit but which she undertakes because of her compassion for the victims. She is all that is light and goodness, and she reaches out to Mikhail when she feels his overwhelming loneliness and despair. She is herself no stranger to loneliness; she must keep as far away from other people as possible to avoid being bombarded by their thoughts and emotions.

Mikhail is astounded by this psychic contact and immensely enjoys the teasing banter Raven mentally projects to cheer him up. He travels to her in the form of a bird and, observing her, realizes that she is his life mate. But how can this be? She is human. And how can he convince a woman who doesn't even know that Carpathians exist that she is his life mate?

Mikhail and Raven embark on an extraordinary relationship-fun, tender and sensual-that keeps the reader riveted. In the meantime, they are faced with danger from a group of fanatical vampire hunters bent on killing anyone who's not human. Mikhail and Raven team up to stop them, but clash over Raven's determination to take an active role that often places her in grave danger.

As a Carpathian, Mikhail is extremely protective and highly possessive of this woman he loves with a passion that goes beyond the most intense human feeling. He is tender, gentle and caring toward Raven while utterly ruthless and violent with his enemies. He will faithfully cherish her forever and will himself die if she does. Once life mates unite, they cannot live without being in frequent contact with each other. But how can he live forever with a human or convert her to Carpathian without destroying her? And how can he protect her from evils she doesn't realize exist?

Dark Prince is a riveting story full of action, surprise, passion and the depths of love. Feehan has created a mesmerizing hero that every romance reader can fall in love with and the wondrous world of Carpathians that is fascinating to explore. I could not put Dark Prince down and am eager to read all the novels in this unusual and compelling series.


Wow :)~   June 16, 2000
 79 out of 98 found this review helpful

Let me first say that this book is not for the faint of heart. There were a couple of scenes I could have lived without reading, but that's probably true of any novel, five stars or otherwise.

I think the true criteria for whether or not a book is a solid five is if it can keep your interest above and beyond the other calls of daily duty...this was definitely the case with "Dark Prince". "Mommy I'm hungry" was met with "in a minute sweetheart". "Mommy your boyfriend is on the phone" was answered with "tell him I'll call him back". "Mommy the house is on fire" was...just kidding But you take my point...

"Dark Prince" held me spellbound (a rather appropriate term for a vampire-esque novel) from start to finish. Ms. Feehan wove together a provocative new world of Carpathians that is unique from anything I've read to date in either romantic or fantasy fiction.

"Dark Prince" is followed by "Dark Desire" and "Dark Gold". "Dark Magic", the story of Gregori and the daughter of Raven and Michail from "Dark Prince" is due out next month...I can't wait.


This Vampire Romance Needed an Editor ... and a Plot   July 28, 2005
 44 out of 48 found this review helpful

I had expected to enjoy the vampire romance, DARK PRINCE, by Christine Feehan, having read so many raving reviews about it. However, I should have paid closer to attention to the reviewers who termed the book "repetitive" and "boring," as I agree wholeheartedly on both accounts.

The gist of the story, in one sentence, is that Carpathian vampire prince Mikhail finds his life mate, a human woman with telepathic abilities, all the while battling evil vampire hunters determined to exterminate his kind.

It took me 3 weeks to finish 314-page DARK PRINCE, and that is abnormal for me, since I usually finish a book within hours. It felt like torture, reading this book, and I only made myself finish because I always wonder if it might get better. It did not.

So what are some of my grievances?

Well, for one, there is no tension in the book. Mikhail and Raven are in love right from the start, and have sex like 5 or 6 times by page 100. Where is the conflict in that? Why should I continue reading it? Well, apparently the author felt the laughable subplot in which Carpathian vampires are being hunted by vampire slayers was actually interesting. Sorry, no. The vampire slayers (repeatedly referred to as fanatical assassins) are a bunch of one-dimensional characters who die so fast it's not worthwhile to remember their names. They don't make for interesting or compelling villains.

Two, this book was in dire need of an editor. How many times does the author need to refer to Mikhail's predatory movements and muscular body or to Raven's innocence and compassion? Other phrases that became grossly overused included "little one," "her narrow rib cage," "her large blue eyes," "her large blue-violet eyes," "silky hair," "his voice was black-velvet seduction," "I'm an American," "I'm intelligent," and (my personal favorite) "I have brains." Yes, we all do, thank you.

Three, Raven was a stupid heroine. The whole book was mostly exposition in which she is arguing with Mikhail about everything and everyone, punctuated with my favorite idiotic repetitions of "I'm intelligent" and "I have brains." No you don't, not when you throw yourself in danger at every single turn, resulting in near-death experiences for you and the people around you. The ONLY time I thought this book was interesting was when Raven was stabbed five times in the gut. I was so happy! And that is really, really sad.

So, as you can see, I pretty much loathed this book.

Now, interestingly, my paperback copy of DARK PRINCE came with a "bonus" 150-page short story called DARK DESCENT, which I was very, very reluctant to read at first. Luckily, that story had a plot and lots of action, plus interesting characters, so I finished it in about 2 hours. DARK DESCENT is about how Joie, an American bodyguard and psychic, goes exploring in a cave and discovers her Carpathian life mate, Traian, as well as a bunch of really nasty evil vampires who want to kill them. While the story had its super-cheesy moments (why do people feel compelled to call vampires "blood suckers"?), it still was fast-paced and interesting, much more interesting than DARK PRINCE. So at least I didn't completely waste $7.99 on the book.




Christine Feehan has created a new genre: Carpathians   January 12, 2001
 35 out of 37 found this review helpful

Not yet a vampire but not a human, Carpathians are of the earth and have the ability to control nature. Shapeshifting, mind control and their own brand of justice - these beings are unique, enthralling and terribly exciting! If you enjoy the darker side of romance, love with a slight chill running down your spine read The Dark Series!

Mikhail Dubrinsky is the oldest existing Carpathian, he is considered one of the Ancients - although he looks like a fallen angel. His power is incredible, his responsibilities are enormous and his law is absolute. Yet his destiny lies in the soul of one petite woman who is both exquisite and intelligent, not to mention human. Of course, what else would his lifemate be?

Raven Whitney never thought her psychic abilities would bring her the love of her life, nor did she realize he would change her life forever! The only thing she knew for sure was that she loved this arrogant, totally male being with all of her heart and there was nothing she wouldn't do to make him smile, unless he became too sure of himself... then she'd have to put him in his place :)

Come and join the family! Meet Mikhail and Raven, Jacques, Gregori, Byron, Celeste, Aidan and Julian... just to name a few! But beware: once you start there is no looking back! This is a series full of promise and love, and of course a Dark side!


Run, Don't Walk, Away From This Nonsense   May 21, 2003
 35 out of 52 found this review helpful

I'm as big a fan as the next of the true vamp genre and perhaps I wasn't aware of what I was getting myself into when I ordered this book. I had no idea that what I would be reading would be a second rate romance novel where the vampire legend would be used as a frail skeleton on which to hang the drapery of incredibly redundant sex scenes and a totally ridiculous story. It's as if Ms. Feehan learned to write from a "How to Write a Romance Novel" manual. Her characters are both uninteresting and unappealing (I think Iyd be justified in calling Mikhail a complete chauvinist pig) and not a one of them have any back-story to speak of. Conveniently, Raven - I knew I was in trouble when I read that name - has no family and her yhistoryy is covered in one paragraph. Mikhail may be 600 years old, but that doesn't give much insight into his character except that he's going to get crankier until he finds his true-life mate. The story line is feeble at best, the supporting cast is weak and the writing is sophomoric. Other reviews say it gets better in her later books, but I have too little time and too many good books to read. I think I'll just move on.