A Siren's Song

by Saranna DeWylde

A new serial killer is hunting in Kansas City. He’s brutal and prolific, leaving two victims at a time. Detective Brynn Hill is on the case, but it’s not business as usual for the hunter of hunters. For the first time since becoming a cop, Brynn is out of her depth. The murders pull her deeper into a supernatural society where street gangs are run by demons and nothing is what it seems. Her world crumbles, the foundations smashed by her failure to save a fellow officer and the siren assassin who blames Helreggin for his scars and his mother’s death.

Brynn’s partner is there to pick up the pieces, but even Jason can’t keep her safe from the dark forces that want to stop her from reclaiming her throne as the Queen of Hel.

Genres: Paranormal, Romance

89 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 9, 2012

About the author

Saranna De Wylde has always been fascinated by things better left in the dark. She wrote her first story after watching The Exorcist at a slumber party. Since then, she’s published horror, romance and narrative nonfiction. Like all writers, Saranna has held a variety of jobs, from operations supervisor for an airline, to an assistant for a call girl, to a corrections officer. But like Hemingway said, “Once writing has become your major vice and greatest pleasure, only death can stop it.” So she traded in her cuffs for a full-time keyboard. She loves to hear from her readers.

Saranna writes nonfiction under the name Sara Lunsford. Her memoir about her time as a corrections officer called Sweet Hell on Fire releases Nov 1 from Sourcebooks.

Reviews

[Letitia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rating: A ... Heat: Warm

Part two of Ride of the Darkyrie, A Siren’s Song, really ratchets up the action, drama, and intrigue. As well as the sex and gore. It gives us a peak, a teasing reveal, into who Brynn is, who Jason and the Cross are, and how they all fit together.

This world and the mythos woven into it is so damn neat. Very Norse-inspired, with references to Hel, Ragnarok, Odin, and a few other key players and places. I’m not an expert in Norse mythology, by any means, and Miz DeWylde has done an excellent job of mixing what I know with what I don’t—and, of course, adding her own unique twists—into a mind melding mix of... awesome.

Brynn Hill is the once and future Queen of Hel, as well as a cop with the Kansas City Police Dept. As a Darkyrie, THE hunter of hunters, she is the top predator on the preyful food chain. Her quarry: serial killers, murderers, rapists, and any other bottom of the barrel scum. Calculating and driven, she is most certainly inhuman and it shows. Brynn’s thought process and emotions (or, often, lack thereof) are unique. The connection between her and her prey, the way she hears them and sees them—feels them—has me fascinated. Because even though she is otherworldly, and could be considered cold, there is also a vulnerability deep within her. It makes her a relatable heroine.

And then there is the Cross. The anti-hero. Scarred and with a voice that could make angels weep (he is a siren, after all), he is set on his course for revenge at all costs. Wicked and vengeful and even outright malicious, he is also somehow Brynn’s best source for information. Connected to a past Helreggin, the Cross can’t get even with Brynn until she once again resembles her former self. The Cross is... distinct. You haven’t read a hero (using that term loosely at this point) quite like him. He is beastly and boorish in all the right ways. And he trips my trigger in a big way.

Last but not least, we have Jason Grimes—the person who should be giving Brynn the answers she needs. Jason is moody and has a penchant for disappearing. Really. Where does that man, with his impeccable since of timing, go? One minute he’s there, the next he isn’t. And when he isn’t playing hide and seek, he’s demanding and forceful and… confusing! I can’t get a read on him. The small little tidbits we do learn in this installment have me torn.

The murder case that is the overall mystery has me riveted. Women’s bodies, seemingly being mummified over night, are turning up night after night in a seedy motel. With no clear M.O.—the woman are all ethnicities, social classes, etc.—Brynn and Jason have their work cut out for them. And Brynn has to be extra careful, as the murderer is now leaving her gifts and clues.

A Siren’s Song has murder and mystery and is chock full of blood and carnage. Very dark and ugly and twisted. I can’t wait to delve further into it as well as Brynn’s past, her future. Her father. These cliffhanger endings are pretty killer, but I’m loving it anyway! If you love your Urban Fantasy deliciously dark, if you like heroines who kick ass, heroes and anti-heroes who make your heart stutter—this serial series is for you!

 

Favorite Quote:

“What are you doing?” I demanded. “You keep grabbing me like I belong to you. I don’t.” But I made no move to free myself. I didn’t want to, it felt too good. The way his knee fit between my thighs, his broad chest against my breasts, and the solid weight of him pinning me against the wall.
He leaned closer. “You used to. And I belonged to you.”

-- A Romantic Book Affairs Review.

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[Joan{missing the vampire bunny slippers!} · Rating 3 out of 5]

I 'm starting getting used to this! :D
When I was about 12 I found those old newspapers in my grandmothers closet and there where these stories in them that came out weekly or monthly in sequels. So every week or month you had to buy the paper so you wouldn't miss the episode. It was a pretty smart move on the editor's part and I have no idea why they have stopped doing it, but this was what came to my mind immediately after I realized how this series works. The books aren't independent, the same plot thickens and progresses without altering the main focus or characters.
So the characters are starting to make more sense as the story unravels. We get to see more about their background and their motives.
I know this might make me weird, but since the beginning I 've been more intrigued by Stavros than I am by Jason. Yeah he's hot and all that jazz, but Cross was more interesting. And now I am officially a freak 'cause Jesus the guy wants to kill her! And not the cute "I started out to kill you but now i can't" screwed up logic either! He is pretty damn determined and I don't see him changing his mind anytime soon. Still, I just can't help it! His logic sounds about right to me... She did kill off his family and half burned him alive! Dude has a right to be pissed!
Brynn is weird. She has the most weird personality I've seen in a while. (I know I said the word "weird" twice in as many sentences, but that's what she is!) She keeps referring to herself as a murderer, but she holds herself to her own standards. She can identify with a glance who is or is gonna be a killer and she ends them, but not before she has indisputable evidence (and that doesn't always mean a body).
Why am I even trying to explain this? I guess this is my way of trying to sort things out in my own mind. Just saying things out loud helps sometimes. I think I understand almost everyone here, but Brynn.
So, to rup this up I 'll get the next book when I can find it and I hope Cross doesn't die any time soon 'cause for me here he's the main character!

PS:
Whoever managed to get this far in this review and can make sense of my scrambled thoughts deserves a medal of valor!! :D

[Jolie Mck · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok I started this book with a great deal of enthusiasm. Super heroine, dire circumstances, lots of potential for redemption. 2/3 of the way through the book the plot devolves into a miasma of bloody, gory explicit scenes of human bodies being torn in two with the kinds of descriptions Jeffrey Dahmer would be masturbating to.

WTF is it with this meme that having a strong female lead means she has to engage in a patriarchal killing frenzy?

Out of the last ten books I have read with female leads in a paranormal action/ mystery genre - each have tried to outdo each other with the gore and violence and ridiculous emotionless slaying of other people and usually male characters.

I am disappointed and disgusted.