Review! Beyond the Night by Joss Ware

Beyond the Night
Joss Ware
HarperCollins
January 12, 2010
ISN-10: 0061734012
ISBN-13: 978-0061734014

A man with no future...

When Dr. Elliott Drake wakes from a mysterious fifty-year sleep, the world as he knew it is gone. Cities are now desolate, and civilization is controlled by deadly immortals. Stranger still is Elliott's extraordinary new "gift" – he has the power to heal, but it comes with fatal consequences.
A woman with a past

Jade barely escaped the immortals and is now hell-bent on revenge. She trusts no one... until Elliott. His piercing gaze and tempting touch shatter her defenses, but the handsome doctor seems to have dangerous secrets of his own. Is it safe to trust him with her heart?
If they are to survive in this dark new world, Jade and Elliott must work together to fight the forces that takes them beyond danger.

Beyond desire.

Beyond the night.

One minute, Dr. Elliot Drake is in a cave in Sedona with his friends in an adventure, the next he wakes up fifty years into the future and human civilization as we know it has fallen. Cities are gone, mostly everyone is dead and there's some strange creatures called Gangas that come out at night and literally tear people apart. At least, the ones that are still surviving. Even weirder and shocking is Elliot's new powers, he can heal people now but it's not without dire consequences to himself and others.  After months of scavenging for food with his friends and trying to steer clear of the Gangas, they save a group of teens from the monsters and in the process, Elliot meets Jade.

She's this crazy-brave woman who shows up out of nowhere riding a horse to help them against the Gangas when they're trying to save the kids. Jade is pretty much hell-bent on revenge on the Strangers. They're a race of men, if you will, whom are immortals and are identified by the crystals they have embedded right under their clavicles. She was their prisoner for three long years and now she'll do anything to make them pay. When Elliot and Jade meet, there's an undeniable attraction but they are both hiding deadly secrets and before they can explore their feelings, they have to learn to trust each other.

Beyond the Night is the first book in Joss Ware's Awakening Heroes series, it's written in a post-apocalyptic world where there is no government or rules, and it's pretty much a dog eat dog world. As the first book, it really sets the standard for the future ones. The writing is clear and original, this world is not for the faint of heart. Elliot is a great hero, he's still dealing with his entire world being turned upside down and what I really liked about him is while he's an alpha male who will do anything for the ones close to him, he's not domineering because that would just be annoying. And considering Jade is very stubborn and clearly needs to call the shots, if he was that way, they would just butt heads. However, their relationship is very nicely balanced, and that made Beyond the Night a pleasure to read. I think the world itself was incredibly interesting, I've always like post-apocalyptic plots and the twist that Ware puts on it makes it really refreshing.

I really did enjoy reading Beyond the Night, there wasn't a dull moment and if you're looking for a thrilling post-apocalyptic novel with zombies and steamy scenes (thankfully both of which are not related!) then this book will more than deliver!