Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton

Ari Selkirk has been on her own for much of her 17 years. Given up in infancy by her mother, Ari has lived with one foster care parent after another. The current set, Casey and Butch, care for her and worry about her. They have taught her much about the family trade: bail bondsmen. As a result, Ari can take care of herself: wield a gun, drop a two hundred pound aggressor. All of these skills become useful as she investigates the mysteries of her parents and a family curse.  Ari discovers a box of her mother’s things after visiting Rocquemore House where her mother had been institutionalized for delusions of snakes living under her scalp. Before giving Ari up and committing suicide, Ari’s mom left her the box of items including a letter addressed to Ari. The message: RUN! Following the discovery of the box, Ari is attacked in her hotel parking lot by a tall, blonde supernaturally fast stranger. When Ari stabs him, defending herself with his own mysterious blade, he hovers off the ground, turns to smoke and disappears. The attack, the box, and the family curse that kills its women at 21 propel Ari to New 2. This new manifestation of New Orleans is a haven for outsiders, misfits and the supernatural. Forsaken by the USA after it was devastated by hurricane, New Orleans was purchased by nine wealthy families now known as the Novem. Drawn to New 2 for possible information about her father, Ari meets a house full of young people like herself who have supernatural powers. Among them is the mysterious, dangerous, alluring Sebastian. Ari has lived her whole life with unusual. Her eyes are an extraordinary color of teal. Her hair is the color of moonlight and waist long, no matter her efforts to change it. But what she finds in New 2 is beyond any of her imagining.

Sprinkled with mature language and including an intense assault sequence, Darkness Becomes Her is for mature readers. It is a wild thrill ride of a book. Ari is an intensely powerful protagonist who struggles with some mean bad stuff in a situation full of the supernatural, voodoo, witches, vampires, and elements of Greek Mythology brought to life. Readers who enjoy the supernatural, connections to mythology and tough, strong, powerful heroines will find much to enjoy.