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    One Silent Night
    One Silent Night
    One Silent Night
    Audiobook5 hours

    One Silent Night

    Written by Sherrilyn Kenyon

    Narrated by Fred Berman

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    While the world carries on unawares, Stryker, who leads an army of demons and vampires, is plotting an all out onslaught against his enemies—which, unfortunately for us, includes the entire human race. To avenge his sister, Stryker prepares to annihilate the Dark-Hunters. But things go awry when his oldest enemy returns. Enter his ex-wife. Zephyra. Just when he thought nothing could stop him, he's now embroiled in a centuries old war with a shrew who gives new meaning to pain.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Audio
    Release dateDec 1, 2008
    ISBN9781427207548
    One Silent Night
    Author

    Sherrilyn Kenyon

    Defying all odds is what #1 New York Times and international bestselling author Sherrilyn McQueen writing as Sherrilyn Kenyon does best. Rising from extreme poverty as a child that culminated in being a homeless mother with an infant, she has become one of the most popular and influential authors in the world (in both adult and YA fiction), with dedicated legions of fans known as Paladins--thousands of whom proudly sport tattoos from her numerous genre-defying series. Since her first book debuted while she was still in college, she has placed more than 80 novels on the New York Times list in all formats and genres, including manga and graphic novels, and has more than 70 million books in print worldwide. Her series include: Dark-Hunters®, Chronicles of Nick®, Deadman’s Cross™, Eve of Destruction™, Nevermore™, Lords of Avalon® and The League®. Over the years, her Lords of Avalon® novels have been adapted by Marvel, and her Dark-Hunters® and Chronicles of Nick® are New York Times bestselling manga and comics and are #1 bestselling adult coloring books.

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    Reviews for One Silent Night

    4/5

    370 ratings22 reviews

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    • 5/5
      love this series I ha e been looking for the book where ash and nick fell out and found it yesssssss
    • 4/5
      Alot of reviewers for One Silent Night didn't think too much of this the latest Dark Hunter novel. I personally rather enjoyed it!In OSN, Stryker, the leader of the Daimons who have been the hated enemy of the Dark Hunters from the very beginning, gets his HEA.Long ago Stryker had a wife. But his mercurial father, the god Apollo, decided the low born Zephrya wasn't good enough for his son. In an effort to save her life, Stryker leaves her, unbeknownst to him, pregnant with his child.Now thousands of years later, Stryker is still alone. His second wife is long gone and all of his children have either died or deserted him. He's not a very nice person for all his misery, and he's concocted a plan to rid the world of the two men who caused the death of his favored children- Acheron and Nick, Dark Hunters extraordinaire.But in unleashing War, the scourge created by the gods to kill a race of creatures created by their own war-spilled blood, Stryker has set about circumstances that will eventually be the end of his own life as well.Though the goddess Artemis could care less about Stryker, she still has a warm spot for Ash- the object of her twisted form of love and the father of her daughter. To stop Stryker, she sends the one person who wants him dead more than anyone-Zephyra.Stryker is shocked to find Phyra is still alive- and even more shocked to find he has a daughter to her! Now he'll do anything to keep them in his lonely life- even join his hated enemies to defeat the hell loosed on earth by his own hand.OSN has more than a couple strikes against it. First, it is a short novel, despite the price-(Once again they enlarged the font to stretch this story out.)- and there's a ton of information dumping as the author sets up the new arch of the Dark Hunter saga.Second, Stryker is no noble hero. He's the leader of a gang of vamps and demons who have tormented our beloved Dark Hunters for a long time. He even killed the love of his cherished son's life because he felt betrayed by him. Not very likable.Add to that the fact that the heroine is a shrew. She's ticked Stryker could not love her enough to stay by her side all those years ago when Apollo threatened them and she's never forgiven him for it.Still, I lapped up this story in a few short hours.Because, darn it all, Kenyon made it work! Stryker may've been a pretty bad guy in previous novels, but he made some choices in this book that redeemed some of his past actions, imo. In fact, Zephyra seemed more low down at times, than he!And speaking of Phyra, I couldn't help but like her too. She believed, falsely, that the love of her life chose his father over her and when she discovered their child was going to die of the same curse that once threatened Stryker- she did what she had to do to save her life. What's not to like about a woman with that much strength?What really made the book, however, was seeing Ash again. Sure I wasn't completely enthralled with his own story (Acheron)- but man I still love seeing him show up! And Nick Gautier, is FINALLY coming out of his whiny stage- he's also coming into some pretty impressive powers that I believe will put him in the same sphere as Ash as far as beloved DH characters go.Still, I think it's another character who will be taking Ash's place as most anxsty. I'm sure we'll see more of this Jarad guy in the future and I'll keep reading the Dark Hunters if for no other reason then seeing where she takes him next!
    • 5/5
      The way that the author uses all kinds of different mythology, demons, diamons which are like vamprires, shapeshifters, and different beliefs. And I love it when I'm so into a book of her's that I lose track of the time. And I love how her books keep you hanging on in the end, and then have to wait for the next book to come out and try to find something to read while you wait for the new book to come.
    • 4/5
      Stryker has a plan, it doesn't involve an ex-wife and a daughter he never knew he had. What he does plan makes life complicated for everyone and they will cascade beyond just this book.Not the most memorable story but entertaining and I found it a very quick read.
    • 3/5
      One Silent Night was better than I expected. As I feel that Kenyon can no longer write a good romance, I was not suprised at the lack of chemistry between Stryker and Zephyra. The storyline wasn't too bad and it was nice seeing Ash again.
      3.5 stars
    • 2/5
      One Silent Night
      2 Stars

      Determined to end Acheron and Nick once and for all, Stryker awakens a monster from the depths of Hades only to learn the fatal truth - all creations turn on their creators. Then, just when he thought things couldn't get worse, his ex-wife arrives and she wants nothing more than to remove his head - unless he can convince her that their love is still alive and kicking.

      Unfortunately, this installment in Kenyon's series is a dud. The only thing that makes it somewhat of a worthwhile read is the development in the ongoing storylines involving Acheron, Nick and Savitar as well as the introduction of Jared who is very intriguing.

      Stryker and Zephyra's romance is ridiculous in the extreme. Stryker is one of the main villains of the series who has committed some pretty heinous crimes against innocents, and Zephyra, a completely new character, is downright evil. Consequently, it is impossible to care one way or the other about their relationship. 

      The series started out so well, but has been going down hill for a while and not even Acheron's book could redeem it. I'm willing to continue until the new story arc, however, if things don't improve, the Dark Hunters and I will be calling it quits.
    • 5/5
      Reading this book reminded me of just how much I love reading anything Sherrilyn writes, especially about her Dark Hunters!

      I enjoyed seeing a different side to Stryker and gave me insight into the things he's been through. While I don't like that he and his brethren feast on humans, reading his story helped me to see that he's not fully evil.

      Stryker unleashes a god that eventually comes back to bite him in more ways than he'd planned on. When someone from his past appears suddenly, it throws him for a loop and he's faced with a dilemma.

      He soon is reunited with his first wife and child that he'd assumed were dead these many years.

      Will he choose to make amends and become temporary allies with the very people he set out to kill or will he turn his back and risk losing all he holds dear?

      You'll have to read to find out.

      Full of suspense, lost love, myth and a shot a redemption, I'd give this book more than 5 stars if I could!
    • 4/5
      I really liked this book in the Dark Hunter series because it focused more on the action which made it read more like sci-fi (my favorite genre) than paranormal romance.
    • 4/5
      The last full-length, Christmas-themed book in the Dark-Hunter series was just OK for me, and perhaps for that reason, I went into reading One Silent Night with low expectations. The fact that Stryker had been an antagonist in several past Dark-Hunter books and my uncertainty about him being the hero of his own story only added to my lack of anticipation. Well, maybe that was a good thing, because I ended up finding this book to be pretty entertaining. Admittedly, the mythology was rather muddled and overly complex, and often events occur for the sake of the plot, two things that are typical for Sherrilyn Kenyon's books. I often find both annoying, but in this case, I mostly ignored them and just tried to go with the flow. Part of what made it so enjoyable, though, were the inclusion of several other characters we already know and the introduction of a couple of new characters, all of whom I liked very much. Usually having the action and POV straying away from the main couple this much dilutes the romance for me, but this time, I found it to be a plus. So, overall, I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this story.As I mentioned, Stryker has been the villain in several previous Dark-Hunter books, so I wasn't sure how I would like him as a “hero.” Oddly enough, he still isn't quite what I would call heroic even in his own book. I guess I would have to say I'm ambivalent about him even after reading his story. He starts out by unleashing a creature who is more evil than he is, all for the purpose of killing Acheron and Nick, the two people whom he hates the most. By the end, he has realized the error of his ways, and must strike up a temporary truce with his mortal enemies in order to defeat this evil creature and save the life of someone he loves. There's a part of me which understands that many of the things Stryker does are to protect his Daimons from his father's terrible curse, but another part of me feels like he's done some pretty reprehensible things for which he needs to pay penance. Unfortunately, that didn't happen here, and I can't say that I'm entirely surprised. Based on the way things ended, I'm sure he's going to be back to antagonize Acheron and his Dark-Hunters some more in future books. This was somewhat disappointing, because if a bad guy is going to be redeemed into a hero, I like to see him get his comeuppance and know that he's going to be a good guy in the future. As a romantic hero, he was perhaps a little better. His teenage marriage to Zephyra ended with him walking out on her, but we get to see how much that tore him up inside and that he only did it to protect her from his father's wrath. When it comes to Zephyra he has a definite soft spot and would do anything to win her back, even promising to allow her to execute him without a fight if she isn't convinced of his love for her within two weeks time. She's the only woman he's ever truly loved, and he always treats her with the utmost gentleness and respect. I also liked that he was even off-put by some of the seemingly bad things that she did, which I thought showed him to have some honor and scruples, even if only in small measure. For these reasons and because he showed a few other vulnerabilities, I couldn't help liking him... somewhat. However, I can't go so far as to say that I fell for him in the way I like to fall for romance heroes, because I simply couldn't forget all the bad things he's done to characters I do love.Zephyra is a definite alpha female who I felt was a good match for Stryker, but maybe that's because she can be just as ruthless as he is if not more so. Although she's loathe to admit it, she was hurt deeply by Stryker's abandonment of her centuries ago and is still holding a major grudge for it. Throughout that time, Zephyra has done what she had to do to survive, some of which hasn't been all that pretty. From the moment she sees Stryker again, she's ready to kill him on the spot. It's only her daughter's voice of reason and her belief that perhaps they can work together toward a common goal, that stays her hand... temporarily. Stryker also offers her his tempting bargain to allow him to win her back, which initially, she thinks will be a piece of cake. She just didn't count on Stryker getting under her skin again. I admired Zephyra for being so protective of her daughter, but she's such a tough girl, I had a hard time relating to her on a more personal level. There have been some kick-butt heroines in this series, but for the most part they've always had a softer side, which is something I never really saw much of in Zephyra. Like Stryker, I too was put off by her torture and enslavement of someone who didn't entirely seem to deserve it. I'm willing to admit though, that maybe I don't know enough about this character yet to understand why Zephyra mistreats him, but I really liked him and wanted it to stop. Because of this, I would have to say that Zephyra is the most hard-ass heroine I've read so far in this series. At the same time though, I'm also willing to admit that perhaps this was pure genius, because it made me feel that Styker wasn't quite so bad after all and that they deserved each other... err... were well matched.:-)Since neither Stryker nor Zephyra quite made it onto my favorite heroes and heroines list, it was really the secondary characters who made this book so entertaining for me. I was worried that after Ash found his HEA in his own book we might not see much of him anymore, but he plays a prominent role in this story. Nick is a key player too. He's still finding his way after all the recent events in his life, and even more changes occur for him here. He's still holding a huge grudge against Ash and is on a vendetta to kill him, which I can't help feeling is a little unreasonable on his part. Both Nick and Ash screwed up, but considering that Ash has apologized for his part in the death of Nick's mom and never intentionally intended to hurt her, I feel like Nick should just get over it. His old mentor, Menyara, tells him as much, and it looks like the changes Nick experiences in this book may be putting him on that path. I certainly hope so at least. Tory and Simi are also there beside Ash, and Savitar shows up a few times to lend his support as well. So do Alexion and Danger (Sins of the Night), and Sin and Katra (Devil May Cry). Stryker's son, Urian, is in a couple of scenes, but there's no happy father/son reunion, as Urian understandably hasn't forgiven his father for killing his wife (or him for that matter). We're also introduced to a new character, Jared, who I have a feeling is going to play a big role in upcoming books of the series. I fell for him almost instantly. He also has a little demon companion named Nim (much like Simi is to Ash), who is just too cute for words. I can't wait to see more of this pair, and hope that there might be a book for Jared at some point in the future.The other thing that made this book enjoyable and one that Dark-Hunter fans shouldn't miss is the advancement of the overall story arc. As I mentioned there were major changes for Nick, which I'm sure will affect future books. There are also some big changes afoot for Stryker and the Daimon army he leads. With Zephyra's help they realize it's possible to do something they'd never before considered, because they thought it would mean death and/or enslavement. I'm certain this will make things much more difficult for the Dark-Hunters from here on out. Stryker, Ash, and Nick may have taken the saying, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend” to a whole new level in this book, but it's most likely going to be business as usual by the next one with a new twist added. The one small downside to the story was that the Christmas theme was more of an afterthought rather than a integral part of the narrative. The only nods to the holiday season were Ash and Tory decorating a Christmas tree and a couple of mentions of Stryker's scheme bringing the world to an end for the humans on Christmas Day. In the grand scheme of things that was a pretty small complaint though. Even if I couldn't entirely get on board with Stryker and Zephyra being “heroic” characters, they exhibited just enough vulnerability and sympathy factor to make me like them well enough. All the other tidbits added to the series story arc also made One Silent Night a nice addition to the Dark-Hunter series. After reading Acheron, I wasn't sure if I was going to continue with the series, but this book has piqued my interest sufficiently to make me stick with it for a while longer.
    • 3/5
      Didn't like this one as much because I never liked the main characters. They learn forgiveness for each other but never for anything else. The background story of the war is very intense and it is the only reason I gave the book 3 stars.
    • 4/5
      An interesting enough romance from the bad guy/girl POV. My favorite thing about the story were the Nick parts. Not up to par with some of her original/beginning books but still okay. Probably a must read in view of the overarching story and mythology.
    • 3/5
      This book was a bit different than I expected, but I did enjoy it. I liked learning more about Stryker, but it seemed a bit forced in places. As much as I like the happy endings, it seems like they're getting a little forced as well. There has to be some sort of conclusion to this series, but it seems like it's going the direction that they're just going to destroy the world. I will keep reading. Hopefully, there will be something that's not far fetched to end the series.
    • 3/5
      Each entry in the Dark-Hunter series told of a hunter (were, dark, dream) finding true love and redemption. So, I was thrown for a loop when one of the series mainstay villains found his true love - Stryker. When he releases the primal entity known as War to kill Nick and Ash, he discovers she is still alive and that he still loves her.More than anything, the purpose of this story seemed to be to introduce a new arc in the overall mythology (rather than a romance), including a new "pantheon" and also to make Nick into a more pivotal player. Nick's not really human; he's the last of the Malachai - uberpowerful immortals created to fight other uberpowerful immortals, the Sephirii, of whom the last is Jared. The groups were soldiers for higher-lever gods who want to rule the world. Blah, blah, blah. Honestly, I think the mythology is getting unnecessarily convoluted, and I'm just not a fan of Nick. Making him half of an innately evil demon race to somehow explain his unreasoning hatred and desire to kill Ash seems like a cop-out. And, it's gotten to the point where the series is no longer about the Dark-Hunters, it's about the ever increasing number of gods. And the "romance" was not romantic, it was strange, to say the least. Stryker wants to kill mankind, and at the end of this story he still does. Only now he has his true love to help him in his war. And for her part, she's a bloodthirsty woman who cruelly tortures Jared when she's not lusting after Stryker. It's difficult to identify with and root for the loving couple who wants to destroy the world.The mythology has the potential to be interesting, but I'm afraid it's going to take over the series. Overall, this was a weak entry that was already fighting an uphill battle as the book that followed "Acheron," and got lost in the technobabble. It kept me interested and turning the pages, but didn't leave me satisfied. I still recommend the series, but really hope the next book brings the magic back.
    • 2/5
      An important book within the Dark-Hunter series with plenty of revelations and changes. Too bad the very interesting villain and main protagonist of the story turns into a rather boring read.
    • 4/5
      really enjoyed this book, which really surprised me. For most of the Dark-Hunter series Stryker was/is the bad guy and I wasn't sure I'd like this book because of him. But I did and it was interesting to find out more about his past. Stryker and Zephyra are what made the book great. I love Zephyra is kick ass and doesn't take shit from anyone. I don't think there has been a character in this series like that since Tabitha Devereaux. There were quite a few surprise along the way, I'm really looking forward to see how the series is gonna change.
    • 2/5
      Not much to say other than I really didn't like this book. It didn't work for me other than the parts of the book that were about the group of people that I care about.
    • 5/5
      I hate it when I go from hating the villain to loving them, and only Sherri can do this...LOL. She did a wonderful job of making Stryker human and actually empathetic to his plight. He and his wife are amusing and watching them interact is hilarious.
    • 4/5
      Bad boys need lovin’ too!This is the story of Stryker - yes, Strykerius (tormentor of all things Dark-Hunter, Acheron and Nick Gaultier related). Yet I thoroughly enjoyed reading the bad guy’s side of the story. In this story we were able to get a glimpse of the romance between Stryker (all around Dark-Hunter nemesis) and his first-wife Zephyra (she’s a total witch). Upon reading this you see Stryker in a whole new light and why he is the way he is. Yes, Stryker, was human at one point. He was a child, he loved, he made mistakes... he was/is a man. I found myself feeling sympathy for him and understanding a little more of the world that Sherrilyn Kenyon has created.Although it can be a bit confusing with all the Greek mythology she normally intertwines with her storylines, this book (I think) is like a new era for the Dark-Hunter series. Sherrilyn is involving a lot of new and different characters that I can’t help but anticipate the day when we get to read their stories. For those of you who are fans of the Dark-Hunter series, this book felt like an intermediate point, where she just filled you in on information that she was unable to incorporate into any of her other stories. If you have not read a Dark-Hunter novel before than this definitely is not the book you want to start the series on (definitely read some of her older stuff and I’m sure you’ll get snagged along with the rest of us into this world).But intrigued I am! With all the new characters that she is introducing I can’t wait to read the next installment.
    • 4/5
      It was a little short, but I enjoyed reading something more about Stryker. There is nothing more boring than a one-dimensional villain, and knowing more about Stryker's motivations makes him a lot more interesting. Plus, I loved seeing the coalition that came together -- Nick and Ash especially. I'm eager to see more interaction between those two! Of course, I'm behind on the books, so I may have missed some stuff. LOL
    • 5/5
      I really enjoy the books that Sherrilyn Kenyon writes. There are very few authors that I can say have captured my attention and she had done this with all of the Dark Hunter books. While I will say that that following Acheron many books would look bad, but I think that what I found hard was that the story was about a villain. I enjoyed meeting some of the new characters in the book, which I won't spoil for anyone but let's just say there is a BIG surpirse to be found inside the story. Learning about Stryker's background had to be done and it wasn't as good to read as some of her other books. I have to say that I disliked Zephyra. She was whiney and spent most of her time acting like a brat. I did like the story but have come to expect more from Sherrilyn Kenyon. Quite possibly the reason many people disliked the story is we wanted to see more of our heroes and not a side trip about the bad guys.
    • 4/5
      Interesting to have a story about the enemy. Overall, enjoyed it.
    • 4/5
      This would not rank as one of my favorite Dark-Hunter books. While I enjoyed learning Stryker's story, I must admit that I never truly connected with he or Zephyra. I think it's partly because it's hard to understand how their point of view on humans doesn't change throughout the telling of the story. Stryker's a necessary "bad guy" so I suppose that's why he couldn't change here and, yet, both characters quickly learn that there's more to what happened to them than they first comprehended. I would think they'd apply it to their world viewpoints as well. Even Zephyra's thoughts about Jared at the end don't indicate an understanding that there may be more to his story than she knows.So, while I found it interesting to learn their history and I was rooting for them to end up together, I found myself skimming through the scenes with just the two of them. I never connected to either enough to be more than superficially engaged in their romance. In fact, I cared more about their daughter than either of them.This was a common thread in this story and why I think this book is still a must-read for Dark Hunter fans. I suspect the other characters introduced or re-introduced here are going to be important in upcoming stories and I'm eager to see where their stories go. It was nice to see Acheron and Tory so soon after reading their story and we get a huge reveal about Nick here that explains a great deal and, at the same time, makes me all the more anxious to get his tale.In conclusion, I thought it was a decent book but among my least favorite of the series so far. Since I re-read many of the other Dark Hunter books quite frequently, I'd say this would rate as one of those I'd only re-read if I were reviewing or looking up some of the important details revealed in it.