Fractured Souls

Darkstar Mercenaries Series, Book 3

By: Anna Carven

Narrated by: J. F. Harding

Alexis Carter is a long way from home, and she doesn't quite understand how she got here. All she knows is that she died once, and now she's alive.

She's woken into a nightmare, trapped on a dark ship full of terrifying aliens. With their silver skin and fire-colored eyes, they look a lot like the monsters that once attacked her on Earth.

One Kordolian in particular stands out.... He's huge, he doesn't talk much, and his job is to guard her.

From what, exactly?

The voices inside her head?

Contains mature themes.

©2019 Anna Carven (P)2019 Tantor

Love this series

I'm in love with this series, you have to listen to the Dark Warriors series first to completely understand who everyone is. I really hope we get to see how this story develops on the other planet ( don't want to spoil anything).

I've read this so many times...

and only now realised that I've never reviewed it. I believe this is my favourite story of both the DPW and DSM series', second only to Abby and Tarek's books which I consider OG and foundational.

Plot: Alexis (h) is the revenant. The human woman who was killed (off-page in the starship wreck from the previous book "Shattered Silence") then resurrected by the 'second stage' Tharian living in Enki's head. When this book starts, Alexis is, needless to say, MESSED UP. She underwent unspeakable trauma on earth when she was brutalized by Kordolian slavers. Then more trauma when they put an intergalactic bounty on her head. Then more trauma during the destruction of the Starship Malachai, which was her escape plan turned coffin. Then more trauma still when she wakes from death only to find herself on the Kordolian Fleet Station with her body the host to some incorporeal alien species. She is completely unstable and terrified. Then she meets Nythian (H) and damn does he make everything better 😍.

This was a perfect love story. The perfect representation of a black female lead. A perfectly complex alien plot. And bonus, this book showcased the cohesion, power, and skill of the 1st division/mates exquisitely. Great narration. Excellent book.

Enjoyable

This is the only book I've layered to from this works and series and it will probably be the only one, but I did really enjoy it. I loved the H/h. They were made for each other. I probably would have liked a slower burn, but that's just personal preference. Overall a good listen.

Fantastic!

This is one of the best books I've heard this year! The main characters were strong and likable. Please write more books like this. I get tired of whiny, clueless women.

Great great story

I really loved this story. Nythiam was so different than the other 1st division, more sensual and showed his affection more. He got to know her inside and out more than the others did. Also I have never seen more vicious fighting in this one with nythiam. What this soldiers can do is crazy.

Great addition to series!

I’ve been entertained by this entire series and this audiobook was just as good as all the others. The heroine is a law enforcement officer who had to leave Earth because there was a bounty on her head for killing a Cordolian of the old empire. I think to get the most out of this story, you need to listen to the whole series. The hero is assigned by General Tarik Arkadian to take care of the heroine, who has another spirit living in her head. In a previous book, the heroine had died in an attack on her way to an Earth colony. She was used as a vessel for the alien spirit who’d been living in Enki’s head. Reanimated, she’s kind of lost. The heroine and hero become very close when they travel back to the spirit’s home world to try to free the spirit. I won’t get anymore detailed. There is a happy ending! Narration was great, except I missed the voice of Tarak from previous books.

Action Packed

This is one of my favorite books in the series; would give high marks to 3 books in this series. The story was good; however, I hope there will be another book to tie up loose ends. It is amazing how the author comes up with the different scenarios for each book. The narrator did a good job, although a female would be good for Alexis. I love the main male character; he is every woman’s dream; actually all of the featured males are this way. Just love paranormal and science fiction romance stories!

Good but not as good as the others

For some reason I had a hard time connecting with the main female character. I’m not sure why. I wanted her to be strong but her actions don’t really back it up too much. Yes, she’s broken but maybe a bit more verbal fighting and playing harder to get with Nithian would have made it more in line with someone you are portraying as a strong female detective. It was a good story though with good build.
Abby still sounds like a muppet. The General sounds much better. Nithian and Loden traded voices since the last book. All the names of the characters in the previous series are pronounced differently so it takes a minute to figure out who they are talking about. Overall I think the narrator should have done a bit more research to be a little more consistent.

world building

the world building was fantastic. thank you for your vision into your mind. you rock.

BLACK WOMAN 👏🏿👏🏿YAY!!!

Anna Carven thank you so much ☺️ 💖! As a black woman I felt as though you Portrayed us beautifully. 1st I love the cover 😍. I love how much Nythian mentions how beautiful she is!, like I really felt that through the writing. The story was so good. I feel like each story gets better than the last.