Review: Nightwalker (Stormwalker #4)

Stormwalker Janet Begay must choose between protecting Ansel or facing the most powerful magical beings in the world, who are willing to destroy Janet, Mick, her hotel, and everyone she cares about to get to Ansel and his secrets.

Nightwalker, by Allyson James, is the fourth book in the award-winning Stormwalker series. Janet Begay is a Dine stormwalker, one who can gather energy and power from storms. She is also the proprietor of the Crossroads Hotel, a place where out-of-town guests and the paranormal stop for a safe night's rest in the touristy desert town of Magellan, Arizona. However, a new case has Janet shaking her head and fearing for her own life

A slayer is targeting Ansel, a Nightwalker (vampire) who has become more-or-less a permanent resident and friend at her hotel. When she and her lover Mick intervene to rescue Ansel, they find that the attack is only the beginning of an unraveling mystery. The most powerful beings want access to ancient magic that no mere mortal should ever possess. It seems everyone is chasing Ansel, who holds dangerous secrets about the item in question.

Janet already has her hands full with her crazy half-sister and grandmother, the upcoming marriage of her father, the return of a woman claims to be Coyote's wife, a couple of dragons who are willing to destroy her, and the increasingly strange behavior (and disappearance) of Mick. Complications have increasingly become a norm in Janet's life. Nevertheless, Janet must protect those she cares about from the dark forces that may ultimately seal her own fate.

This was another excellent book by Allyson James. In the last four books, Janet Begay has become a more confident and wiser young woman. Her enemies (human and supernatural) continue to test her abilities and resolve in these cases. In this novel, Janet must survive the impossible when an ancient pot with powerful magic disappears from a museum. She must race against time to convince her friends and enemies that her best friend, Ansel, did not murder an innocent woman. I admire her courage, intellect, and determination to solve mysteries with the best solution (and the least casualties). Having a sexy dragon as a lover and partner in investigations doesn't hurt either.

Meanwhile, I enjoy learning about the cultures and topography of the American Southwest. Since I have visited Arizona, I can vividly envision the mountains, mesas, high broad basins, plateaus, and desert lands. I also have a deeper appreciation of American Indian mythology and the importance of not disturbing ancestral lands. I look forward to reading more Stormwalker novels. I highly recommend this series.

Stay tuned for the next novel in the Stormwalker series, Dreamwalker.