A review by Kati Dancy
Publisher: Doherty, Tom Associates, LLC
4.5 stars out of 5 stars

The Marked series by SJ Day is destined to be one of my favorite Urban Fantasy series on the market today. In Eve of Darkness, we meet Evangeline Hollis, an interior designer who has just been invited to submit a proposal to Gadara Industries, one of the largest conglomerates in the United States. What Eve doesn’t realize is that Gadara Industries is a front for the archangel, Raguel. You see, the world is at war — a war that is unseen by most mortals. There are a group of seven archangels protecting the world from Sammael (or Satan), who is doing his best to bring about the downfall of man. To assist the archangels, there are seraphim, and enforcers and marks, human minions who are the on the ground soldiers for God’s army.

Eve meets a mysterious man on her way to the interview at Gadara, she’s immediately attracted, and ends up having sex with him in a stairwell, something totally uncharacteristic for her. Part of her attraction to this man is his overwhelming resemblance to Alec Cain, a man who she loved passionately when she was a teenager, but who left her after heartlessly breaking her heart. The mysterious man leaves her after sex telling her she now bears the Mark of Cain, and she is left wondering what the heck got into her and what on earth he’s talking about. That is, until Alec Cain moseys back through her door, informing her that now that she bears the Mark of Cain, she’s been drafted into God’s army. Eve changes inextricably, becoming stronger, faster and more sexually aware than any human. And through it all, Alec is there by her side, acting as her Mal’akh, training her, helping to learn about her new powers and her place in the pantheon of war. She’s still furious with him, but enjoys that he is there with her. That is, until she sees Reed Abel again. Reed is the man from the hallway, the man who marked her. And he is her Guardian, the one who dispatches her to assignments. Alec and Reed are indeed the Cain and Abel from the Bible. Brothers torn apart, opposites in most every way. They have a mutual dislike of each other, and now, with Eve in the picture, the situation between them is even more precarious. Reed is one of God’s most trusted servants, effective in every way, overseeing a huge number of Marks and managing his business in all aspects. Alec is God’s most feared weapon. He’s dispatched to take care of untenable situations and can hold his own against any foe.

Eve finds herself torn between the man who she loved in her youth, Alec, and the man who turned her, Reed. On top of that, she’s agnostic, so this whole “working for God” business is difficult for her to accept.

The world SJ Day has created is not a complicated one in structure, but it’s complicated in that the characters are fascinating, the action sequences are hair on fire exciting and the sex scenes are incendiary. I’ve set the story up, but am going to say nothing further about the plot except for this; this story does feature a love triangle, so readers who are triangle-averse should avoid this book.  ”But if you love smart, kickass heroines, fascinating new worlds, high octane action and to die for men, the Marked series is definitely not to be missed. “I can hardly wait to see what the fertile mind of S.J. Day comes up with next.