Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Acheron Parthenopaeus is the leader of the Dark Hunters, but he's not really quite one of them. Born in Ancient Atlantis 11,000 years ago as the offspring of two Atlantean Gods, Archon and Apollymi, he was cursed by the fates with being the ending of all things, making his divine father want to kill him even before he was born. Apollymi saved his life at the cost of being imprisoned herself, but sent her attendant Xiamara to put him into the body of a pregnant queen, to mingle her son'e life force with her own. But for refusing to give up her son, Apollymi was imprisoned, only to be freed when her son was dead.

Apostolos, as his mother named him, was born again as the son of the Queen of Didymos. But from the time of his own birth he was rejected as unnatural by both his human mother and father for his eyes, which were solid silver. The only one who cared for him or showed him any affection was his sister, Ryssa, and she was limited in what she could do because she was only a girl.

When Acheron was only a small child, his father banished him from the palace and the city, sending his unwanted second son to his brother, who lived in Atlantis. Ryssa was relieved that her father could no longer beat and abuse her brother, but when she went for herself to see how he was years later, she found out the awful truth: her brother had been trained as a sex slave, and was beaten if he didn't comply. His ability to eat was predicated on his ability to take in customers and make money. If he couldn't work, he wouldn't eat. Something about him makes people desire him, even his sister, although she never acts on it, unlike the others around him.

Ryssa rescues him and takes him back to Didymos, staying at the summer palace during the winter. But Acheron is abused again and again on the journey. It is only when the two of them are living alone but for the servants that he finally comes to trust Ryssa. But not long after he does, her father finds them living in the palace and has him dragged back to Atlantis again.

More years pass while Acheron is imprisoned, and when Ryssa's uncle finally dies, he is free. Or is he? He knows nothing but the life he's led. He can't even read or write. Instead of returning to the father that hates him (his mother drank herself to death years before), he prefers to do what he has been taught to do. And now that he has become a teenager, his sexual attraction is stronger than ever, making his father hate him even more. He leaves them with nothing to his name but Ryssa's cloak that she throws over him to protect him.

Later, he finally returns to the palace, so burnt out by the life he has led that he is no longer able to care about anything. In return, his father throws him into the dungeons. But when Acheron attempts to take his own life to escape the pain of the life he has, his brother Styxx, whose life his is linked to, falls ill, and his father has him force-fed to save both their lives.

Finally, he just tries to live apart from his family, save Ryssa. She is being prepared for being sacrificed to Apollo, and she needs his help to know what to do. Acheron, still feeling something for his naive sister, helps her, but his looks continue to cause him nothing but pain. When his brother and the rest of the family are making a sacrifice to Apollo, he is refused entry to the temple because of who he is. He runs and takes shelter in the Temple to Artemis, and eats some of the food left for her. Artemis is furious and appears in person to punish him.

But instead of being cringing and supplicant, Acheron would like nothing *better* than to die, which confuses the goddess mightily. Having never met a man like him before, or reacted to one with such inherent sexuality, she finds herself agreeing to become Acheron's friend and sharing a kiss with him that sets her blood ablaze.

Artemis tells Acheron that he must keep their friendship secret. As a virginal goddess, it would ruin her reputation to be seen with him. But love and friendship between a spoiled greek Goddess and a human can never work out. Though Acheron actually does try to be her friend, she, like other women he has known, rejects him once they have had sex. She does come back to him, but she really only likes him when he is acting subservient to her, and Acheron soon finds himself wishing she would leave him alone.

More horrible things happen to him. When his brother is betrothed to an Egyptian princess, she comes on to Acheron in the bath, and when she is discovered with him, she accuses him of almost raping her. Due to his past, she is believed, and his father and brother have him castrated. When Artemis doesn't come to save him, his faith in her as a friend is shattered. But when his sister is slain, along with her child, Apollo's, Acheron's brother Styxx blames him for the deed, saying he did nothing to prevent it. Apollo kills Acheron, which also kills his brother, then finds that children of his own, the Apollites, killed her. He curses them with dying at the same age as Ryssa, 27.

Meanwhile, Acheron travels to the Kingdom of Hades, where he just wants to be left alone. But his death frees his mother, Apollymi, and she is livid with how his human family rejected him, and she takes revenge, not only on his human family, but on the other Atlantean Gods and Goddesses, including the Goddess of Physical Love, who laid her hands on him before he was born, thus "gifting" him with that potent sexual aura. She then goes on to kill everyone in the castle where he lived, and she finds his body, which had been thrown into the sea. Weeping for her child, she plans to take her revenge on the Greek Gods as well, and the entire world.

This throws the Greek Gods into chaos, and they plead with Artemis to bring him back to life to save them from the wrath of Apollymi. She does so, but mixes some of her blood into the Ambrosia that brings him back to life, making him have to feed on her blood to survive. If he does not feed, he turns into a chaotic destroyer of life, perpetually enraged.

For Acheron, this is the last straw, and he curses Artemis, but now he needs her, too. With his resurrection, Apollymi is imprisoned once more, and he cannot meet her without setting her free to destroy the world. However, she does make Acheron a palace to live in, based on the palace he lived in, and she gave him Simi, the daughter of her now-dead friend and attendant Xiamara to care for. Since Simi's Daimon species take a long time to grow up (1 year for every 1,000 years that pass in the human world). This is not a task to take on lightly. But Acheron has other Gods on his side, like Savitar, who can see anyone's future except his own.

Acheron is also persuaded by Artemis to train the Apollites she has resurrected to become Demon Hunters. But for every concession he asks for, she makes him serve time in her bed, making him hate her even more for the way she uses him and his body. He never wants to be used again, but here, Artemis holds all the cards, and he hates it, and her, intensely.

At this point, the book flashes forward to the present day, where Acheron and Artemis have come to the Parthenon to hear a speech given by Dr. Soteria Kofieri, an archaeologist who has devoted her life to the dreams of her father and grandfather: Finding Atlantis. But Acheron is horrified to find that she is on the right track, and has actually discovered one of the diaries of his sister, Ryssa. Because it is written in Atlantean, not Ancient Greek, she hasn't yet been able to decipher it, but Acheron knows he must act fast in order to protect himself. He asks a series of insulting questions and gets everyone in the crowd laughing and calling her a crackpot. Discredited, she leaves, but Artemis doesn't want anyone knowing about Atlantis, either, and that diary could contain the story of how she and Acheron were lovers, which would destroy her reputation.

So, she sets her followers, who destroy and cover up evidence of Atlantis, and tells them to get the diary and kill Soteria. Soteria, meanwhile, is still trying to decipher the diary, and asks for help from an academic friend of hers. He says he can't read it, but he knows someone who might be able to, and sends her to his friend, who turns out to be Ash.

Ash finds himself attracted to Soteria, and when he realizes that someone wants to kill her, he takes her in to protect her. She is as attracted to him as he is to her, but her earlier resentment lingers and so she tries not to show it. But she is intrigued by Ash and his apparently magical relocating tattoo. But when Artemis' assasins fire on them and cause him to crash his bike, he is bereft and uses his powers to bring her back to life. Still badly injured, he gets her to the hospital, where she has surgery to save her life.

Afterwards, the killers show up again at the hospital, so he takes her to a sanctuary run by Weres to keep her safe. There, they give into the passion they feel for each other, and Soteria learns the truth of who Ash is. But they will still have to deal with Artemis' hunters and a set of Daimons who want to use Soteria to get revenge on Ash. And when Apollymi and Artemis enter the fray, can Soteria survive?

This was another *HUGE* book, over 700 pages, and very hard to read... not in the way that the writing is bad or hard to get into, but in the way that Ash's life is so hard and terrible that it's difficult not to feel depressed over what happens to him. It's made phenomenally clear that Ash was a little boy who only wanted to feel loved by his human parents, but they thought he was a monster and mistreated him horribly, followed by just about every other human who touched his life, save for some young children and a woman who was blind.

And while some fans of the series were wishing that he and Artemis would end up together, she treats him just as badly out of fear, anger and pride. The way she makes him need to feed from her when she brings him back to life was a particularly unforgivable sin against him. His entire life was being taken advantage of, along with abused, and it's sickening and disheartening to see it happen over and over and over again, not only with humans, but with Artemis as well.

Once we get to the modern day, the story gets easier to read, as the series picks up the smart dialogue and wisecracking that we have come to know and love in the Dark Hunter series. Soteria is portrayed as a dogged and determined woman who knows no fear and will do anything to protect those she loves and their dreams. Her ability to stand up to goddesses, Daimons and other assorted people trying to pull her and Ash apart was admirable and allowed her to fight not only for him, but for her right to be with him.

I enjoyed this book a lot, even the parts that made me uncomfortable and sick for Acheron. Maybe even especially those parts, as it's rare that a writer can make me feel so deeply for a character. That being said, this isn't really a single book, but more like two books in one. The first book is very different in tone and pacing from the second, and the only thing they really seem to have in common is the character of Acheron Parthenopaeus. The biggest flaw is that so much that fans wanted to see is glossed over or given short shrift, like Acheron's first meeting with Savitar. We see them becoming friends quickly, but would someone as abused and used as Acheron was trust him that quickly?

If you are a fan of the Dark-Hunter series, you will definitely need to read this book. For those who haven't read it before, you'll want to start with a different book before you read this one, as this isn't the best example of the series for someone who isn't already familliar with the series and some of the other characters.