Daisuke Matsui survived his rocky past with the help of his mentor and friend, Officer Ray Watts.  Before Watts came along, Daisuke was alone and responsible for his mother and brother Wei.  Through Watts’ influence, Daisuke becomes a police detective.  He suffers the loss of his protector and finds himself dealing with unresolved desires that are dark and disturbing.  For years, he and Watts both carried their own secrets, some shared, others not.  Soon, Daisuke becomes distracted from his woes when Wei starts singing the praises of a Russian vampire called Mistress Viktoria.  

Everything becomes even more complicated with the arrival of Liu Sakurai, a powerful, ancient chaing-shihwho’s been asked to deal with Mistress Viktoria and her underlings.   As an Elder vampire Liu subscribes to the old beliefs that humans are nothing but playthings.  Daisuke is the perfect toy, but little does Sakurai realize that it won’t be so easy.   It takes two to tangle, and he’s about to become one vampire that’s tied up in knots courtesy of one hard ass NYPD cop.

If you have a weak constitution, then approach Dark Whispers with caution.  The story has graphic gore and loads of hardcore BDSM scenes.  This is a gritty cop-meets-criminal tale set in New York, except unlike a CSI episode, the bad guys are mainly vampires.  Everything revolves around the underground world of sex clubs, drugs and nasty revelations that aren’t meant to break the light of day. 

Ms. Sheridan and Ms. Cain take time to develop Daisuke’s character, but occasionally, Daisuke changes direction like a weather vane.  By the end of the story, my perception was thrown off balance by his choices.  Sometimes I felt like the plot interfered with Daisuke’s and Liu’s relationship more than I would have liked, but it kept me reading to the end.  Liu is interesting, scary at times, and downright vicious.  You’re not always sure whose side he is on.  Daisuke is tough as nails, hot tempered, and loyal, which made me cheer him on at the darkest hour.   Of course, this sizzling duo does gain their somber slice of HEA.

Dark Whispers is a novel maxed to the hilt with violence, Dom/sub thrills, and paranormal M/M steamy goodness.  The love/hate dynamic between Daisuke and Liu will tantalize readers while holding down its hard-kicking street cred, which means this book is definitely worth a go by anyone that enjoys a challenge.