After Dark by Jayne Castle – That’s What I’m Talking About…

Audiobook review: After Dark by Jayne Castle

Indiana Jones meets futuristic sci-fi and paranormal romance!  Things get interesting After Dark, the first of Jayne Castle’s Harmony series.

After really enjoying other books and series by the author under her Jayne Ann Krentz name and her Amanda Quick name which she uses to distinguish her various genres, I was eager to give some of her futuristic, alien world paranormal romantic suspense Harmony series a try.  I was glad when it caught my eye when it was republished in audio format by Tantor Audio with a new-to-me narrator, Laurel Merlington.

The Harmony series is an interesting blend of futuristic sci-fi because the setting is a distant alien world for earth colonists who got separated from earth when they came through a temporary rift and are making a go of surviving and thriving on their new world. And, Harmony comes with an interesting affect, humans there developed various psychic talents.  Harmony does a number on the tech that was brought from earth so they are not tech advanced society in spite of living on an alien world. It’s a more dangerous and grittier though exotic and alien world full of suspense and adventure for the descendants of the colonists.

Always a good attention grabber when the first scene opens with a dead body. A small-time shady dealer and sort of friend is found killed when para-archaeologist, Lydia Smith is preparing to meet with a man who needs someone with her skills to do some work for him. She’s hopeful it will launch her as an independent consultant. He’s striking and seems interestingly chill about the body, but she has no doubt he’ll pass on giving her the job. But he doesn’t and she learns that Emmet London is something of a dark horse, himself.

He wants her to help him find a family heirloom and there are of course, complications and secrets. Neither of them really trusts each other, it’s a social status thing along with wondering if his secrets will harm her. Though, that said, they need each other- she for a leg up toward her new career and him to find the heirloom. But things get hinky and dangerous rather quickly, including how the dead body fits into the situation, so the trust- slow in coming- builds as does an attraction as they race toward their goal and try to keep one step ahead of those who would stop them.

After Dark was an introduction to the world of Harmony for me, which was fascinating and often quirky, right down to companion creatures- cuties called Dust Bunnies.

There are two different psychic types and they are part of what make up the social structure of the world.  Lydia’s kind (Tanglers- untangle and unlock energy) are somewhat snooty toward Emmet’s kind (Ghost Hunters- create or destroy energy) because they see them, particularly the Cadence Guild, as next to mobsters.

Harmony itself was fascinating with the musical motif running throughout the world (like the location of the archaeological dig, Cadence City, where Lydia was in the catacombs beneath and blacked out and lost two days of memories, Emmet’s home town of Resonance City…)  But, the descriptions of the background world didn’t go far enough and left more questions than answers (perhaps to be answered as the series rolls out).

I had mixed feelings about the romance- and, fair point, the romance isn’t resolved yet and wasn’t meant to be in After Dark (which I didn’t realize until I got close to the end and there was no real resolution). But I really got impatient with Emmet’s holding back pertinent stuff that would have helped them both with what was happening, and I was also none too pleased with Lydia’s attitude toward Emmet and the constant arguing. I’ll reserve final judgment until I get into the next installment which is really part two of this one, After Glow.

Laurel Merlington’s narration work was a decided plus and I enjoyed the way she voiced the characters and gave them a deeper nuance as she did by catching the tone of each scene and the vibe of the book as a whole.

And, so, I was intrigued by the mashing of genres, the setting of Harmony and the set up of the plot. I am giving this a ‘wait and see’ about the overall development, especially the romance and suspense, since it’s only the first half.  I’m going to predict that once I have full resolution, I’ll feel better about After Dark so I won’t hesitate to recommend it as a decent start to the Harmony series.

My Ratings
Story: B
Narration: A

Sophia Rose

About the Book:

Life is tough these days for Lydia Smith, licensed para-archaeologist. Seriously stressed-out from a nasty incident in an alien tomb, she is obliged to work part-time in Shrimpton’s House of Ancient Horrors, a very low-budget museum. She has a plan to get her career back on track, but it isn’t going well. Stuff keeps happening.

Take the dead body that she discovered in one of the sarcophagus exhibits. Who needed that? Finding out that her new client, Emmett London, is one of the most dangerous men in the city isn’t helping matters either. And that’s just today’s list of setbacks. Here in the shadows of the Dead City of Old Cadence, things don’t really heat up until After Dark.

Author: Jayne Castle
Narrator: Laural Merlington
Series: Harmony #1
Genre: Sci-Fi Paranormal Romance
Audiobook Release Date: March 17, 2026
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Length: 9 hours 17 minutes
Source: publisher
Audio Speed: 1.2x