When the Devil needs a rogue demon killed, who does he call?
The Player: Necromance-for-hire Dante Valentine is choosy about her jobs. Hot tempered and with nerves of steel, she can raise the dead like nobody's business. But one rainy Monday morning, everything goes straight to hell. The Score: The Devil hires Dante to eliminate a rogue demon: Vardimal Santino. In return, he will let her live. It's an offer she can't refuse. The Catch: How do you kill something that can't die? |
There’s something about demon themed Urban Fantasy I just dig up. There’s always such creatively developed worlds, for one thing. This one having Lucifer was a turn off from the blurb as it sounded far-fetched and cheesy, but the way it was done made sense and worked well.
The main focus is on Dante as she tries to uncover, working with the at first unwilling Japhrimel, where the hiding demon is who has killed her former friend and lover and a slew of others. Japh has a vendetta of his own, which is slowly revealed as the story progresses. Lucifer isn’t in the story much in person, thankfully, and it’s mainly with Dante and her former love, two friends, and Japh.
Dante is another typical uptight, chip on the shoulder a-mile-wide heroine. She nears the suicidal edge often and could care less whether she survives. She lives on anger, revenge, and vengeance alone. Her sense of humor is barely there with jokes herself but she can crack a smile if it’s warranted. She is without hope and lives with horrible memories of her past and all the bad stuff she’s endured (quite a bit). Japh is fascinating and inhuman as he shows emotions and stays silent most of the time. I loved their interactions. Her friends would have irritated me sooooo badly with a stunt they pulled in keeping something from her. I would have hit the roof!
She’s a necromance, which is a cool ability I love reading about. It’s different from the Anita Blake of necromancy completely and isn’t concentrated on too much.
It’s a quickly paced book, hard to put down, and not that long in length, so with personal issues and the action it’s a breeze to fly through. The fighting scenes are intense and, even if Dante isn’t the best in the world, the characters overall are winners and the story was a good one. The ending was a shocking, depressing slap in the face, however, and if I hadn’t cheated and snuck a piece at spoilers for the second, well…probably wouldn’t have kept reading.
Doesn’t leave the reader with a good feeling. In so many ways, definitely a dark series, through and through.
Book Quotes:
“Death did not play favorites—He loved all equally."
