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Book Review: A Dark Angel by Hal Kowalski

A Dark Angel by Hal Kowalski

Amazon Digital Services, 2014

ASIN: B00P392B0K

Available: Kindle edition

 

Kowalski presents us with a first-rate anti-hero, Silas Shivers: husband, father, businessman, and Hell’s emissary/assassin. Three years ago, Silas answered a too-good-to-be-true ad headlined “Catch Lightning in a Bottle.” Even after his prospective employer introduced himself as Lucifer, the Lord of Hell, Silas bound himself to a ten-year contract. In this world, the denizens of Hell are not humans who have gone astray. Lucifer’s domain is “an everlasting prison for Abominations. Monsters. Demons.” Silas’s job is to hunt down and kill any monsters who escape from Hell, and his first mission is to find Molecc, the Boogeyman, a pedophilic predator who steals prepubescent children so that he can dine on their fear and their blood.

The second story line involves Silas’s agreement to investigate the supposed suicide of his neighbors’ teenage son, Ian. The boy’s mother doesn’t believe that her son killed himself, and begs Silas to look into his case. Reluctantly, Silas agrees, even though he believes that the boy committed suicide.

Silas tells his story in the first-person voice, which Kowalski handles with great finesse. In fact, the strongest element in this novel is Silas’s self-deprecatory, sardonic, sometimes weary voice as he stumbles through his search-and-kill Boogeyman mission, puts his assistant on Ian’s case, and tries to keep his wife and family from finding out about his dark and devilish second job. The situation gets even more difficult when the beautiful, red-haired Jaelle—another of Lucifer’s assassins—unexpectedly becomes his partner and seems to be making a play for him.

The action alternates between the two story lines, with a third character appearing intermittently to add a fiery twist to the tale. The blood and gore don’t start to flow heavily until the final chapters, but the suspense begins building up right from the beginning.

There are a few areas of weakness, and they are mostly copy-proofing problems and one minor continuity error. In general, these lapses did not interfere with my enjoyment of the book. A few of the more violent scenes seemed to go on just a bit too long, but since this is a horror novel, maybe I’m wrong about that.

Silas’s unique voice is the key to the novel’s overall strength. His just-get-it-done attitude and his darkly sarcastic humor are sometimes his only means of surviving some horrific situations (plus a powerful antique knife and body armor from Hell). Silas himself states the theme of the book: “Anyone is capable of hiding pieces of themselves they deem the outside world is not ready, or worthy of accepting.” Recommended for all libraries.

Contains: blood, gore, and violence

Reviewed by Patricia O. Mathews

 

Book Review: Written In Red: A Novel of The Others by Anne Bishop

Written in Red by Anne Bishop
 
Roc, 2014 (reissue edition)
 
ISBN-13: 9780451464965
 
Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition
 

Meg Corbyn is on the run, with a deep secret. She’s a blood prophet, a young woman gifted with the ability to foretell the future by spilling her own blood. She isn’t is a free woman, though; she was raised by a corporation, her flesh sold for the use of the highest buyer. Now she is stolen property.; she’s stolen herself away, and found a perfect hiding place, within a community of creatures who have never even pretended to be human.

 

Written in Red is a vivid urban fantasy from epic fantasy staple Anne Bishop. Fans of Bishop’s writing will find some familiar elements, as will urban fantasy fans. The addition of a heroine addicted to self-mutilation, a new interpretation of shifters and vampires, and Bishop’s stellar prose, are sure to keep readers interested. Very much recommended for public library collections and fantasy/dark fantasy/urban fantasy fans.

 
 
Contains: language, violence, self-mutilation, sexual violence
 

Reviewed by Michele Lee

 

Editor’s Note: Thanks to Monster Librarian Facebook follower Linda Lee Booth for getting me back into the groove for 2015!

Book Review: The Demon’s Wife: A Novel of the Supernatural and Attempted Redemption by Rick Hautala

I’d like to note that the only way this site makes money is as an Amazon affiliate. And by “makes money” I mean “covers postage, hosting fees, and other miscellaneous expenses.” Those colorful book covers you see at the beginning of each review usually link to the book’s purchase page at Amazon. So if you feel a need to purchase, please go through us! 

— The Editor

 

The Demon’s Wife: A Novel of the Supernatural and Attempted Redemption by Rick Hautala

JournalStone, 2013

ISBN 978-1-936564-95-8

Available:  Paperback, Kindle edition

 

Samael is tall, dark, well dressed, and handsome.  Oh, and he’s a demon.  Claire McMullen meets Samael in a bar on a Friday night, while she is out with her roommate Sally, looking for hot guys.  Claire is immediately attracted to Samael, and after he rescues her from an attack in the bar parking lot, she just can’t get him off her mind.  Claire goes out on another date with him to a seafood restaurant, and the place catches fire.  Samael rescues her yet again and she feels even more attracted to him.  As time goes on, she begins to realize that there is more to Samael than meets the eye, and he eventually tells her that he is, in fact, a demon, who was thrown out of Heaven with Lucifer and the other angels.  Now that Samael has fallen for Claire, though, he wants to regain his soul and no longer do evil deeds.

Of course, once Samael decides this, both he and Claire are in danger from Hell.  Demons don’t like those who decide to break ranks with evil.  Can a girl and a demon find eternal love?

This is a fast-paced, romantic, supernatural novel.  Claire is very down to earth and you like her immediately.  Samael grows on you, and he really does fall in love and intend to love her forever.  You like him too and are rooting for them to make it as a couple.  Recommended for high school and adults.

 

Contains:  attempted rape, mention of suicide, battle between demons and Samael, mention of cat remains in bathtub.

 

Reviewed by:  Diana Lord