Demon Possessed: Everything comes together

Demon Possessed by Stacia Kane

The title Demon Possessed has a double meaning. On the surface, it seems to refer to the book’s murder-mystery plotline, which involves several characters who may or may not be possessed by demons. But it also refers to Megan, who must decide in this installment whether to become fully “possessed” by Greyson, the demon world, and the demonic side of her own nature.

The interpersonal-relationships plotline is the real gem in Demon Possessed. Stacia Kane does a great job of portraying Megan as a modern career woman thrust into a demon society that’s almost medieval in its treatment of women. Megan faces the work vs. family issue that so many women have to contend with, and due to the constraints of demon politics, she has fewer viable choices than most of us. She learns that Greyson must marry soon to secure his position, and that if she marries him, she’ll have to give up her job for safety reasons. Her other options are becoming his mistress while he contracts an arranged marriage, or giving him up entirely. This dilemma leads to an absolutely wrenching fight between the two. Kane puts Megan and Greyson (and the reader) through the wringer, and just when you think it can’t get any more painful, Malleus, Maleficarum, and Spud express their own feelings about the matter. I dare you not to need Kleenex while reading this scene!

There’s also a mystery plotline, as mentioned above. It concerns an FBI agent snooping around a demon leaders’ meeting, some grisly murders, and a Bible-thumping exorcist plying his trade just down the road from the meeting. Megan and friends must figure out how all these things are connected before they become the killer’s next victims. There’s a lot of adrenaline in this plotline, but it ultimately pales next to the Megan/Greyson plotline. The mystery’s most harrowing moments come when it intersects with the love story. Each plot helps ramp up the tension in the other and, in the end, it’s a complication in the murder plot that leads Megan to realize what she really wants.

Throughout the Megan Chase series, Stacia Kane has built an intricate demon world and populated it with distinctive characters and, along the way, she’s honed her plotting skills (there aren’t any moments in Demon Possessed where scenes feel missing or out of order). Here, everything comes together. Kane’s world throws huge obstacles into her characters’ lives, and the characters have been developed so well that it hurts to see them suffer! If you’ve been following Megan’s story, you’ll definitely want to read Demon Possessed and learn whether she and Greyson manage to work it out.