The Devil Inside by Jenna Black
I checked out The Devil Inside from the library, read the first few chapters, and then ended up simply forgetting to pick the book up again. Eventually I got an overdue notice from the library, which often results in my either renewing the book or hurrying up and reading it before returning it. Instead, I simply took The Devil Inside back to the library without regret. It took me a while to put my finger on why I lost interest, but now I think I've got it.
The beginning is great. Jenna Black sets up a dark urban-fantasy world in which demons sometimes possess unwilling humans, and in which exorcists, like Black's Morgan Kingsley, have the difficult task of casting them out. A "successful" exorcism is far from a happy outcome, as the human's psyche is severely damaged by the ordeal of possession, but a worse fate awaits if the exorcism doesn't work.... Read More
Dark Descendant by Jenna Black
Nikki Glass is a private investigator, and her latest job has her scoping out what her client tells her is a cult compound. When the job goes horribly wrong, however, she learns two things. One, the “cultists” are actually Liberi, the children of the ancient gods of mythology. And two, Nikki is herself descended (more distantly) from Artemis and has just accidentally stolen the immortality of one of the Liberi. Artemis, as you’ll recall from mythology, was far from promiscuous, so her descendants are rare and their talents much sought after. Now Nikki is caught between two rival factions of Liberi, neither of which she trusts. She’ll have to trust one of them, though, in order to protect herself and her beloved sister from the nastier of the two factions.
Dark Descendant is comparable to the origin story of a superhero. Jenna Black shows us... Read More
Replica by Jenna Black
Jenna Black’s Replica is a young adult science fiction novel which I read in only one day. Readers who follow my blog might know that when I read a book in a day it means I either loved it or hated it. Well, Replica tries hard, but in the end, it just wasn’t for me.
One of my issues right off the bat is that for a science fiction world, there really isn’t much SciFi in Replica and Black never gives the reader a timeline to reference. Different aspects of the world suggest different time periods. The story takes place in the Corporate States, a future dystopian version of our own world, and Nathan has a Replica, so we know it’s the future, but many the social structures make me think of the 1800s. Women wear long dresses in public and wor... Read More
Guardians of the Night
Guardians of the Night — (2006-2008) Publisher: Vampires. They hunt in every major city, hidden by the crowds, shielded by disbelief. They are Killers, and their prey is human. Not all vampires are Killers. The Guardians of the Night sacrifice the superior physical and psychic strength that comes with feeding on humans to protect them. But the Guardians walk a thin line, for even a single kill could leave them helplessly addicted to murder. When detective-turned-P.I. Carolyn Mathers was left at the altar, she never once thought her fiancé had been turned into a vampire. Two years later, Gray reappears, bringing murder, mystery, and an unbelievable tale of Guardians, blood-thirsty Killers, and his own transformation with him. And he’s been accused of murder. A first-rate P.I., Carolyn is determined to help. Gray won’t allow what he is now to taint her — but Carolyn vows to never let him go again. But will helping Gray mean becoming a creature of the night?
Faeriewalker — (2010-2012) Young adult. Remedial Magic is an ebook novella. Publisher: It’s all she’s ever wanted to be, but it couldn’t be further from her grasp… Dana Hathaway doesn’t know it yet, but she’s in big trouble. When her alcoholic mom shows up at her voice recital drunk, again, Dana decides she’s had enough and runs away to find her mysterious father in Avalon: the only place on Earth where the regular, everyday world and the captivating, magical world of Faerie intersect. But from the moment Dana sets foot in Avalon, everything goes wrong, for it turns out she isn’t just an ordinary teenage girl — she’s a Faeriewalker, a rare individual who can travel between both worlds, and the only person who can bring magic into the human world and technology into Faerie. Soon, Dana finds herself tangled up in a cutthroat game of Fae politics. Someone’s trying to kill her, and everyone seems to want something from her, from her newfound friends and family to Ethan, the hot Fae guy Dana figures she’ll never have a chance with… until she does. Caught between two worlds, Dana isn’t sure where she’ll ever fit in and who can be trusted, not to mention if her world will ever be normal again…
Stand-alone:
Prince of Air and Darkness — (2011) Publisher: It’s not easy being the son of evil incarnate… Hunter Teague is the prince of the Unseelie Court, the dark half of Faerie. Raised in an atmosphere of unspeakable cruelty, Hunter has learned the lessons of his mother, the Queen of Air and Darkness, and he’s ready to put them to use. He’s on a mission, one that will shift the balance of power in Faerie forever: he will seduce the Seelie king’s mortal daughter and sire a child upon her — a child who will be heir to both the Seelie and the Unseelie thrones. Hunter has never met a mortal woman he couldn’t seduce…until now. Kiera Malone is a self-employed web designer and a self-professed cynic. She doesn’t believe in magic or soulmates, let alone her mother’s ridiculous claims to have slept with the mythical Faerie King. But when Hunter hires her to design a website, Kiera finds herself drawn to him in ways that seem almost magical. He’s gorgeous and sexy as sin, the kind of man any woman would swoon over — but her every instinct warns her there’s something dangerous lurking beneath his charming façade. To succeed in his mission, Hunter must let himself get closer to Kiera than he ever planned. Soon, he finds himself burdened with the one thing a prince of the Unseelie Court can’t afford: a conscience. Now Hunter must betray either the woman who is slowly working her way into his heart, or the Queen of Air and Darkness… who would destroy him and Kiera both.
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(1965- )
