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Paperback, 358 pages
Published June 28th 2011
by Pocket Books
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My Rating: ❀❀❀❀
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Being the spawn of two infamous occultists (and alleged murderers) isn’t easy, but freewheeling magician Arcadia “Cady” Bell knows how to make the best of a crummy situation. After hiding out for seven years, she’s carved an incognito niche for herself slinging drinks at the demon-friendly Tambuku Tiki Lounge.
But she receives an ultimatum when unexpected surveillance footage of her notorious parents surfaces: either prove their innocence or surrender herself. Unfortunately, the only witness to the crimes was an elusive Æthyric demon, and Cady has no idea how to find it. She teams up with Lon Butler, an enigmatic demonologist with a special talent for sexual spells and an arcane library of priceless stolen grimoires. Their research soon escalates into a storm of conflict involving missing police evidence, the decadent Hellfire Club, a ruthless bounty hunter, and a powerful occult society that operates way outside the law. If Cady can’t clear her family name soon, she’ll be forced to sacrifice her own life . . . and no amount of running will save her this time.
This is sort of a difficult book for me to review. For about forty percent of it, I wasn't sure I liked it. It seemed like a lot of world building, explaining how Heka works, talking about Arcadia's past and parents and demons. This is all important to the story, but I felt like it was a lot, and also that the plot was moving at a snail's pace because of it which started to get on my nerves. But....I was really impressed by the rest of the book, and especially the ending. Plot twist? Oh yeah. And I did not see it coming.
This book is not like any PNR or UF I've ever read before. The demons, the magick, are all very unique and I loved that about the story. There is a romance that grew slowly between Arcadia and Lon, but the focus of this story is finding information to clear Arcadia's parents of murders they were accused of when Cady was a young girl. And Arcadia goes through some interesting situations to discover the truth. Everything from being hunted by demons to performing a magickal sex spell.
The characters are what really kept me hooked I think, since for me the pacing was initially too slow. Cady is a spunky heroine, a powerful magician and it was great getting to hear the story from her point of view. I was seriously interested in her magick, and her mission to prove her parents' innocence. She was resourceful and determined, and I liked that about her. Lon, the "hero" if you want to call him that, was cool and calm (which I thought was unusual for a demon) and a bit nerdy but also hot stuff. Maybe it was because he was so cool and collected, but I just pictured him as this sexy forty year old in a tweed jacket and longish hair looking all intellectual and sexy at the same time. I liked the way he was somewhat detached,and yet very gentle and sensitive in a way too.
So, what do you get when you mix together great characters, some great plot twists, magick and some demons? A truly unique and sparkling read.
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