Monday, March 15, 2010

Review of Blood of the Demon by Diana Rowland - Some sexy demon lord action!

Goodreads BlurbBETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL, MAN AND DEMON, SHE’S ABOUT TO FACE THE ONE THING SHE MAY NOT BE ABLE TO SURVIVE.

Welcome to the world of Kara Gillian, a cop with a gift. Not only does she have the power of “othersight” to see what most people can’t even imagine, but she’s become the exclusive summoner of a demon lord. Or maybe it’s the other way around. The fact is, with two troublesome cases on her docket and a handsome FBI agent under her skin, Kara needs the help of sexy, insatiable Lord Rhyzkahl more than he needs her. Because these two victims, linked by suspicious coincidence, haven’t just been murdered. Something has eaten their souls.

It’s a case with roots in the arcane, but whose evil has flowered among the rich, powerful, and corrupt in Beaulac, Louisiana. And as the killings continue, Kara soon realizes how much there’s still to learn about demons, men, and things that kill in the night—and how little time she has to learn it.


Just like working a crime scene, summoning a demon has rules you must stick too – though with demon summoning there are much more dire consequences if you fail.  Kara, who we first meet in Mark of the Demon is once again working a case that is more than it appears. People are dying around Beaulac and only Kira realizes that these murder victims are having their essence pulled out as well. Kira’s usual source of information, her aunt, is still in a coma after she was forcefully used to summon a demon in the previous book and her aunt’s library is in lock down. So Kira turns to the demon realm for answers as well as the sexy Lord Rhyzkahl.

Although Kira is a smart and tough detective, her biggest weakness is her loneliness. She has isolated herself emotionally and physically (she lives by herself in the country) due to her demon summoning and the weakness is really exploited, intentionally or not, during this book. First there are the two romantic interests in Kira’s life – Ryan and Lord Rhyzkahl. Kira never knows where she stands with Ryan, the two of them are friends but could there be more? His flirting demeanor with Kira is definitely confusing, at least I kept vacillating between Ryan liking her and just wanting to be friends. Ryan is so judgemental of Kira’s decisions to summon and bargain with demons that it’s surprising that they can remain friends.  Meanwhile Ryan isn’t being completely above board with Kira about his abilities and continues to be enigmatic.

Lord Rhyzkahl is a different beast entirely. Kira thinks she understands Rhyzkahl’s motivation but her yearning to be touched by a man coupled with her need for information about the arcane makes her relationship with Rhyzkahl complicated. He doesn’t give anything for free but you get the impression that he makes certain concessions for Kira and he refers to her as his “dear one”. Rhyzkahl offers more than his smokin’ hot demon body though, he offers to share his knowledge of the arcane with Kira for a price. It’s hard to decide which man is better for Kira or if either of them are good enough. They both have so many secrets they keep from her and manipulate her in their own ways. It will be interesting to see how the romance plays out in future books.

Along with learning more about the two men in Kira's life we also learn more about the demon realm. I like Ms. Rowland's concept of the demon realm not being good or evil and working on a different moral code. It's a different take on the typical idea for demons and it works well with the police procedural aspect of the book. And let me tell you the mystery aspect of this book is great - I had no idea who the bad guy was till the end.

This is a 4.5 out of 5 for me - sexy demon lord, excellent mystery, and a female detective/demon summoner you feel like grabbing some beers with. 

10 comments:

Smokinhotbooks said...

This book is speaking to me. Do you know what it is saying? "Bump me up KC, bump me up on your TBR pile (btw my inner voice has a British accent)."

Is this the first book? Please tell me this isn't like the 8th book?!

bittenbyromance said...

Great Review. I loved this book, I bought book two the other day can't wait to get to it.....

Ellz said...

I can't wait to read this. The first book was great.

Heather (DarklyReading) said...

@KC - sexy demon lord -'nough said -time to bump it up ;)This is the second book - the first book is Mark of the Demon -also great. (My inner voice has a scottish accent..hehe)

@Laurie - both books are great - I like the police procedural aspect - I take notes on what cops can and cannot do ;)

@Elie - this book is as good as the first!

Cecile Smutty Hussy said...

Ohhhhhh I have the first book... I will start reading soon... soon... soon~! Great review!!! Hope all is well!

Mandi said...

I been reading such great reviews for this book. I enjoyed the first one, but this one sounds even better. I like her take on the demon realm as well!

Heather (DarklyReading) said...

@Cecile - I'm sure you'll love the book - there's some hot demon sex after all :). I'm doing good - I went on a book reading binge this weekend which was bad for blog posting but very therapeutic ;)

@Mandi - I would say that this 2nd book is better than the 1st and I loved the 1st.

Lola said...

I've heard such good things about this series! I hope to read it in the near future! :)

Rebecca @ DSB said...

I'm glad to hear that Diana Rowland did not have a sophmore slump. I liked book one too (the police procedural side impressed the heck out of me), and I've been meaning to try this one too.

Heather (DarklyReading) said...

@Lily I'm sure you'll love it - there's alot going on in this series

@Rebecca - This one was just as awesome as the first!

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