The Iron Hunt (Hunter Kiss, Book 1): Marjorie M. Liu

"You try anything, you even think about standing up, and I will have you shitting out of your dick so fast you'll beg me to rip it off."

For tough-as-nails demon-hunter Maxine Kiss the hunt has always come before everything else. The latest in a line of hunters that stretches back into the furthest reaches of time, the guarding of the prison veil and the demons that dwell within is not an option or a choice. It is what Maxine does and what she does well. She hasn't time to think about love but when former priest Grant Cooperon winds his way into her life, and heart, Maxine finds many of the rules changing, and the future seems terribly unclear.

Maxine's line has always hunted, though the beginnings are vague and no one seems to know all the answers. The only sure things are the four small demons that wind sinuously around her body from sunup to sundown, forming a living tattoo and impenetrable shield of silver-black bodies with red eyes. The tattoo covers her entirely, from toenails to fingernails, all the way to her scalp; only her face is uncovered as a concession to normalcy though this can be altered at a moments notice should she be in danger. Once the sun sets the "boys" slide from her skin like smoke; like children they cluster around her for treats and praise.

These aren't children though. They are demons and will protect Maxine with unreserved ferocity. There is a price though; one day she will bear a daughter and when that child has grown and is ready to hunt for herself the boys will abandon the mother for the child. Maxine lives with her mother’s death and awaits her own until she receives knowledge that for her, the future may not be so certain. Things are changing and the prison veil is weakening. Prophecies have foretold the coming of a Hunter like no other, one who will drive the demons to ground one and all. Maxine needs information but her boys aren't talking. It's up to a new friend with an old soul to fill in the gaps but first Maxine must take on a creature of great age and greater anger who wears her childhood face. The future of the Hunters begins to look uncertain as Maxine forges a new path in the line.

Can you tell that I loved this book? Did my extreme wordiness give it away? Because I did... I really did. I first fell in love with this character when I read the short story in the anthology Wild Things. I am so terribly excited that this is being serialized. The paranormal market is currently being glutted with offerings and most rate sub-par at best (take a look through the archives if you don't believe me). It tickles me to find a treasure like this; the protagonist is warm and sympathetic, even though she feels that she should stay aloof from most others. She isn't super-crazy warrior chick, which I like. At night, when the demons slip off her, she does become vulnerable but even so, she can kick some ass and take some names. I also like the authors take on demon-lore and theory, and the other-beings that populate the world. They aren't all necessarily good or bad; some just are what they are. I believe that this has the potential to become a truly phenomenal series.
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Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Ace (June 24, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0441016065
ISBN-13: 978-0441016068