Rating: 4 stars

There's an old saying that goes "You dance with the devil the devil don't change; the devil changes you."

When Hunter Jill Kismet agrees to take the mark of Hellbreed on her flesh she knows there are risks involved. She gets some extra amps of power and an inside line on what the Hellbreed of Santa Luz are up to. In return she must attend monthly "meetings" with Perry, the Hellbreed-about-town who won't let her forget who gave her the mark.

Unfortunately, Jill wasn't blessed with a good temper or the virtue of patience.

When a series of brutal slayings begin to crop up around town it looks like the work of a rogue Were but Jill can't be sure. The clues are skewed and her contacts are playing games that begin to try her patience. Add in the Were-cat who attaches himself to Jill and it looks like a lot of beings could end of dead before Jill puts this case to bed.

This is an entirely new series in the Saintcrow catalogue. I've not read her work before and I have to say that I enjoyed this. The heroine was good, off-center, and interesting though the puns did get to be a bit much. I liked the noir-ish tone of the dialogue though. I also enjoyed the flashback-to-training moments. There are a lot of books and movies about kick-ass females these days but a lot of them seem to come spring loaded with kung-fu grip, ready for action. It's nice to see one that actually has to train and get her body in shape before she can do any of those things. Almost makes me feel like I can do it... if I can get off the couch first.

As with many of the para's coming out right now the world seems to have a bit of everything Other thrown in, though the Hellbreed was a bit confusing at first. Trying to figure out the why's and wherefore's of what makes a Hellbreed might require its own primer. If you can get past the confusion though, it's good entry into the ring.

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Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Pub. Date: July 2008
ISBN-13: 9780316001786