Rating: 1 1/2 stars
Dain Hawkins has a lot on his plate. Demon-hybrids roam the city. A serial killer is on the loose. Gris-gris bags are being collected. Dark magic is spreading everywhere. And as a sorcerer, i.e. one of the good guys, that means there are quite a few fires for him to put out.
Unfortunately for Vivien Cairn, hunky Hawkins is not able to put out the fire that takes away her home. A forensic anthropologist, she was researching six of the gris-gris bags while on hiatus. Wanting the gris-gris bags for themselves, demon-hybrids have robbed her of her everything she once held dear.
Vivien is plagued by random bouts of memory loss accompanied by feelings of lust that can not be satisfied. Thrust into a world she never knew existed; she struggles to understand the battles going on both within and without.
Although Vivien's mother makes only a handful of appearances within the novel, one has the impression Vivien must have had a disconcerting childhood. Being kept at a distance by your loved one tends to beget treating others in the same manner, and readers see both Dain and Vivien confront and break through their own individual emotional walls. I enjoyed how the author brought over the reader’s view from a ‘black and white’ to more of a ‘grey’ (things didn’t have to be either/or) as characters were given free will to chose how they would act, rather than having their race dictate their actions for them.
However, the novel did not grip me. This was far too easy to put down. References were made that were not elaborated upon that should have been, such as to the Compact of Sorcerers. Dain may, or may not, be a member and I had the impression all sorcerers are part of it but this is left far too vague. The annoying use of italics was used indiscriminately for villains (succubus, hybrid) and for emphasis. Picking one use or the other would not have created a negative quality while reading. Using italics for both purposes interrupted the flow of reading and caused confusion.
Due to the author not putting enough effort into developing integral portions of the basic storyline, the foundation kept crumbling. Much of the book revolved around bringing a serial killer to justice, yet that never came to fruition. Unsatisfactory and left unfulfilled, this is not something that I would keep for my personal collection.
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SBN: 0-446-61893-4
Publication date December 2008, through Forever