Review: Double Cross (The Disillusionists Book 2)

Product Description

SOME SECRETS COME BACK TO HAUNT. OTHERS COME TO KILL.

Justine Jones lived her life as a fearful hypochondriac until she was lured into the web of a mysterious mastermind named Packard, who gifts her with extraordinary mental powers—dooming her to fight Midcity’s shadowy war on paranormal crime in order to find the peace she so desperately craves.

But now serial killers with unheard-of skills are terrorizing the most powerful beings in Midcity, including mastermind Packard and his oldest friend and worst enemy, Midcity’s new mayor, who has the ability to bend matter itself to his will. 

As the body count grows, Justine faces a crisis of conscience as she tests the limits of her new powers and faces an impossible choice between two flawed but brilliant men—one on a journey of redemption, the other descending into a pit of moral depravity.

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Review:
It must be said:  I seriously wanted to hurt the author at the end of this book for leaving me hanging like that!   However, I will admit the wisdom of the way it ended (to make you come back for the final installment of the trilogy!).   That said, on with the review!
 
Double Cross continues the fascinating world of ordinary people “zinging” their neuroses into other people.  Do not even think about reading this book if you haven’t read the first in the trilogy, Mind Games; there’s too much back story and you will be completely lost.
 
Justine’s main case in Double Cross is disillusioning Ez, a dream invader, who may or may not be guilty of causing people to be sleepwalking cannibals.   She also assists other disillusionists in investigating some highcap murders.  We meet a few new characters and previous characters show nice development.  
 
This book showed definite improvement over the first Disillusionist book, although the writing was still choppy and vague in places.  At times, I could tell a scene was supposed to be particularly horrifying but it felt glossed over, lacking urgency.  The same thing happened with a few other scenes, not the horrifying part, but a pivotal scene evoked the same emotions as a regular scene.  For example, several times, I was reading along and regular stuff regular stuff regular stuff (no spoilers here!) and then boom!  Major Information and I said to  myself “what?!” (reread, oh wow, that was sudden!)   A time or two and it makes for a super-fun surprising read, but it was distracting here.  I enjoyed Double Cross, indeed, I eagerly anticipate reading the final installment of the trilogy, just had to share that quibble.  
 
Sensuality:  a few brief sex scenes
 
Rating: 3.5 stars

Review: Mind Games (The Disillusionists Trilogy: Book 1)

 

Product Description

JUSTINE KNOWS SHE’S GOING TO DIE. ANY SECOND NOW.

Justine Jones has a secret. A hardcore hypochondriac, she’s convinced a blood vessel is about to burst in her brain. Then, out of the blue, a startlingly handsome man named Packard peers into Justine’s soul and invites her to join his private crime-fighting team. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime deal. With a little of Packard’s hands-on training, Justine can weaponize her neurosis, turning it outward on Midcity’s worst criminals, and finally get the freedom from fear she’s always craved. End of problem.
Or is it? In Midcity, a dashing police chief is fighting a unique breed of outlaw with more than human powers. And while Justine’s first missions, including one against a nymphomaniac husband-killer, are thrilling successes, there is more to Packard than meets the eye. Soon, while battling her attraction to two very different men, Justine is plunging deeper into a world of wizardry, eroticism, and cosmic secrets. With Packard’s help, Justine has freed herself from her madness—only to discover a reality more frightening than anyone’s worst fears.

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Review:
Mind Games delves into the fears of Justine, a hypochondriac who yearns for a normal life.  Packard offers to help rid her of the fear that threatens to consume her.   It’s an unusual premise and the author satisfies with an amusing read. 

I enjoyed the story, but felt like the execution was a bit off; clunky sentence structure, flat descriptions, slightly shallow characterizations and an easily  manipulated heroine.  Some of it just felt forced, not a natural flow of events and character development.  That said, I did laugh out loud several times at some of the dialogue and situations in which Justine found herself.

I’d recommend this as a decent read even with the problems previously mentioned.  It’s a fun read with great promise.  I plan on reading all three and have the second ready to go.

Sensuality: several fade to black sex scenes and a few mild sex scenes, not overly descriptive.

Rating: 3 stars

Review: Blood of the Demon (Kara Gillian Book 2)

Product Description

BETWEEN 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.

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Review:
 
Blood of the Demon begins a month or two after the end of Mark of the Demon with an apparent murder-suicide.   Kara’s chief assigns her the case which adds to her already full plate.  Her aunt, still alive but in a coma, has a library with lots of answers but Kara encounters numerous problems attempting to get the answers. 
 
I really enjoyed Blood of the Demon.  Ms.  Rowland did an exceptional job portraying the life of a police officer as well as describing Kara’s internal struggle between Rhyzkhal and Ryan.  Kara advances quite a bit as a summoner in this installment as she makes an important discovery.  We learn a bit more about Ryan but are left with more questions than answers, pointing us to book 3.  Rhyzkhal is still a bit of a mystery as well; it will be interesting to see what his end-game is.
 
This isn’t a fast-paced hold on to the seat of your pants kind of book, so if that’s what you’re after, you should try Cassie Palmer, but it’s far from boring, has an intriguing mystery, interesting plot, great characters and a truly likeable heroine.  This book should be read after Mark of the Demon as it builds significantly on the previous book.  I’m looking forward to reading the third entry in the series in January 2011: Secrets of the Demon. 
 
Sensuality:  one brief sex scene, not overly graphic
 
Rating: 4 stars

Review: Mark of the Demon (Kara Gillian Book 1)

Product Description

Cop and conjurer of demons, she's a woman in danger of losing control—to a power that could kill....

Why me? Why now? That’s what Beaulac, Louisiana, detective Kara Gillian was asking herself when an angelic creature named Rhyzkahl unexpectedly appeared during a routine summoning. Kara was hoping to use her occult skills to catch a serial killer, but never had she conjured anything like this unearthly beautiful and unspeakably powerful being whose very touch set off exquisite new dimensions of pleasure. But can she enlist his aid in helping her stop a killer who’s already claimed the lives—and souls—of thirteen people? And should she? The Symbol Man is a nightmare that the city thought had ended three years ago. Now he’s back for an encore and leaving every indication on the flesh of his victims that he, too, is well versed in demonic lore.

Kara may be the only cop on Beaulac’s small force able to stop the killer, but it is her first homicide case. Yet with Rhyzkahl haunting her dreams, and a handsome yet disapproving FBI agent dogging her waking footsteps, she may be in way over her head...

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Review:
When looking for something a little bit different from the more traditional urban fantasy I’ve read, I found this little gem.  The demons described here are not evil, they simply exist on another plane and can be summoned to our world but the summoner pays a price.  The demon is then honor-bound to do what the summoner requires.  It’s an interesting take on demons and the author did well with creating the world.
 
Kara is a fun character to read, seems normal except for  her ability to summon demons.  She grew up with her wacky aunt, who taught her summoning.  Now she’s a police detective, brand new to homicide, who landed a huge serial killer case.  We quickly meet several people on the force, some FBI guys and a demon lord.   The author did a pretty decent job fleshing out the characters and their relationship to Kara but still leaving room for further development.
 
The mystery part was pretty good; I had fun working out whodunit along with Kara.   I’d recommend this book because it’s a great combination of genres: urban fantasy, murder mystery, suspense, with just a hint of a romance in the wings. It probably wouldn’t interest younger teens, but I'm ready to read the next one!
 
Sensuality: one brief sex scene, not excessively graphic, and some sensual dreams
 
Rating: 4 stars