(I love this cover – very classy)
The Mark of the Demon – Diana Rowland
June 23, 2009
Paperback, 384 pages
Bantam
Urban Fantasy
Book one
Kara is a summoner of demons by night, and a homicide detective by day. There is a recurrence of ritual slayings, coined to be called the Symbol Man. Kara summons one of the lower level demons one night to ask information from him, but instead Rhyzkahl, a demon lord comes forth. He breaks through all barriers she has in place but instead of killing her, a crime he has done in the past, something happens between them. Before she knows it, he is taking her with out of control passion. She sleeps with him like it is the most natural thing in the world, and when it is over, he tells her to call when ever she needs him and he is gone.
This particular love scene seemed to come out of left field. I just wasn’t expecting it in this book. I had a hard time believing Kara, with the information we know about her, would just have sex with this strange demon. Then the Demon Lord leaves and is gone for what seems like a long time and the book switches back to murder mystery mode. I didn’t know where my smexy went. This demon in particular was beautiful, yet every other demon is grossly oversized or vulgar in appearance. Seems a bit fishy to me, yet I will take a sexy demon any day.
The murders continue and Kara is pretty certain they have something to do with the demon realm. Each victim, the ones in the past, and the current murder victims have a specific symbol on them. Sometimes in open view, other times the coroner is the only one that can find it, which is creepy but I liked it. She finds help and understanding of her special powers from Federal Agent Ryan Kirstoff. The two of them start to fit the pieces together of this puzzle. The murders start happening closer and closer together, and the residual magic on the bodies becomes more pronounced.
Kara is a very intelligent woman, sometimes a bit too perfect for my taste, but I am curious to see how she develops in the second book. I would like to see her loosen up a bit and have a little more wit and humor. There were times she would joke around with her grandmother and it seemed a bit forced. Otherwise, I found her to be a very enjoyable heroine.
This book was very detailed in the murder mystery department, which I found to be fascinating. No small details were overlooked. When Kara was at a murder scene, as a reader, I felt I was there too. I have always found crime books interesting and Diana Rowland mixed the paranormal aspect in very well.
The ending was great, I honestly had no idea what was going to happen. I have a feeling a certain federal agent may start to play more of a love interest in future books, which I am all for! This is Diana Rowland’s debut novel and I will be looking forward to the next in the series.
Rating: 3 Stars
Diana Rowland’s Website.
This series includes:
The Mark of the Demon – June 23, 2009
Blood of the Demon – February 23, 2010
Sounds great. And seriously, who would chase a hot demon out her bedroom.
Not me.
Yes this does sound great – i like the dick by day and Demon hunter by night theme…
very angsty… and sound to have a lot more to come in terms ofcharacter development.
Liked your round up…
E.H>
Susi – Me neither :)
EH – Yes, it was good:)
I just wanna read it cos of that cover, and by your review it sounds good enough.
Could use some more mystery
Oh I have this one on the reading pile!! I also LOVE that cover. It goes so well with the colors in my living room LOL
Great review. I'm a sucker for crime solving plots and the combination with the demon hunting stuff sounds right up my alley.
Hugs,
Pearl
Blodeuedd – It is a nice change of pace from the normal PN romance I read:)
Pearl – LOL!!
Hi Mandi!
I want this book! It sounds great and I can't wait to read it. More to come in this series it sounds like!
Dottie :)
Hey!
I want to read it for its smexy cover. I know judging a book by a cover is bad, but I just can't help it!
I agree that this cover is MAGNIFICENT. I just got this in the mail and I"m so excited. Glad to see you like it! I'll have to see what I think about the heroine's sort of perfect streak. Interesting thought.
Sounds like a good read to me. I'm all for sexy demons and crime investigation! Plus, I love the cover of this book, very interesting.
Jenni
Dottie – you will have to let me know your thoughts!
Taschima – It's hard not to judge the covers;)And this one is so purty.
CJ – Have fun reading it:)
Jenni – yes, it is such a good mix of the two.
Mystery and paranormal mixed in one…. interesting! Great review! I agree with you, I love the cover too. I saw it either at WM or Borders… but my eyes, at the time, were looking for something in particular, so I passed it by. I will have to pick it up next time!!
Totally off topic but I just wanted to say I love your new-look blog!
Cecile – YOU passed by a book!?! I can't believe it ;)
Sarah – Thanks..just messing with the background colors:)
Yes, if you can beleive that, I passed one by… I had to leave some for the other people in the store!!LOL!!
Girl, you know how hard it is to pass a book!!!**callin on my superhero strenght**
I would love to see a pic of your bookshelves and your tbr pile:) It must be quite large!
I really enjoyed this book. I have you noticed how Ryan and Rhyzkahl names are similar? It just now occurred to me reading your review. Might be food for thought. Nice Review!
Mark of the Demon Sounds great! I'm looking forward to reading it(whenever that'll be).
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