The opening line to
this book kind of sets the standard – An
angel, a demon and a vampire walk into a bar. Sounds like the beginning of a
bad joke, but it's just another day in the life of Kyle McKinley.
Whilst paranormal
romance is NOT usually my thing I
was asked if I would be interested in giving at whirl – to which I replied,
sure I will read the first chapter and see if I can continue, no promises and
no offers of a “good” review either; author accepted.
Basically this an
excellent murder mystery with demons, angels and vamps – plus some awesome
teasing and sex, I could not put it down once started and was highly impressed
with the world that AEJ has created.
Kyle is a human who can
erase memories and from a young age has been employed by a supernatural protection
group. This first story, in what promises to be a series (horah), opens up and
explains the world in which she survives.
All the characters were
well fleshed out, and each is given just enough back story to make you want to know more, but also enough here and now personality to feel like you know them.
I loved all the
character descriptions which were given early on, nothing staccato, just gently
blended in. AEJ managed to do this with all the differing demon information
too. Filtering in little pieces of information without bombardment and
overload. All the explanations are viable too, no stretches of the imagination
needed here – we all believe in supernaturals don’t we??
Once I finished the
book, I really missed Jean-Luc and Misha, the 400+year old Vampire and Shamat
demon that she works with; especially Misha
with his addiction to TV/movies as it allows for lots of funny references eg
Scooby Doo and Charlie’s angels, not to the mention all the cool films.
Other characters are
there to enhance the story and never used as filler. Even if we only get glimpses of them, they
feel like real people.
From Joe Dalton, the
cop who has all the women in a tizz to Tony the amazing empathic chef, who
always has the best dish to fix any mood.
Kyle’s cat, called Booger, has the best story line ever.
AEJ does not appear to
have left any supernatural group out and creates a world you can believe in;
the legacy, lore, councils, families and businesses.
Told from Kyles, point
of view, the tense never wavering, a feat which is hard to do for an experienced
writer, this was impressive, especially as all elements of the story are told
this way, no break off gaps no jumping to other scenes or expectation of “known
knowledge” and no sneaky “oh she didn’t see it but this is what happened”.
The twists and turns at
the end are not contrived or flimsy in any way, I was expecting one thing and
got totally surprised with another. I thought the ending was beautiful.
The editing is nigh on
perfect I did not notice a dot or comma out of place and I want that powerpoint
presentation on demons!
It is hard to believe
that this is a first novel from the author, the story is complex, well thought
out and has some amazing character building. This is a new author to watch and
get behind. Let’s hope she does not stay in the shadows for long.
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