Mark of the Demon by Diana Rowland
Series: Kara Gillian #1
Published on: June 23rd 2009
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 370
Format: Paperback
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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. 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?
Mark of the Demon campaigns quite brilliantly for demonic rights. Unlike us they are honor bound and ascribe to an alternate moral code. We cannot go about impinging upon their alterity with our dainty notions of good/bad.
The murders that just so happen to be occurring as our MC, Kara Gillian, is explaining all this are a mite bit shallow, albeit well-researched. Plot slowing down? Here’s another victim of strangulation with a large heaping of pre-death torture.
Suffice it to say, the detective storyline, although demonstrative of extensive anatomical research and police procedural, could not get my blood going like the enigmatic world of demon folk. Like over there, they have hierarchies and each individual tier is like a totally different species. Some have wings and bark like dogs. Others tower over humans and discuss portal construction. And don’t get me started on that Lord, the one who’s seemed to pick up on Kara’s loneliness waves.
He’s named Rhyzkahl and dressed spectacularly in glowing white robes that aren’t always found on “him” (I guess gender when it comes to Lords is one of the more ordinary things about these two worlds; the reyzas, graas, and syrazas don’t appear to have identifiable sexes but Kara and the reader can attest to the Lords’ capacities ;)).
Coitus between worlds not your thing? A blue-eyed FBI agent by the name of Ryan Kristoff acts as the human counter-balance/love interest in this triangle. He manages to be just as much of a mystery as the Lord, spending majority of his time with Kara just asking her questions about her personal life that she seems more than willing to answer.
If it were not for his inquisition, however, one would not learn about summoner politics and techniques in this world where one can be trained from early teenage years to set up a pentagram, light some candles, and draw a demon through a portal into your temperate basement.
I am very intrigued by this Southern architectural enhancement. Attics get too hot in the summer. So, of course, a spacious under-dwelling would be advisable if you were going to be spending time with demon folk or by your lonesome trying to get them through. Also supposedly higher ceilings help keep homes cooler. Who would have thought? After awhile, I can’t decide whether I would want to visit the demon realm or instead have a house on Gillian’s street.
| Recommended: | For the story within the story |
| Like this, like that: | The Cassandra Palmer series by Karen Chance and the Nikki Glass series by Jenna Black |
