Mark of the Demon

Mark of the Demon

Diana Rowland

Series or Stand Alone: Kara Gillian series, book one

Release Date: June 2009

Publisher: Bantam

Pages: 384

Author Site: http://www.dianarowland.com/

My Rating: 4.75/5

Source: Purchased

Synopsis [from goodreads.com]:

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...

Review:

So I definitely regret waiting so long to pick this up. MARK OF THE DEMON knocked my socks off! I can't quite pinpoint the wow factor though, I just know I fell in love with Kara and her demon-filled world. I don't have many "demon" novels under my belt so I was wonderfully surprised at how much Diana and her writing pulled me in. Kara isn't perfect at her job, her summonings, or her life in general and she knows it. She is well aware of her flaws and its refreshing to have a heroine who is so honest and real. Kara is definitely a woman I would like to have as a friend in real life.

The demonology lore in the book was fascinating I must admit. Diana Rowland lays out a very well thought out demon world that lays side-by-side with the human world. Like I mentioned before I have no other "demon" books to compare MARK OF THE DEMON too but I do know I loved reading about the different levels of demons and what they looked like. Very cool!

There's a lot of suspense in the novel. I thought I knew who the Symbol Man was and then Diana Rowland throws a curve ball that makes the reader question their judgement. The entire murder plot was extensive and very well-written and kept me on the edge of my seat. Overall MARK OF THE DEMON has everything a great novel should have! I highly recommend picking up the book and settling down into Kara's world. As soon as I was finished with MARK OF THE DEMON I went out and bought book two despite the fact that I have a huge TBR pile of books in my room =] I just couldn't help it. And the only reason it didn't recieve a 5 star rating from me was because I had slight personal problems with the some of the aspects of the book but trust me, MARK OF THE DEMON is damn near perfection!!