I actually liked this book more than the last three in the Women of the Otherworld series. I was hesitant to even order this book as the last three have had a flat feeling about them. No Humans Involved was difficult to get through for me. Therefore, I was extremely surprised when this book really interested me. Hope Adams, half human, half demon infiltrates a supernatural gang upon the request of Benecio Cortez, leader of the Cortez Cabal. Lucas Cortez who has been featured in Dime Store Magic and Industrial Magic has his own point of view chapters. Maybe Kelly is gearing us up for Men of the Otherworld. If so, I am looking forward to this new series. I liked Hope's character. She was learning to deal with her demon's need for Chaos. She was afraid of it, but kept trying to learn to control it. I loved Karl. He wasn't particularly nice in Bitten, but I really liked his character in this book. He was very sweet to Hope. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It had more action and a lot less of the hunting for clues type of book that the past few have contained.

I own all of her books - in hardback! I lover her characters even Hope, but this was such a mishmash. Confusing characters and a whiny annoying heroine. Borrow this one!

I loved this book. Kelley Armstrong wrote a short story called Chaotic about this narrator Hope Adams which was like an introduction to the characters in this book. I suggest you read the short story first. You will learn to love the characters and want to read more. Then you will love this book. I thought it was exciting and the plot twist caught me off guard. I couldn't put it down.

I loved Jaime Vegas' story. This one not so much. It dragged a bit and I found myself being more interested in the other series characters. Hope is not my favorite. The upcoming changes to the series should be exciting, though.

I know, that isn't very objective, but there you are. Armstrong's books just keep getting better and better.

This book features Hope and Lucas, but mostly Hope. Hope Adams is a tabloid reporter and an Expisco half-demon, daughter of Lucifer. As she says, "Not Satan. A totally different guy."

Hope is approached by Benicio Cortez to try to break in to a gang which seems to be wreaking havoc on the supernaturals of Miami. She agrees and immediately gets drawn into gang life. The gang is, apparently, trying to put an end to the Cortez Cabal. Clearly Benicio, as head of it, has an interest in finding out what's going on.

Having two narrators was confusing, if I forgot to read the title of the chapter to see who it was, otherwise, it was good to have both perspectives.

I don't want to give away the plot, but let's just say that Lucas reconsiders his anti-Cabal stance and may be working with his father more closely. Hope has the "adventure" she was looking for and explores her relationship with Karl more fully. The ending surprised me, which also delighted me. I think you'll enjoy it.

Personal Demon is another success in Ms. Armstrong's Women series. It's a departure from her typical formula in that we hear the story from Lucas's perspective now and again, but the alternation between him and Hope still keeps it focused on a woman.

Not so formulaic that you see the outcome a mile away, it isn't quite as unpredictable as her first few books. If you've come to love her world, it's still top-notch. Even if you don't know the setting, the book is balanced with references to non-Personal Demon scenarios that provide just enough recap to fill in new readers on background without annoying veterans.

Being pagan, I was iffy on reading her first book, since most authors arent very truthful about what witches really are. Well, Kelley is the BEST!!!! I am an avid fan.

Personal Demon is just another knockout in her series of the women of the otherworld. I cant wait to read her next book!!!!

If you love a quick read, a book that wont let you put it down, like werewolves, sorcerers, witches, demons, then this is definatly the book for you. WIth suspence, love, intregue, and curiousity, this book has it all.

Personal Demon is the piece de resistance of the series. I was so pleased by how thoroughly engaging the book was! The characters and the story line had me up late at night, unable to put the novel down. Clearly, Kelley Armstrong has hit her stride as a writer and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book.

Well, it's that time of year again. Somewhere between late spring and early summer when the latest installment of Kelley Armstrong's bestselling "Women of the Otherworld" series comes out. This year "Persona Demons" is added to the 8 novel series, featuring Hope Adams, a half demon who's father is Lucifer (not Satan-different person altogether) and has a thing for chaos. A thing that sometimes takes over her better side and just wants to enjoy watching people be tortured or dieing. Like Jamie Vegas in "No Humans Involved" while Hope has a power, it can do nothing to defend her-expect warn her that danger (chaos is coming.) Luckily the chaos alarm keeps there from being a lot of wining about being powerless like Jamie indulged in.

Needless to say Hope isn't completely comfortable with this power. But she's had some help to deal with it, the interracial supernatural council and Karl, the latest edition to the Werewolf pack (who can also be found in books "Bitten" "Broken" and "No Humans Involved") and until recently, a romantic interest of Hope's. But after one night of passion Karl ran out, leaving the only tie between the two a mutual debt to the Cortez Cabal for getting them out of a spot of trouble.

Hope's just trying to work on a completely false werewolf story for the tabloid she writes for when Benicio Cortez decides the time has come to call in the debt. He wants Hope to infiltrate a supernatural gang operating in Miami and access their organization and threat to the Cabal. It's a strange request because, well, almost nothing has the power to threaten a cabal (think mob with magic), especially not a half dozen young supernaturals pulling off relatively small heists. But Hope, seeing the potential for guilt free Chaos takes the gig.

It all seems like harmless, well organized chaos inducing fun to Hope until (just after Karl arrives to help out) two of the gang members-including a potential love interest of Hope's- disappear, apparently kidnapped by the Cortex Cabal. This development brings in Lucas Cortez (the youngest son of Benicio and unwilling heir to the family business), along with his wife Paige to town for support. Soon everyone is doubting if the gang had inside Cabal connections, if one of Benicio's older passed over and power hunger sons is helping them....and if so, what's the big plan?

Of course this is all combined with lots of sex, supernatural fights, sleuthing, musings on being a supernatural but never being able to tell you're parents...the usual for an Armstrong book.

But there are a couple of big changes since "No Humans Involved." For one thing, half of this book is narrated by Lucas. Yup, that's right-a guy. Considering the events in this book it's not really a bad decision but it is breaking an established pattern and certainly had me confused at first. In the end though, while Lucas never really did come off in his narrative as I had pictured him, it was a decent portrayal.

Now that I think of it, it's not like I would be adverse to a "Men of the Otherworld" series.

Also I had a pretty hard time reconciling the Karl in this book (a werewolf jewel thief whose gruff but sensitive, loving, protective, worried about the girl he loves) with the one who committed such heinous acts in "Bitten." I mean people (and not so completely people) change but this is kind of a drastic 360. Although I guess being in love...Whatever. I still have a hard time seeing him as any kind of hero (interested in the gig or not.)

And sadly, this series has reached the point where not only can novels in this series not stand alone, but if you're not following along with the (free!) short stories on the author's website, there are going to be parts you won't understand. Nothing major, but with a cast of characters this large and each book about a year apart in time, things happen and not all of that can be stuffed into the books. Of course publishing a short story anthology could fix this....

As always. I advise new comers to start at the beginning with "Bitten" no matter how attractive a later book sounds because there will be research to do to understand characters, back stories, supernatural stuff...

In the end I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. While "Personal Demons" does get off to a kind of lame start, once things heat up, well, things heat up. I can't say this will make my top five for the series but it had much more depth than the slightly shallow "No Humans Involved" and it's certainly not going to deter me from purchasing the next book, "Living with the Dead". However if like me, you prefer the early books to the later one's, you might want to wait until this comes out in a cheaper edition.


Four point five stars. (The extra added for the oh so cute little tidbit about Clay and Elena's twins!)

I never thought the day would come where I would give Kelley Armstrong fewer than five stars. From her very first book, I have devoured the series, each book getting better and better than the last. I love keeping up with characters that are nearly family to me at this point. With that said, this latest installment was a disappointment. I nearly stopped reading for the first 150 or so pages. I was bored, found the new characters flat, and felt like I was reading a poorly developing mystery/crime fighting novel (all of her books have the `who-done-it' premise, but are, most of the time, so much more). The story felt rushed and forced. I know Kelley has started a new crime series that is not supernatural (which is great, always wonderful for an artist to spread their wings), and it seemed like this book attempted to be a crossover between what the series has been thus far and what her new fiction has been about. Nearly halfway through the book, I finally got hooked, and tore through the last half. It felt like I was reading Kelley Armstrong again. The first part of the book I would rate 1 star, the second 4, so I am compromising and labeling a 3. If you are a loyal fan of Kelley, you will still enjoy this book. If you are new to her, read her other work first and build up to this one. While Hope Adams is my least favorite Woman of the Underworld thus far, I have high hopes that she can be further developed in the next installment. She has great potential as a truly deep and multifaceted character.

Where to start? Didn't like multiple first person narrators, and the characterization came off as flat. I didn't grow to like Hope, and too much of the book chronicles (Hope committing) petty crimes.

Unlike the other women of the otherworld, Hope comes off as irrelevant and annoying. She goes off on annoying mental tangents, and isn't smart enough for her mind reading and hindsight powers. She goes from tabloid muckraker to 'undercover' petty thief (which she really enjoys) with a new boyfriend, to in over her head. Karl might have rescued this novel by being a voice of reason, but when he finally shows up for real, it's damage control.

I don't like the recent trend in urban fantasy where the heroine is telepathic, emotionally shallow, and stupid. Hope Adams (groan at Adam's Family pun) is everything I don't like about Urban fantasy heroines. Not recommended.

I love this series, but heard from a friend that this one was thought to be "not as good" as the others. I beg to differ! This book was full of suspense, and you didn't know who the bad guys were until the end -- it has been quite some time since I was so surprised by who the baddies were! Kelley Armstrong is a superb writer, who has the ability to draw us into her world and make us believe it!

This is another book in this great series written by an very talented Canadian author Kelley Armstrong.

Highly recommend all her books in the series entitled "Women of the Other World". It's better to start from the book #1, so the further developments, characters, supernatural species will not come as surprise and will blend evenly in the story.

Personal Demon is another entry from kelly Armstrong that proves the author has what it takes to keep her readers coming back for more. The combination of her familiar world and new characters always keeps the reader guessing, while providing the comfort of a well known stage.

An excellent addition to the Fantasy world.

Great story telling. Suggest new readers to her Women of the Otherworld may want to start with the earlier books.

This book is about Hope (a chaos loving half demon), her off and on boy friend Karl (werewolf jewel thief). Their friends Page and Lucas (witch and sorcerer) also get involved when Lucas' father Benicio (head of a Cabal; think Mafia family for supernaturals disguised as a Fortune 500 company) asks Hope to infiltrate a gang. The characters are well drawn and compelling. The erotic scenes flow with the story and are very well written. Excellent plot, the villains have to be discovered everyone doesn't come out swinging.

This book unlike several series stands alone. You can pick it up and get a great read without the rest of the series.

Another terrible cover. The chickie on the cover looks like her ancestry might be Indian but a Gargoyle? Come on! Gargoyles protect Cathedrals and some other religious structures from demons and frighten off lesser evil spirits.

I'm a big fan of Kelly Armstrong's "Women of the Underworld" series. Each book, until "Personal Demon" has gotten better, richer, and deeper.

When Hope appeared in "No Humans Involved," I didn't really care for the character and hoped that was the last we'd see of her. When I found out "Personal Demon" was centered around Hope, I had some reservations but went ahead and bought it based on past books in the series. (I didn't care much for Paige until "Dime Store Magic" and now she's one of my favorite characters.)

Unfortunately, Hope didn't grow on me like Paige did. "Personal Demon" is okay but definitely not a standout book. I muddled through it and finally finished it, but it wasn't something I looked forward to reading like I have with her past books. I hope the next book gets things back on track, because I don't want to give up on Kelley Armstrong and the "Women of the Underworld" series like I have on Laura K. Hamilton and Kim Harrison.

I thought it was a great addition to the series. The storyline was unique from the previous novels and the characters were interesting. There was alot of action and suspense. Overall, great story. Armstrong seems to have a fabulous ability in creating a series of books with revisiting characters in minor roles and yet with considerible different plots. Great job of keeping the readers reading!

As always, Kelley Armstrong produces a top notch novel from the underworld, I have never been disappointed and I await her next one eagerly!

Okay, I know everyone is giving this 4 or 5 stars, but I have to give it only 2. I love this series, I love Kelly Armstrong, and will continue with her even though this book was horrible. Hope Adams is weak. In fact the whole plot is so weak that Kelley had to bring in other characters to carry the book. And to make it worse, you go from Hope's first person narration to someone else's. In one part of the book she builds up characters to show how strong they are and by the end of the book that character just drops off the radar. Save your money and get this one from the local library!!

I love Kelley Armstrong. She was my first favorite author and I would recommend her to anyone. Personal Demon is nothing like the other Women of the Otherworld series. Not only are there two narrators but one of them is a guy! I have to admit that I didn't think this book would be very good and when I started reading it I didn't really like it. However, I really fell in love with it. I was hooked by the time a certain werewolf showed up and I could put the book down. I didn't even mind Lucas narrating and I loved his POV by the end. If you like the series at all you can not miss reading this book. It's pretty big plot wise for the series and puts some interesting things in motion for the future of the series.

I love this series, but this book was a big disappointment. It felt like the author was trying to meet a deadline, not compelled to tell a story. That said, on her worst day, Ms. Armstrong is better than most of the pack.

I really enjoyed this book. I starting the series out of order (Dime Store Magic) but it is still enjoyable.

I love this writer. My job normally requires some very intense reading, research, statistics and I look to her as a wonderful escape. I waited for this book to come out and bought it the first day. I was very dissappointed. Armstrong's female characters are normally very strong; their personality quirks make them more "human" than characters of other writers in her genre. I usually sit with her books and finish in one day. Unfortunately, I saw none of the "humaness" in Hope. She was miserable and confused most of the time and I found her to be weak and incompetent. In addition to which her incessant whining was irritating. It took weeks to finish the book and I had to force myself through it out of loyalty to one of my favorite writers. Do yourself a favor and pick up one of the others like "Bitten", "Broken" or "Dime Store Magic" and give yourself a treat. Come On Kelley! Where did you go this time?

Personal Demon at first appears to be Hope Adam's story. Hope is the tabloid journalist and half chaos demon who first appeared in Armstrong's short "Chaotic" in the Dates From Hell anthology where Hope hooked up with werewolf jewel thief Karl Marsten and Hope also appeared in Armstrong's No Humans Involved (Women of the Otherworld, Book 7) where I was disappointed to discover that she and Karl had parted ways. While Hope does get a chance to shine on her own for part of Personal Demon and to learn more about her demon powers, she loses the spotlight to Lucas Cortez, Paige's sorcerer husband, and the unwilling heir to the Cortez Cabal who is on board to act as safety net for Hope as she goes undercover to infiltrate a gang making trouble for the Cortez Cabal in Miami.

In her gang member role Hope participates in some daring robberies, which up her adrenaline and begin increasing her demon-side's taste for chaos and challenging her control. Soon Hope begins to question herself and wonders if she were in the position of choosing the chaos `kick' over doing the right thing, whether she would end up being more demon than human after all. As part of her role as 'socialite Faith joining the gang for kicks', Hope decides to put her rejection by Karl behind her by pursuing a fling with fellow gang member Jaz who is handsome and appealingly happy go lucky -- Jaz trails chaos in his wake which adds to his appeal for Hope. But just as she's getting to the point where things are starting to steam up with Jaz and where her undercover role is starting to produce results, the gang is attacked apparently by rogue members of the cabal. Jaz and fellow gang member Sonny are kidnapped and another gang member is murdered. As the situation begins to get dicey for Hope, Karl shows up to cover Hope's back and Hope and Karl finally deal with the issues that tore their relationship apart while persuing the gang's attackers.

As the gang appears to be under attack by the Cabal, the Cabal also suffers a major attack and the story transitions to Lucas as he is forced to deal with the aftermath of a several connected incidents that threaten the very foundation of the Cabal. Hope's story was entertaining but Lucas' was gripping, a real page turner -- I just had to finish and find out what happened. I am sure that the events here will shake things up for Lucas and Paige permanently and it looks like Lucas will have some serious decisions to make in the future that may challenge his ethics in order to save the very institution he has spent years fighting. Personal Demons left me eagerly awaiting Living with the Dead (Women of the Otherworld, Book 9) to see what happens next to Lucas and Paige, who along with Jeremy, are my favorites in Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series.

Personal Demon is the 8th full length novel fro the Women of the Otherworld series and takes advantage of much that has come before. Lucas and Paige are introduced and developed in Dime Store Magic (Women of the Otherworld, Book 3) and Industrial Magic which provides alot of Lucas' character and background on his relationship with his father and the Cabal and you will enjoy Hope and Karl much more if you read the short "Chaotic" I mentioned above. So if you've been following Armstrong's series all along you will appreciate everything she's pulled together in this book and its events seem pivotal to the series -- you won't want to miss it. If you are new to the series, Armstrong does explain enough that it shouldn't be too confusing, but part of the satisfaction in reading a long running series is being intimately acquainted with the world and the characters, so I would recommend at least reading Dime Store Magic and Industrial Magic to bring you up to speed on Armstrong's world.

If you looking for more Armstrong to hold you over until the next book and haven't already discovered Armstrong's website you should check it out. Armstrong has presents for her fans in the form of a bunch of great fill-in short stories for her series. Even though Amstrong has pulled a few stories from the site (these are set be released as an anthology, Men of the Otherworld, with its proceeds will going to charity) there are still some great gems left, including ones on Lucas, Paige, and Karl.

Kelley Armstrong has another winner with this installment of the Women of the Otherworld series.

I read the anthology involving Karl and Hope and was surprised to hear that Hope would get her own story. There was just nothing special enough about her to justify a book of her own (in my opinion). But, given the possibility that I could be wrong, I gave the book a try. Guess what? She really wasn't interesting.

I should have known this was coming after I read "Exit Strategy". I liked both it and "No Humans Involved"; I just didn't love either book. The same can be said for "Personal Demon". It's a decent story, but not a good story. This storyline is more suited to established protagonists like Elena/Clay or Paige/Lucas.

Also, there is more about Jazz than Karl in this work (if you don't count Hope's flashbacks). I had a problem with this. Not that Karl is very interesting outside of occasionally flavoring an Elena and Clay tale. Jazz is such a boring young man, which is inexcusable despite Karl being a boring old man (is it me or did Karl seem more youthful and appealing when dealing with Elena in "Bitten"?). I didn't care for Jazz's syrupy personality. If he has to show up in future books, I hope KA gives the poor guy a little more bad-azzedness. This story didn't fit urban fantasy enough for me. Yeah, yeah, chaos, morphing, whatever. The trend in the Otherworld books seems to be to take more of the fantasy out of the urban. I say let Hope and Jazz have each other. Two boring mixes might pop out something interesting.

On another point of contention, Hope talks too much. Rather, there are too many of her thoughts on paper. What's appealing about Elena, Eve, and Paige is their ability to take action, then explain. The results of their actions encourage quicker comprehension of a situation than a wordy explanation. Hope explains more irrelevant thoughts than I cared to read about--most of which had no bearing on the story. Considering how very useless her "special" abilities are (unless you have a criminal tendency), this might be justified. The bad guys all seemed to think having her around was a wonderful idea. In light of the artillery at their disposal (supernatural and otherwise), I had to differ with them on that point.

"Personal Demon" is okay if you're a die-hard fan of KA and must build on your collection. But I wouldn't recommend it for anyone looking for a good example of her works.

Hope Adams, a rare Expisco half-demon, has inherited a hunger for chaos from her demon father. When Benicio Cortez asks her to go undercover in a new supernatural gang, it's an opportunity to feed her addiction to chaos and to pay back the favour she owes the Cortez Cabal. But before long things are spiralling out of control and Hope is out of her depth. If she's to get out of this alive, she'll need more than her attraction for chaos. It will be up to Karl Marsten (werewolf) and Lucas Cortez (sorcerer) to help her survive.

I have to admit Hope is not my favourite Kelley Armstrong character and the author plays a tight line in this book. Too far one way and Hope loses all sympathy with the reader as it's incredibly easy for her to place her chaos addiction above the safety of her friends. Indeed one thing Hope proves over and over throughout the story is that she's not the best judge of anyone's character. She makes assumptions about Karl's feelings but is quick to accept other people (the gang members) at face value. So I find what I like most about Hope is how her relationship with Karl is explored.

I've liked Karl since his first appearance in Bitten, so love the expanded role he now has in the series. And he and Hope make a great pair, they are two flawed people who ultimately find a home in each other.

"I've never lived with anyone, Karl."
"Neither have I."
"I drool in my sleep."
"I know. It's cute."

Karl is much older than Hope, and it's his experience of having to deal with his werewolf side that allows him to help Hope with her chaos addiction, an addiction she can't get away from because it's genetic. In the same way that Karl can never get away from his werewolf.

Lucas Cortez is the second narrator of Personal Demon. This dual protagonist approach allows us to experience two different sides to the story. I'm always glad when we find out more about the Cabals, since reading Industrial Magic (Book 4) it's a part of this world that fascinates me. So one of the major things that lifted this story for me is the further insight into the workings of the Cabal. You can almost feel the tentacles of the Cabal structure pulling Lucas in. And it's also pretty obvious (to me anyway) that he would be a worthy successor to his father.

Although I think you could read this book and enjoy it if you've not read any of the other books in the series as Hope is a relatively new character and Karl has only played a small role in the other books. There is an awful lot here that picks up on events and characters from the previous seven books. There are references back to events in Books 2,3,4 and 7. There's also a very nice (but brief) update on Clay and Elena.

And once again I find myself counting down the days 'til the next Kelley Armstrong release.

The Women of the Underworld series just keeps getting more interesting. I really enjoyed learning more about Hope and Karl. I do have to say I loved Jaz too, very interesting story and I can not wait for the next book.

What irritated me the most, was Hope's ease of promiscuity. ughh I really liked Karl, and felt that if this story were more realistic, surly Hope (a mature young lady) wouldn't act like such a tramp with a random guy. What REALLY ticked me off was that Hope is supposed to be undercover, and she just met this dude...uggghhh
***But you love Kelley Armstrong's work, and want to read all her books (like me) then go ahead...but you may be a little disgusted if you hate that whole love triangle thing.

She works for a tabloid writing articles about the supernatural; a subject Hope Adams personally knows very well since she is a half-demon as her father is Lucifer, who for those who don't know is not Satan. She inherited from her dark side a thirst for Chaos so when Cabal chieftain Benicio Cortez, who once helped her out of a mess, asks her to do him a favor in Southern Florida, she accepts; besides it is not healthy to refuse an offer from the supernatural mob leader. He wants her to infiltrate a teen gang who are rebelling from Cabal life.

Hope passes the initiation and goes out on a job to steal from the rich. Karl the werewolf who dumped her is livid that Benico contacted her without consulting with him. He rushes back to the States to help her. While undercover Hope meets low level magician Jasper who makes it obvious that he desires her. When Jaz and his best friend Sonny disappear, she fears the Cabal got them. Karl promises her he will help her find them, but at Cabal Headquarters someone has penetrated security endangering the Cortez family. Hope and Karl work to assist both sides unaware of the peril to their lives.

Kelley Armstrong has written spellbinding Women of the Otherworld tale that has the audience so engrossed in the plot, time vanishes until the one sitting read is finished. Hope and Karl are a magical couple whose love grows although neither has faith in that emotion because each is a loner. Fans will appreciate the spins involving the gang warfare including the murders of higher echelon members of the Cortez family as this comes together in a fascinating fantasy crime caper filled with shockers especially who is behind the mayhem.

Harriet Klausner

Hope Adams, heiress and half demon daughter of Lucifer, finally gets a chance to pay her debt to the Cortez Cabal and show her ex, the werewolf Karl, that she can handle a tough case on her own.

It's a simple job, according to cabal leader, Benecio Cortez. All he wants is for her to infiltrate a Miami-based youth gang to determine exactly what kind of trouble these kids are going to pose for the cabal.

Hope gets clearance from Luke Cortez, Benecio's declared heir, who works with the Council. Lucas, who is Benecio's youngest and illegitimate son, is an opponent of the cabals--seeing them as exploiters of the supernatural employees, so he's advising Hope to use caution because Benecio may well not be telling her everything he knows.

Both Hope and Lucas end up in danger as they try to sort out precisely what is happening. There's a serious threat to the Cortez Cabal as well as Hope herself. Both Hope and Lucas have to face their own personal demons to see this situation through.

"Personal Demon" definitely advances the overall story arc for this fascinating series. As always, Kelley Armstrong is excellent at character development and she's worked hard to keep the storylines consistent throughout.

Both Hope and Lucas have interesting stories to tell, but the point of view switches are not as smooth as I've read in previous novels. Plus, some of the 'mindwork' that Hope has to do in order to feed her demon can be confusing and awkward to read.

"Personal Demon" did add an interesting element to the mix of talents and a new adversary to watch out for. The book's definitely worth a read.

Rebecca Kyle, March 27, 2008

I have been waiting for Hope story for more than a year and believe me it was worth it !
I absolutely loooove Jaz (i did secretly wish for Kelley not to use "romance protocol" and give the heroine two "real" love interest even if I love Karl.....ohhhhh well....it was not meant to be.....).
My only complain (And it's not really one) is I really had trouble switching from Hope to Lucas because not only you switch protagonist but gender as well ,it would have been easier if she had gone for 3 person narration for him (but it would not have had the same impact in the story I know).
A excellent addition to the series (with Bitten my favorite so far)

Hope Adams may seem like an ordinary tabloid reporter but she's something rather more than that, being a half-demon whose demon nature feeds on and revels in chaos. When she has to pay off a debt by carrying out a difficult and dangerous undercover mission amongst a gang of young supernaturals she jumps at the chance to prove herself, especially to Karl, her erstwhile lover. However Hope turns out to be rather good at her undercover job and infiltrates the gang deeply, soon realising that all is not well in the supernatural world. When becoming involved in murders and having to try to overcome her own attraction to the chaos of some of the gang's events she finds she has to rely on Karl as well as Lucas and his wife, people who might just see her as a young and silly girl. When the four of them start to investigate a string of murders Hope learns that things aren't always as they seem, despite her talent for seeing visions of events.

The book is told mostly from the perspective of Hope but there are some chapters from the viewpoint of Lucas Cortez. I wasn't entirely sure of the reason for this as I did feel it slightly interrupted the flow of the narrative and that this alternative point of view didn't add a great deal to the story; however it was interesting to read of Lucas's difficulties reconciling his situation as heir to his Father's Cabal (a supernatural business/cult) and his personal opposition to the Cabal system that operates almost like slavery for some.

Hope has appeared in previous books in this series which did mean that sometimes the reader felt like they had missed rather a lot of the plot of this book before it had started. This is particularly with regard to her relationship with Karl although their awkward discussions and embarrassment with each other following their former failed relationship were well written. The strong points of Kelley Armstrong's books are her characters, the supernatural world which they hide amongst the humans and her excellent pacing and timing. This book was always enjoyable to read, the various characters all felt very distinct and interesting and the world of the Cabals was a great setting to a story about a young woman growing up and growing into herself as well as finding someone who can understand and support her. Well worth a read, even for those who haven't read others in this series.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008