Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
First in a New Urban Fantasy Series, 7 Jun 2008
Megan Chase has just started work at her new radio phone-in show, where she offers to slay her listener's personal demons. Unbeknownst to her, however, personal demons actually exist (everyone in the world has one except Megan) and they take her vow to eradicate them slightly personally (excuse the pun).
I think Personal Demons is the first urban fantasy I've read which is written in third (albeit a very tight third) person. It was a book of two parts for me. I found the beginning quite slow, a lot of build up whilst you're waiting for something to happen.
Having said that, once something does happen and Malleus, Maleficarum and Spud (the cockney demons) turn up on page 89, suddenly the story takes off with a blast. So if you're reading this and want to give up, don't until page 106, when you'll have read a chapter of M,M&S. So first person - no, gutsy female protagonist with a mysterious past - yes, sexy demon with an ulterior motive - check. Until M,M&S turn up, it was Greyson Dante the aforementioned sexy demon that kept me reading.
"...Do you want to talk or not?"
He sighed. "No. Well, I did, but now I don't. You lied to me."
Megan is perhaps not the most instantly engaging urban fantasy heroine I've ever read. She's not as interesting a protagonist when Dante or M,M&S aren't there for her to spar with. But by the end of the book she'd grown on me. And rather than sitting back and letting Dante protect her she takes proactive steps including receiving some training in how to focus her powers from a somewhat snarky witch - Tera. Admittedly some of her proactiveness stems from her refusal to believe Dante is a demon, but once she's seen his spinelets she changes her tune. (LOL)
Dante on the other hand is sexy, sneaky and as well as keeping tabs on Megan is manipulating the situation to his advantage. He is an anti-hero. This is one of the big plusses of the book for me. He is a demon and Stacia Kane doesn't try to make him something that he isn't.
If I had any quibbles it would be that in a couple of places I felt like we skipped stuff so we could get to the action and that Megan didn't always listen to what people were trying to tell her. But other than that I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to Book #2 Demon Inside January 2009.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hot Demons and Hot Women, 15 Jun 2008
I could give you a review of the story but, everyone else has done that so, here you are.
I hate to draw comparisons to other characters but, i think i must. If you liked Buffy then be prepared to be blown away by Megan Chase. If you liked Ripley in the Alien films then you will find the next female hero.
This is a strap yourself in book. A great read which carries you from one page to the next and is impossible to put down. Great sexual tension which (thankfully) exposes itself but, is not casual, as it is also a contribution to the storyline. In a fantastic story, it lends itself to realism and deals with the fact that the heroine is allowed to be scared out of her wits. Who would not be with Zombies kicking in your bathroom door.
In conclusion, buy it and read it. You will be definitely gasping for the next one. January 2009, bring it on.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great start to a new series, 19 May 2008
Dr Megan Chase is a counsellor and now has a radio call-in show which gives her the title of 'Personal Demon Slayer'. It's a joke title, of course, but unfortunately for Megan various real personal demons don't realise that and a mini war is started to have Megan on their side. Megan meets the mysterious Greyson Dante, a lawyer (or is he) who seems to want to protect her and has some strange bodyguards that he issues her. A reporter wants to write a feature on her and soon discovers the guilty secret from her past - along with some other secrets. Megan attends a group therapy session that makes one want to run the other way screaming. And she begins to see strange things lurking on people's shoulders. All this whilst trying to keep her radio show going and placate the other partners in her counselling practice makes for a busy few days for Megan. But there is something significantly darker trying to get hold of her - can she keep herself safe when she can't trust the motives of anyone else?
This was a really enjoyable read with great pacing and some interesting settings. It wasn't particularly innovative but it still felt fresh and the variety of characters added to the interest, although some of them weren't very convincingly explored. For example, the reporter character Brian wasn't all that clearly drawn and his behaviour seemed rather unlikely for a reporter - in other words, he didn't appear to write about any of the amazing events happening around him. Megan herself is well drawn, however, and she was a likeable and believable characters; Greyson Dante was necessarily mysterious and his motivation was hard to fathom but he was an appealing character and the sparks between him and Megan were well written. There are various technical terms for different demons and their organisational structure given and not explained, along with other plot elements that felt rather vague, but it was overall a good read and the beginning of what seems to be an interesting series featuring Megan and Dante.
Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008
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