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Night Shift (Jill Kismet #1)

by Lilith Saintcrow (Goodreads Author)

3.77 of 5 stars 3.77 · rating details · 3,712 ratings · 290 reviews

Not everyone can take on the things that go bump in the night.

Not everyone tries.

But Jill Kismet is not just anyone.

She's a Hunter, trained by the best - and in over her head.

Welcome to the night shift...

Paperback, 352 pages

Published July 1st 2008 by Orbit (first published January 1st 2008)

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Apr 15, 2009 Kati rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009, in-english, het, urban-fantasy, look-for-more

The first book in Saintcrow's "Jill Kismet" series. I liked it well enough to try out book two, but I did have some major issues with Jill - I like my heroines strong and capable, not bitchy and condescending. And her "woe is me" attitude to her pact with Perry - well, nobody forced her to sell her soul to a demon in exchange for super powers. Tough, girl, live with it. Also, her moaning about Mikhail's death on every single page got old pretty fast too. "Mikhail, oh, Mikhail... No, don't think...more

16 likes · like · see review

Aug 08, 2010 Kate (Nomalicious Reads) rated it 5 of 5 stars

I love Lilith's Strange Angels series, and saw this and decided to give it a go, so i start reading and my first thoughts after the prologue is W..T..F?

It feels as if I'm reading a second or third book in a series when the author is sure that her/his readers know the concept of their world and doesn't need to explain everything...

THIS IS THE FIRST BOOK... NOT THE SECOND OR THIRD!!!

Then I went to read some reviews and found out that to understand it better you need to have read her previous serie...more

5 likes · like · see review

Nov 29, 2012 Melliane rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

4,5/5

Mon avis en Français

My English review

Vous connaissez tous mon goût pour la fantaisie urbaine, alors comment ne pas succomber à cette nouvelle série de Lilith Saintcrow ? Il faut dire qu’il y a tout, une héroïne comme on les aime, des démons, des garous et bien d’autres choses encore.

Jill Kismet est une jeune femme hors du commun. En effet depuis la mort de son professeur et seule personne qu’elle aimait, elle est devenue la chasseuse attitrée de la ville. Essayant de s’endurcir comme elle l...more 4,5/5

Mon avis en Français

My English review

Vous connaissez tous mon goût pour la fantaisie urbaine, alors comment ne pas succomber à cette nouvelle série de Lilith Saintcrow ? Il faut dire qu’il y a tout, une héroïne comme on les aime, des démons, des garous et bien d’autres choses encore.

Jill Kismet est une jeune femme hors du commun. En effet depuis la mort de son professeur et seule personne qu’elle aimait, elle est devenue la chasseuse attitrée de la ville. Essayant de s’endurcir comme elle le peut, elle se lance à cœur perdu dans le travail sans s’arrêter. Sa mission est quelque chose qu’elle prend vraiment au sérieux et personne ne peut empiéter sur son territoire impunément. Mais plus que ça notre héroïne est un personnage brisé. On la découvre tout au long du roman, comprenant par quoi elle a dû passer pour en arriver là. C’est assez triste de comprendre ses sentiments et sa peine. La difficulté d’être seule, d’avoir perdu la seule personne qui comptait pour elle, la bataille qu’elle mène sans cesse contre le démon avec qui elle est sous contrat. Beaucoup de choses qui rendent la vie de Kismet des plus compliquées. J’ai beaucoup apprécié les idées de Lilith Saintcrow dans ce premier roman. Elle crée un monde particulier, où se rencontrent des créatures que je n’avais pas encore eu l’occasion de rencontrer et qui m’ont tout de suite vraiment intriguées. Bien sûr, on arrive à récolter quelques informations à leur sujet mais il reste de nombreuses questions sans réponses. Notamment au sujet de Perry, la créature avec qui Kiss a forgé un pacte. On essaie de comprendre ce qu’il veut vraiment d’elle, chose assez difficile car il brouille bien les pistes. Mais quoi qu’il en soit notre héroïne est bien décidée à ne pas lui laisser ce plaisir et à l’éviter le plus possible. Problème ? L’éviter semble plus compliqué que prévu.

Dans ce roman, Jill sera confrontée à une créature tuant de nombreuses personnes dans sa ville. Chose habituelle pour elle, sauf que cette affaire se trouve finalement beaucoup plus difficile que prévue. Et quand arrive en ville les garous à la recherche d’un des leurs qui s’est échappé, elle se retrouve avec de nombreuses personnes concernées par les événements. On découvre ainsi Saul, un garou qui vient habiter chez Kiss le temps de son enquête. Cet homme est un amour, et on espère dès le début qu’il arrivera à combler ce qu’il manque à notre chasseuse. Il est compréhensif, attentionné et semble prêt à l’aider comme il le peut. On tombe très vite sous son charme et on essaie de le comprendre au mieux possible. Il agit aussi étrangement et bien qu’on essaie de savoir ce qu’il se passe vraiment, on reste avec de multiples questions qu’on espère seront résolues dans le prochain roman.

C’était donc un nouveau premier volume très agréable à découvrir et je vous le conseille avec plaisir.(less)

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Jul 17, 2012 Elsiya rated it 4 of 5 stars

Alright, I love that book.

Well what a way to start a review. Jill Kismet is former prostitute who turned her hell of a life by becoming a Hellbreed hunter. In purpose to gain more power, she made a deal with a sneaky Hellbreed and bears his mark on her wrist, although she retains her soul. For now.

So when a rogue-were shows up in Santa Luz, her city, and ravages, kills, cops and civilians, she has no choice but chase him. But he seems to be helped by someone (something?). Pairing up with an an...more

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Oct 19, 2012 Leah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, r-2009, series, fantasy, urban-fantasy

Jill Kismet is a Hunter trained to fight hellbreed. Her mentor and lover recently died leaving her to fight the monsters alone. As a former prostitute, Jill knows the city well and has the survival instincts of a veteran. She also has a demon mark which gives her more power but not without paying a nasty price to the city’s head hellbreed. When the worst murders she has ever seen happen to 5 cops, Jill is called in to team up with a couple of FBI weres and a were tracker. At the scene, Jill scen...more

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Sep 28, 2011 Amy or "Ames" rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: hunters-warriors-assassins, urban-fantasy, library-books, read-in-2010, 1st-in-series, series-abandoned, did-not-finish

Deeply depressing. Jill has suffered, she's broken and alone and considering this is written in first person she makes you feel the same way until it just gets old. Her lack of emotion towards most things meant I couldn't really connect with her. She was cold, everything about her life is depressing. It seems she's never had a healthy relationship, and her life now isn't much better than her old life, selling herself on the streets.

The writing was generally uninspired and the constant use of it...more

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Jun 21, 2008 Joshua rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Ehh, don't bother

Shelves: sci-fi-and-fantasy

Jill Kismet is a hunter. She belongs to a small group of humans that have trained in the art of killing and hunt the things that go bump in the night. Sound familiar? Yeah, it should, since it's the plot of countless other urban fantasy novels!! Still, I have to hand it to Mrs. Saintcrow for trying to inject some new facets into this tired genre. Like her heroine sold her body to a demon which gives her supernatural powers. That's new right? No... yeah you're right.

What made this one even harder...more

6 likes · like · see review

Nov 27, 2008 Felicia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-paranormal, vaginal-urban-fantasy

I read this BEFORE the Dante Valentine series, and I think it would have helped a lot to read the other series first, understand the world better. I still enjoyed it. On book 2 now.

5 likes · like · see review

Apr 18, 2013 Lindsay Stares rated it 1 of 5 stars

Premise: Jill is a hunter, someone trained to battle the things from hell that sneak onto Earth to cause death and corruption. But she isn’t without weakness and darkness of her own, and with a force like she’s never seen causing havoc in her city, she isn’t sure whether she can still stand and fight.

Hmmm. I read a historical romance by this same author and rather liked it most of the way through, hence picking this up off a dollar-book rack. Sorta wish I’d grabbed something else now.

It wasn’t o...more Premise: Jill is a hunter, someone trained to battle the things from hell that sneak onto Earth to cause death and corruption. But she isn’t without weakness and darkness of her own, and with a force like she’s never seen causing havoc in her city, she isn’t sure whether she can still stand and fight.

Hmmm. I read a historical romance by this same author and rather liked it most of the way through, hence picking this up off a dollar-book rack. Sorta wish I’d grabbed something else now.

It wasn’t out-and-out terrible, I was curious about the setting and the plot, the hell creatures were interesting, and the fact that there were plenty of kinds of were-creatures and the story doesn’t bother to break you in easily about it was fun.

I feel sort of uneasy about my opinions here, too. Did I dislike this book because Jill is just too rough around the edges for me? Because she’s weak? Because the unpleasant parts were too unpleasant? Maybe it was just the wrong time to read this.

Or did I dislike it because the romance is telegraphed way ahead of time and completely forced and way too much of the page count and just kinda icky? Because Jill’s tough-as-nails-only-not shtick got old really fast? Because her could-have-been-awesome power set never gets explained or described in a compelling way? Because the hunters seem like assholes, and not in a ‘you have to be dark to fight the darkness’ way, but in a ‘codified sociopathic’ kind of way?

The plot was interesting. The villains were interesting (although the author might have shot herself in the foot a little here, because the power creep is already really high here in book one, so I have no idea how she managed to ratchet up the tension in the next book.) The world was kinda neat, the set of paranormals different than average and she took a very different tack on the behavior of were-folks which I much appreciated. I just couldn't come around on Jill, and since she’s the main character and the narrator, that made it really hard to enjoy reading the book.

In the end, I’m sorry for the time I spent reading it, and that’s the main qualification around here to end up with -

1 Star - Didn’t Like it Much.(less)

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Mar 06, 2013 aPriL MEOWS often with scratching rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: alt-universe, horror, paranormal

My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. Etc. etc. etc. etc. etc....more My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. Etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.

Then GD do something about it! Effing hell! Wait. She's busy fighting hellish creatures, so.....

My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned. My wrist burned.

No thanks. I can't read this sentence one more time. Life is short and I've got stacks of other books to read.

Plus, the self-talk jokes are lame, the descriptions were comic book panel directions and the introduction of the Weres in the warehouse is so antagonistic with the kind of oneupmanship brain-damaged long term drinkers do - without any ritualistic or background basis, so no bite is felt, just, huh? I can't begin to understand why certain information exchanges made seem to insult or require apologies, as the presumed pissing contest is basically empty of meaning. Many scenes have this problem - all sizzle, no meat. I need more than short sentences describing entrails to get my interest, and chapters and chapters of Mikhail angst had me chewing my lips.

Maybe a teen read? Not enough meat for me. Quit around page 100.

LATeR. Ok. I came back, finished it because a lot of people like this. I still don't like it except for Saul. I confess, on my knees, before a bluestone alter I don't much care for heaven/hell type story lines because most make no sense due to having HUGE holes of logic involved, generally. The only exception I've come across was the TV show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. That was witty and funny and it tracked logically, plot-wise. This does not, as usual. The powers creatures have and not have (Weres kill people but are decent) , her odd wrist, being protected but not, serving Perry but not, people never being around except as cops or as messy blobs, massive killing that never resolves into being done - but really, in the end it's whether you can buy the fictional world created, and this Were/hellbreeds/exorcisms/magic doesn't work for me. The writing is bad for the first 200 pages, but it's good at the end. Basically, though, this is like a three note tune, depressed and suicidally bleak.(less)

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Apr 22, 2012 Crystallena rated it 3 of 5 stars

I read the first book in the Dante Valentine series and didn't quite love it, so I avoided these books for a long time. A couple of months ago, Nook spotlighted this book and it was only 99 cents so I bought it and promptly forgot about it until I ran out of books to read. I started this book already sure that I wouldn't read past the first one. Instead, I ended up reading the entire series in a few days.

I don't particularly love Jill. As a general rule, I prefer slighly flawed heroines that sti...more

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Feb 13, 2011 Kat rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, urban-fantasy, 2011

Basic plot: demon-hunter-badass chick kills demons. 'Nuff said.

General impression: not particularly original, but not uninteresting. Our hero here is a hunter- apparently part of some loose affiliation with the church and the police. I say apparently because the book lacks exposition. There is never an actual job description for her, or of what she went through to become a hunter. There are snippets, but I kept feeling as if I'd missed something important. Like a whole book giving the necessary...more

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Feb 03, 2011 Andrea rated it 5 of 5 stars

Darker than that Dante Valentine series (huh. go figure) and great.

I just realized that this series is classified as Fantasy/Horror by Orbit but stocked in the fantasy section of the bookstore. I giggled for quite a while, since Hamilton's Anita Blake series is still stocked next in Horror. Ha. As if.

Jill is a complex, dark character. Big warnings. She's not a happy, cheerful type, but she does what she must. I feel for her. The mystery is tight, the characters are compelling. The fight scenes...more

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Jan 26, 2011 Kt from A Book Obsession.. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Jill Kismet, a kick-ass but seriously flawed heroine, is the resident Hunter for Santa Luz. It is her job to hunt down hellbreed and traders who prey on the innocent people in her city. In order to be strong enough she made deal with the city's top hellbreed. This deal made her not quite human, but stronger and faster, necessary skills to stop the things that go bump in the night. Things get a little hairy when four cops are savaged to death by what appears to be a rogue Were. She knows this is...more Jill Kismet, a kick-ass but seriously flawed heroine, is the resident Hunter for Santa Luz. It is her job to hunt down hellbreed and traders who prey on the innocent people in her city. In order to be strong enough she made deal with the city's top hellbreed. This deal made her not quite human, but stronger and faster, necessary skills to stop the things that go bump in the night. Things get a little hairy when four cops are savaged to death by what appears to be a rogue Were. She knows this is slightly out of her skill set to handle, so she reluctantly seeks the help of a judgmental were named Saul. Together they realize there is more to this killer than it seems when the stink of hellbreed keeps showing up wherever the rogue has been. Weres and hellbreed just do not mix, so this case is completely baffling. Jill will have to use every trick up her sleeve to crack this one and protect her beloved city.

At the start of this book, Jill is an absolute mess over her mentor's murder. Even though it has been six months, she is still barely scraping by. She throws herself into her duty of destroying hellbreed with complete abandon, as if the more she risks her life, the closer she will get to her mentor. Everything about her screams "damaged", and as the book shows more and more glimpses into her path you can't help but wonder how she survived at all. It is amazing how she can be so incredibly strong yet so fragile at the same, and I find this makes her a very interesting character to read about.

While it wasn't really an integral part of the plot, I enjoyed the blooming relationship between Saul and Jill. It definitely had a very rocky start, but got better as time went on. There are several obstacles in their way, with him being a Were, and her own self worth issues because she feels she is tainted. She spent most of the book pushing him away because she didn't feel she deserved him. However, I have a feeling their relationship will play a more important role in the future. I'm looking forward to that because I think Saul will be able to help balance her inner demons, and allow Jill to actually have a little happiness, something she never really has had.

I really enjoyed this book. It was very unique and different from anything else I've read. The characters and world are really intriguing as well as thoroughly fleshed out. There was just enough back story to explain things well and keep me from getting confused. I loved Jill's strength and vulnerability as well as Saul's very calm and even temperament. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series, and I hope Jill continues on her path towards accepting herself. It will be a long bumpy road, but I think in the end she can pull through. I recommend this to anyone who likes the darker side of Urban fantasy, with just a slice of romance. It definitely kept me entertained!(less)

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Jan 11, 2011 Andrew rated it 5 of 5 stars

Night Shift is Urban Fantasy gone hardcore. Protagonist Jill Kismet runs and guns her way through so many of Hell’s denizens you wonder why the Hellbreed ever stick their heads above the ground at all.

Jill is a hunter, a human trained to lay the smackdown whenever the supernatural starts messing with the normal world. She’s also chock full of demonic power thanks to a pact she made with a demon called Perry.

The entire book could have gone wrong at that point as a super strong, quick human protag...more

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Apr 29, 2010 Brenda rated it 4 of 5 stars

I loved Night Shift. It's a gritty, dark urban fantasy with demons, weres, and things that go crash in the night. The humor in the book alternates between black humor and dry wit, at least that is how I read it. It reminds me of the humor nurses and doctors that work in an emergency room develop. They do it because if they don't, the things they see overwhelm them, and they burn out. My husband has this sense of humor, so I know it well. The dry wit comes mostly from Saul, the were that sort of...more I loved Night Shift. It's a gritty, dark urban fantasy with demons, weres, and things that go crash in the night. The humor in the book alternates between black humor and dry wit, at least that is how I read it. It reminds me of the humor nurses and doctors that work in an emergency room develop. They do it because if they don't, the things they see overwhelm them, and they burn out. My husband has this sense of humor, so I know it well. The dry wit comes mostly from Saul, the were that sort of "attaches" himself to Jill Kismet, the main character. He seems like a polar opposite of her. She's this vessel of supernatural energy, pain and anger. He's calm, soothing, nurturing, strong and most of the time his anger is a silent simmer. Wow, the scenes between the two of them are my favorite. There are, if I remember correctly, 3 kisses between them in the entire book, but I found myself practically holding my breath during every one of them. Seriously, the emotion Ms. Saintcrow put into those scenes just floored me.

The characters in Night Shift are very in depth, but not necessarily with wordy descriptions. The author has this way of nailing the characters motives and their personality in one scene, no matter how small it is. I know many reader's will find Jill to be bitchy and stubborn. In some ways, this is true, but in her world it's the only way to survive. If the reader pays attention, and looks at her as a whole, after learning her background and what she does for a living, it makes sense. I cannot imagine her personality being any different than the author has made it.

Night Shift is a fast paced, action filled read, but it also tackles many issues that are thought provoking and faced by many of us. Is the world black and white? Is there only good and evil, with nothing in between? Are we damned by our actions, or is there forgiveness? Another issue, at least that I saw in the book, is the one of putting someone on a pedestal. Do we hold a teacher, a parent, a lover, in such high esteem that they can do no wrong? Do we base our worth or self esteem on what they think of us? Then lastly, is the struggle to trust again, to realize we need another person, no matter how strong we think we are alone. Granted, other readers may see different issues in Night Shift, but these are the ones I came away with.
(less)

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Feb 26, 2010 Morgan rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 16, 2010 Alison rated it 3 of 5 stars

Night Shift is the first in a new urban fantasy series from Lilith Saintcrow and was my first introduction to her as an adult writer. All I can say is, the sun doesn’t just rise in her worlds - it explodes in a rainbow of blinding light.

Jill Kismet is our heroine and in true urban fantasy style is hard, gritty and very very kick arse, but of course we get to see her cry (behind stylish sunglasses, like all tough chicks do). She’s likeable, and fans of Kim Harrison and Karen Chance heroines are g...more

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Dec 08, 2009 Jaci rated it 5 of 5 stars

Holy crap, is this book amazing. Lilith Saintcrow took the urban fantasy genre and created the most badass heroine since the early Anita Blake books. Jill Kismet is a lone demon slayer in a desert city, mourning the death of the teacher that pulled her from the gutter and made her the woman she is today. Jill struggles with a terrible burden, one that isn't revealed until the last few chapters, and rightly so. She struggles to solve a string of bloody, violent murders while trying to learn that...more

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Oct 28, 2009 Darcy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009

While this book started out slow for me, it really picked up quickly. I liked learning more about Jill's background and what turned her into a hunter in the first place. For someone who had such a crappy start I was impressed with how she was able to change and do something with her life.

I am not sure how I feel about the relationship between Jill and Mikhal. I think it was great that he "saved" her, but wonder at how things progressed between them and I think that he pushed her in the wrong way...more

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Feb 07, 2009 Rhianna rated it 2 of 5 stars

Take the basics of Anita Blake circa books 4-10, sprinkle in a tiny dash of early Rachel Morgan (The Hollows), a pinch of Joanna Archer (Signs of the Zodiac) and bake it in an Underworld crust and you'd get Jill Kismet.

Marked by a Hellbreed, Jill Kismet has something the other Hunters don't: an edge. The only trouble is that being tied to Perry through his mark also means she owes him. Once a month she gets to spend some quality time with the sort of bad guys she goes out to kill every night. W...more Take the basics of Anita Blake circa books 4-10, sprinkle in a tiny dash of early Rachel Morgan (The Hollows), a pinch of Joanna Archer (Signs of the Zodiac) and bake it in an Underworld crust and you'd get Jill Kismet.

Marked by a Hellbreed, Jill Kismet has something the other Hunters don't: an edge. The only trouble is that being tied to Perry through his mark also means she owes him. Once a month she gets to spend some quality time with the sort of bad guys she goes out to kill every night. With Hellbreed the natural enemies of Weres, the last thing she expects is to be called in to deal with a case where a Hellbreed and a Were seem to be working together. As corpses pile up and the mystery unravels Jill has to face her personal demons before she can see the truth behind the lies. Maybe not everything she's been taught to believe about the monsters around her is true or maybe she's simply being manipulated.

This was my first book by Saintcrow. Unfortunately I had some major beefs with her first person narrative right away. I hated the snarky inner dialog moments that Jill has, they made her seem petty and immature on more than one occasion. I also found Jill to sound like an Anita Blake clone. In some ways that was good, I liked her confidence. In other ways it was bad because it felt like there was little distinction between the two in my mind's eye. I hate being this bluntly honest but it really did feel like the author took her favorite elements from other successful urban fantasy series and Frankensteined them together into her own breed of monster. Some readers will love that about the series, I found it frustrating to find any truly original part of it.

The book left a lot to be desired regarding world building. Some of the information given lacked any anchor, leaving me to guess at what the writer was trying to imply. Sometimes I got the feeling that this series (like many others lately) began in another book I hadn't read. As if pieces of the story were missing. I liked Saul a lot and truth be told I did like Jill more than I thought I would in the end. That she showed vulnerability in the end was quite compelling and made her more real to me. I'll be reading the next book and hopefully it will clear up some of the issues I've had with this first one. (less)

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Feb 18, 2011 Renee Sweet rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011

GREAT read!

I had a very passionate relationship with Saintcrow's Danny Valentine series (read: I loved it, I was furious with it, I loved it again, I was furious with it again, etc.) and had put off reading the Jill Kismet series because I was afraid it would encroach on Valentine territory. Strong, damaged heroine? Check. Dealing with demons? Check. Dark and gritty? Check.

As it turns out? Not the case at all. Yes, there are some similarities, even beyond the broadbrush ones I mention above. Bu...more

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Jan 18, 2013 Angie rated it 1 of 5 stars

Jill ne présente aucun intérêt. Elle est énervante, d'une vulgarité sans bornes, agressive, trop mal embouchée, bête, et détestable. Une sale garce en somme. En dépit de son passé sombre, et difficile, rien ne justifie une telle attitude. Et encore, je ne dirai pas grand chose sur son look ringard et ridicule. Non, non (lève les yeux au ciel) !
J'ai du mal avec l'écriture de Saintcrow qui part dans trop de directions. Les pensées de Jill sont lourdes, et les comparaisons inutiles trop présentes....more

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Feb 03, 2013 Sara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: jill-kismet

Night Shift is the first book in the Jill Kismet series by Lilith Saintcrow. Jill is a hunter of the supernatural who made a bargain with a hellbreed in order to be more powerful and effective in her job. In Night Shift, Jill investigates a series of brutal, bloody murders while trying to avoid Pericles, the hellbreed who gave her the powers.

What I liked:

World-building - Some may find it boring but I like seeing what will make this urban fantasy series differnet from other series. Weres being in...more

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Aug 17, 2012 Vannessa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle-books, other-urban-fantasy, were-shifters-mostly

This was my first read of any Lilith Saintcrow books and whilst I really enjoyed it, it didn't quite read as a first book in a series. There were lots of bits of information missing at the start, which were filled in later on, but it came across as if the reader should have already known parts of the background story. I think these snippets should have been fed in from the start so I had a clue how and why Mikhail had died and why Jill made the bargain with Perry from the opening scene.

Jill is a...more

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Jan 28, 2011 ~Jessica~I'm a Hoodie Ninja~ rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-smut-urban-fantasy, nook-books

ok...
I did not feel like I was reading the first book to this series. I felt like I was reading the second book of this series. Things that needed to be explained were not explained in depth. and the things that were explained...well who cared? Every other paragraph was about her charms tinkling in her hair and her scar burning.

I didn't even know who her teacher was until I was pages into it. She just kept referencing to Mickael or however you spell it and I had no idea who he was.

All the flash...more

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Oct 02, 2011 Sara rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy-noir, urban-fantasy, favorites

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 28, 2012 Traci rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy

A solid three. This is the sort of book I like to read on a quiet weekend when I have nothing else to read, or I can't make up my mind.

Completely predictable. If you've read any urban fantasy with a female lead you'll recognize everything here. Badass warrior chick. Check. Sexy bad boy vampire who owns a night club. Check. Good guy were (here a cat were) who represents warmth, home, and humanity. Check. Cops without a clue. Check. A nice implausible love story. Check.

If you like this type of ser...more

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Sep 06, 2011 Kristin rated it 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars.

Jill Kismet is a hunter of all things evil, on the trail of a hellbreed and something she can’t quite place that’s tearing up the cops and other citizens of Santa Luz. Pulled into the investigation are her friends, a Were couple working for the FBI’s Martindale Squad, a group of hunters and Weres who work nightside cases. Along for the ride with them is a tracker who’s also a Were, Saul Dustcircle, who has a big stake in finding the killer since his sister was murdered while running ba...more 3.5 stars.

Jill Kismet is a hunter of all things evil, on the trail of a hellbreed and something she can’t quite place that’s tearing up the cops and other citizens of Santa Luz. Pulled into the investigation are her friends, a Were couple working for the FBI’s Martindale Squad, a group of hunters and Weres who work nightside cases. Along for the ride with them is a tracker who’s also a Were, Saul Dustcircle, who has a big stake in finding the killer since his sister was murdered while running back-up for another hunter on their trail.

I guess maybe Lilith Saintcrow thought that by making Jill a teenage prostitute who kills her pimp and is taken in by a hunter who becomes her teacher she’d create a tough character shaped by her awful past and the love and trust of a guy. Yet I just saw it as kind of gross and really creepy especially since she took up with Mikhail, who she always described as old, though it was never explained how she became a hooker (why didn’t she just off the guy before he made her turn tricks?!). And as far as Mikhail goes, what does she have, daddy issues?

The story pulled me in and, though it’s a different world than the one we live in, it was easy enough to follow what was going on. The supporting characters were great. I liked Harp and her partner and mate, Dominic, as well as Monty, Avery and all of the other cops and hunters that Jill comes in contact with on a daily basis. I even liked Perry, the demon who marked Jill and makes her sweat buckets during their monthly visits, which are payment for his mark that makes her stronger and faster than the normal hunter, with senses similar to the hellbreed. Okay, liked may be too strong of a word, but I found him very interesting. And I really liked Dustcircle and imagine we’ll find out even more about him in following installments. I just have no idea why the hell he’d be interested in Jill, unless he suffers from some sort of white knight syndrome. Unfortunately, I can’t really say that I really liked Jill. I just didn’t feel any connection with her. I felt she was too bitchy with her friends and allies and acted so cocky and badass that I found it a bit of a turnoff.

I know Saintcrow is big on description, she does a great job in her Strange Angels YA series (which is one of my absolute favorites) and also with this book, but a few things seemed out of control and had me gritting my teeth. How the hell do the silver charms in her hair never move while she’s closing in on an arkeus, yet it seems like on every other page it’s described how they burned, chimed, shifted and tinkled and so on. Same goes for her numerous leather coats as well as her silver chain and Mikhail’s ring (they flared, burned, scorched, etc.). It just got to be waaaayyy too much, I really hope it’s toned down in the next book.

I really love the other books I’ve read by Saintcrow, including The Demon’s Librarian but I couldn’t get into this book the way I could with them. However, despite my lack of love for the main character, I did enjoy the rest of the characters and the story itself enough that I will give the second book a chance and see how it goes.
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Dec 06, 2010 Jessica(Spinecracker) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: purchased-pile

Originally Posted at http://thespinecracker.blogspot.com/

3.5 stars
The book starts right off with our heroine strapped in a chair trembling in fear, being terrorized by one of hell's spawn. Jill Kismet leaves with a mark capable of lending her demon strength but that comes with a very big price. She's now forever attached to Pericles, one of the scariest demons Jill has ever come across; and she should know. See Jill is a hunter. She was trained by her mentor Mikhail to fight against the demons t...more

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About Lilith Saintcrow

Lilith Saintcrow was born in New Mexico, bounced around the world as an Air Force brat, and fell in love with writing when she was ten years old. She lives in Vancouver, Washington, in a house full of stray cats and children.

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Books by Lilith Saintcrow

Working for the Devil (Dante Valentine, #1)

The Devil's Right Hand (Dante Valentine, #3)

Saint City Sinners (Dante Valentine, #4)

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“I'm getting really tired of bleeding. Someone stop the world, I want to get off.” — 86 people liked it

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Night Shift (Jill Kismet #1)

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