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Jill Kismet #1
Night Shift
Jill Kismet. Dealer in Dark Things. Spiritual Exterminator. Demon Slayer.
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...
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...
323 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 1, 2008
163 people are currently reading
8325 people want to read
About the author
Lilith Saintcrow
133 books4,511 followersLilith Saintcrow was born in New Mexico, bounced around the world as a child, and fell in love with writing stories when she was ten years old. She and her library co-habitate in Vancouver, Washington.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 487 reviews
March 21, 2016
3.5 Ok, I admit, this one was a bit of a surprise.
What I expected is this:
I got something like this:
So yup, it was a pretty good book. It was fast paced, I had no time to get bored or to skim. And I liked the idea, I liked the characters. For some reason, I liked the lame male character. And the good part is that it made me curious about what's going to happen, and that doesn't happen as often as I'd like.
What I expected is this:
I got something like this:
So yup, it was a pretty good book. It was fast paced, I had no time to get bored or to skim. And I liked the idea, I liked the characters. For some reason, I liked the lame male character. And the good part is that it made me curious about what's going to happen, and that doesn't happen as often as I'd like.
April 15, 2009
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 about him, Jill!" Sheesh. Talk about running in circles.
But! There were some things in this book that totally made up for Jill's attitude - like the Weres. Yes, I'm a big fan of werewolves and were-creatures in general and these were simply loveable - I especially loved their domestic nature. And then there was Saul Dustcircle, of course. Yes, I loved this strong and silent Were so much! Especially his need to feed Jill on a regular basis.
Also, the way the two "badies" ended in this book - it made me cry. Literally. Saintcrow definitely knows how to raise strong emotions.
But! There were some things in this book that totally made up for Jill's attitude - like the Weres. Yes, I'm a big fan of werewolves and were-creatures in general and these were simply loveable - I especially loved their domestic nature. And then there was Saul Dustcircle, of course. Yes, I loved this strong and silent Were so much! Especially his need to feed Jill on a regular basis.
Also, the way the two "badies" ended in this book - it made me cry. Literally. Saintcrow definitely knows how to raise strong emotions.
March 31, 2016
"Cities need people like us, those who go after things the cops can’t catch and keep the streets from boiling over. We handle nonstandard exorcisms, Traders, hellbreed, rogue Weres, scurf, Sorrows, Middle Way adepts . . . all the fun the nightside can come up with."
2.5 stars
Jill Kismet is a Hunter and if you've ever read an urban fantasy before I'm sure you can guess what that title implies, my quote notwithstanding. She's a very typical bad ass female lead with a enough back-story to create a bit of filler-drama. Her attitude strikes me as a Kate Daniels wannabe, but she feels/acts more like a Chess Putnam.
"A dry smell, blazing with heat and spoiled musk, like matted fur and unhealthy dandruff-clotted skin."
Gritty and dark, the city she works is layered in what seems like a blanket of filth and hell spawn. Although this is never directly addressed, Kiss smells everything and it seems to be her main mode of deciphering a situation. I've come to this conclusion because nearly every page describes a scent, and most of it is gory and unpleasant. This city might be perfectly lovely but if it is, I've been led astray. The whole olfactory overload thing is a style choice that I had a hard time getting on board with - half the time wondering what the point was - but eventually I was able to pass over those instances without wondering and continue. Kiss smells a lot of stuff, it's part of her 'hell power'.
Kiss also fights a lot of stuff with weapons I don't understand and with injuries that appear without warning. Unless she was thrown against a wall, I could not follow the fighting. She has a whip, there is some lightening that she may be producing or fire or something, and she uses a special sword that belonged to her late-teacher/lover/father figure.
"...I still couldn’t decide if I had been too late because of some lingering traces of trust and respect for Mikhail keeping me too far back when I followed him that night, or if I had hung back because some part of me knew something was going to happen—and wanted to punish him for betraying me, not as a teacher or as a father, but as a lover."
That's right - she said teacher/lover/father. Jill's filler drama is darker than some and we relive her back story in a smattering of dreams and distracted moments. She's grieving the loss of Mikhail and while the story of his death unfolds finding it's place in the present of the story we're reading, I kept wondering if he was going to resurrect from the grave or something since she dwelled on it so often. This was also a style choice that drove me a little batty. I could have used with a little more meat to the here and now and less of the heartbreaking past that, if I may, is a bit icky.
Smelled the musk of a male Were and the smell of food, mixing together. Good smells, both of them, and a heady pairing.
And while Kiss is dealing with all this backstory, she also has to deal with a demented hell-spawn ringleader who is trying to dismantle her sanity and (to strike a balance, I'm sure) a handsome, soft spoken Were-cat who (for reasons unknown) endeavors to take care of a messy Jill, the Hunter. All the while, she's hunting a rogue Were with a partner from hell as they cut a bloody path across the city. The body count piles up.
And when the body count piles up, so does the accompanying odors and gore. What the story lacks in imagination it makes up for it in dripping body parts.
So, despite the things that drove me crazy and the rinse-repeat nature of some urban fantasy tropes, I still think I'm going to read the next book in the series. Halfway through I was not planning on it, but there was something very enticing about the end that makes me want to come back for more.
"The blankets were pulled up on his chest, and I smelled the sharpness of urine."
Just, hopefully with less urine smell. Or desiccated flesh. Or thunderous odor of exotic hellbreed taint (don't ask me!).
2.5 stars
Jill Kismet is a Hunter and if you've ever read an urban fantasy before I'm sure you can guess what that title implies, my quote notwithstanding. She's a very typical bad ass female lead with a enough back-story to create a bit of filler-drama. Her attitude strikes me as a Kate Daniels wannabe, but she feels/acts more like a Chess Putnam.
"A dry smell, blazing with heat and spoiled musk, like matted fur and unhealthy dandruff-clotted skin."
Gritty and dark, the city she works is layered in what seems like a blanket of filth and hell spawn. Although this is never directly addressed, Kiss smells everything and it seems to be her main mode of deciphering a situation. I've come to this conclusion because nearly every page describes a scent, and most of it is gory and unpleasant. This city might be perfectly lovely but if it is, I've been led astray. The whole olfactory overload thing is a style choice that I had a hard time getting on board with - half the time wondering what the point was - but eventually I was able to pass over those instances without wondering and continue. Kiss smells a lot of stuff, it's part of her 'hell power'.
Kiss also fights a lot of stuff with weapons I don't understand and with injuries that appear without warning. Unless she was thrown against a wall, I could not follow the fighting. She has a whip, there is some lightening that she may be producing or fire or something, and she uses a special sword that belonged to her late-teacher/lover/father figure.
"...I still couldn’t decide if I had been too late because of some lingering traces of trust and respect for Mikhail keeping me too far back when I followed him that night, or if I had hung back because some part of me knew something was going to happen—and wanted to punish him for betraying me, not as a teacher or as a father, but as a lover."
That's right - she said teacher/lover/father. Jill's filler drama is darker than some and we relive her back story in a smattering of dreams and distracted moments. She's grieving the loss of Mikhail and while the story of his death unfolds finding it's place in the present of the story we're reading, I kept wondering if he was going to resurrect from the grave or something since she dwelled on it so often. This was also a style choice that drove me a little batty. I could have used with a little more meat to the here and now and less of the heartbreaking past that, if I may, is a bit icky.
Smelled the musk of a male Were and the smell of food, mixing together. Good smells, both of them, and a heady pairing.
And while Kiss is dealing with all this backstory, she also has to deal with a demented hell-spawn ringleader who is trying to dismantle her sanity and (to strike a balance, I'm sure) a handsome, soft spoken Were-cat who (for reasons unknown) endeavors to take care of a messy Jill, the Hunter. All the while, she's hunting a rogue Were with a partner from hell as they cut a bloody path across the city. The body count piles up.
And when the body count piles up, so does the accompanying odors and gore. What the story lacks in imagination it makes up for it in dripping body parts.
So, despite the things that drove me crazy and the rinse-repeat nature of some urban fantasy tropes, I still think I'm going to read the next book in the series. Halfway through I was not planning on it, but there was something very enticing about the end that makes me want to come back for more.
"The blankets were pulled up on his chest, and I smelled the sharpness of urine."
Just, hopefully with less urine smell. Or desiccated flesh. Or thunderous odor of exotic hellbreed taint (don't ask me!).
November 28, 2008
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.
January 27, 2016
3.5
“Sometimes you can pick who buys you, and for how much. That's what power really is.”
The story has a lot going on...but it's confusing. Jill is a Hunter, a rare human that fights monsters and hellbreed who walk the earth and sometimes get out of line. Since she's accepted a mark from the master hellbreed of the series, she is tainted but with improved power and survival capacity. The book opens with her grieving her deceased teacher, which is a large part of the current story. Since the killer wasn't caught, I imagine it will play out in most of the books.
Anyway, the body count it wracking up, so Jill and a few werewolves must figure out a strange mystery and work their tails off.
It jumps into action immediately and rarely lets up. The ending wasn't a huge battle - well, it was supposed to be, but with so much action up anyway, the tension level felt the same when the climax finally comes around.
The beginning took awhile to warm up to - I didn't get hooked until after 50 pages, then it was hard to put down.
Jill is similar to Dante, but I like her more so far. She's harsh and hard to take in confrontation - but she seems nice to friends and those who respect her. Like Dante she has a horrible past and is broken.
Perry is deliciously dark - despite my demented side, he's not attractive but he is fascinating. Hard to understand some of the hellbreed structure, though. So much going on, little time taken to explain. I didn't think I'd care much for Saul, but I surprisingly did. I'm curious about some of the stuff developing between him and Jill - hope the author adds a lot of interesting obstacles for them.
I usually dig 3d villains, but the baddie in this one is completely bad and one-dimensional, which surprisingly works for him.
I like the world Saintcrow has created, and her writing rocks, but I don't care for all the excessive cursing. It gets annoying. Blotches of humor are here and there, mainly with food, which adds needed spice to such a dark and brutal story. Actions all over the place, rarely lets up, almost too much so.
Overall an enjoyable, if flawed, intro story to the series.
“Sometimes you can pick who buys you, and for how much. That's what power really is.”
The story has a lot going on...but it's confusing. Jill is a Hunter, a rare human that fights monsters and hellbreed who walk the earth and sometimes get out of line. Since she's accepted a mark from the master hellbreed of the series, she is tainted but with improved power and survival capacity. The book opens with her grieving her deceased teacher, which is a large part of the current story. Since the killer wasn't caught, I imagine it will play out in most of the books.
Anyway, the body count it wracking up, so Jill and a few werewolves must figure out a strange mystery and work their tails off.
It jumps into action immediately and rarely lets up. The ending wasn't a huge battle - well, it was supposed to be, but with so much action up anyway, the tension level felt the same when the climax finally comes around.
The beginning took awhile to warm up to - I didn't get hooked until after 50 pages, then it was hard to put down.
Jill is similar to Dante, but I like her more so far. She's harsh and hard to take in confrontation - but she seems nice to friends and those who respect her. Like Dante she has a horrible past and is broken.
Perry is deliciously dark - despite my demented side, he's not attractive but he is fascinating. Hard to understand some of the hellbreed structure, though. So much going on, little time taken to explain. I didn't think I'd care much for Saul, but I surprisingly did. I'm curious about some of the stuff developing between him and Jill - hope the author adds a lot of interesting obstacles for them.
I usually dig 3d villains, but the baddie in this one is completely bad and one-dimensional, which surprisingly works for him.
I like the world Saintcrow has created, and her writing rocks, but I don't care for all the excessive cursing. It gets annoying. Blotches of humor are here and there, mainly with food, which adds needed spice to such a dark and brutal story. Actions all over the place, rarely lets up, almost too much so.
Overall an enjoyable, if flawed, intro story to the series.
June 22, 2008
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 to read is the shabbily thrown together romantic subplot. Her Dante Valentine novels presented a hard fought and beautiful relationship- the total opposite of what's presented here. Basically it goes like this:
Boy: I like you.
Girl: I'm damaged goods.
Boy: I don't care, I need you.
Girl: Why?
Boy: Because I do.
Girl: Okay, lets make out.
Yeah, it is indeed painfully that bad.
Night Shift is a decent start for a new series, but I can only recommend this for urban-fantasy obsessives or Saintcrow fans.
What made this one even harder to read is the shabbily thrown together romantic subplot. Her Dante Valentine novels presented a hard fought and beautiful relationship- the total opposite of what's presented here. Basically it goes like this:
Boy: I like you.
Girl: I'm damaged goods.
Boy: I don't care, I need you.
Girl: Why?
Boy: Because I do.
Girl: Okay, lets make out.
Yeah, it is indeed painfully that bad.
Night Shift is a decent start for a new series, but I can only recommend this for urban-fantasy obsessives or Saintcrow fans.
December 8, 2009
This is a DARK urban fantasy set in the contemporary times in a city in the American southwest. This author also wrote the Dante Valentine series, which is also extremely dark and one of my favorites, though it is set far in the future. I was hoping with all my might that the Jill Kismet series would be set in the same world as the Dante Valentine series, just at a different point on the timeline, but alas, I wasn't that lucky.
Jill's world has always had supernatural aspects - weres, demons, diseases that cause vampirism - a whole bunch of crazy, messed up stuff. She's a state-sanctioned demon hunter, which is gruesome, dangerous work. This story has Jill hunting a rogue were (most weres are productive contributors to society) who has left a trail of bodies across several states. Jill gets called in because some of the sites also appear to have demon activity attached, plus it's on her home turf. Along the way, Jill meets a man that becomes her love interest and explains how she became a hunter during her many flashbacks.
I liked this book quite a bit, but I can see how the writing might bother some people. Lilith Saintcrow has a tendency to use emotionally flawed women as her protagonists. As the reader, you ride around in the head of a woman who has been gravely physically and emotionally abused in the past, which makes her present-day logic sometimes very odd. In the Dante books, Dante was always talking to herself; in this book, Jill spends a lot of time analysing her own motives and actions, sometimes coming to strange conclusions. I don't know how accurately Ms. Saintcrow portrays the aftermath of extreme abuse, but it is interesting to read.
Jill's world has always had supernatural aspects - weres, demons, diseases that cause vampirism - a whole bunch of crazy, messed up stuff. She's a state-sanctioned demon hunter, which is gruesome, dangerous work. This story has Jill hunting a rogue were (most weres are productive contributors to society) who has left a trail of bodies across several states. Jill gets called in because some of the sites also appear to have demon activity attached, plus it's on her home turf. Along the way, Jill meets a man that becomes her love interest and explains how she became a hunter during her many flashbacks.
I liked this book quite a bit, but I can see how the writing might bother some people. Lilith Saintcrow has a tendency to use emotionally flawed women as her protagonists. As the reader, you ride around in the head of a woman who has been gravely physically and emotionally abused in the past, which makes her present-day logic sometimes very odd. In the Dante books, Dante was always talking to herself; in this book, Jill spends a lot of time analysing her own motives and actions, sometimes coming to strange conclusions. I don't know how accurately Ms. Saintcrow portrays the aftermath of extreme abuse, but it is interesting to read.
August 8, 2010
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 series... but what if I don't want to read that series?! Yeah it pretty much sucks but oh well I'll keep reading and hopefully I'll get a feel for the world after the first couple of chapters.
OKAY shock horror!! After all that rant I ended up loving the book lol after I understood Saintcrows lovely little world i fell in love with the story and characters and am going to start the second in a heart beat!
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 series... but what if I don't want to read that series?! Yeah it pretty much sucks but oh well I'll keep reading and hopefully I'll get a feel for the world after the first couple of chapters.
OKAY shock horror!! After all that rant I ended up loving the book lol after I understood Saintcrows lovely little world i fell in love with the story and characters and am going to start the second in a heart beat!
January 28, 2011
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 backs didn't come at the right times and her constant whining about her life was annoying. Yes she went through alot, but I still didn't feel what she went through. Maybe that's why it was annoying.....
The author didn't give me that gut wrenching feeling that I needed to understand Jill. I desperately craved to know her, and I didn't.
I didn't even feel a thing for her and Dustcircle (what a name lol) I felt like their "relationship", if that's what you want to call it, was just thrown in there. Only towards the end when he came back to her and cooked her food (again) was when I felt something between them. He was back, no matter how "tough" she wanted to "act". Yes, I put act in quotations because she was in all reality... weak.
BUT I did know about her charms tinkling in her hair and her long leather coat, how much she sweated, her gooseflesh aaand how her scar burned.
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 backs didn't come at the right times and her constant whining about her life was annoying. Yes she went through alot, but I still didn't feel what she went through. Maybe that's why it was annoying.....
The author didn't give me that gut wrenching feeling that I needed to understand Jill. I desperately craved to know her, and I didn't.
I didn't even feel a thing for her and Dustcircle (what a name lol) I felt like their "relationship", if that's what you want to call it, was just thrown in there. Only towards the end when he came back to her and cooked her food (again) was when I felt something between them. He was back, no matter how "tough" she wanted to "act". Yes, I put act in quotations because she was in all reality... weak.
BUT I did know about her charms tinkling in her hair and her long leather coat, how much she sweated, her gooseflesh aaand how her scar burned.
March 7, 2013
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.
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.
February 4, 2014
While I did not find the first Jill Kismet novel as fascinating as the first Dante Valentine, it was still pretty darn good.
Unlike Dante's sci-fi/futuristic world, Jill lives in an alternate, present day universe. Religion plays a bigger part in people's everyday lives, probably because of the beings that go bump in the night; namely the hellspawn, and the humans known as "traders", who barter their souls for favors.
It is Jill's job to bump back, hard. Jill is a former prostitute, saved and mentored by Mikhail, a now deceased hunter, and she has been trained to take over his role as protector of the city. However, to give Jill and edge whilst battling demons, Mikhail also persuaded her to make a trade of her own with the head hellspawn in town, Perry: Jill gets supernatural strength. Perry gets Jill a few hours a month. But not her soul... For now... It's a lonely existence.
All I can say is: This is really interesting world building. In addition to hellspawn/demons, this world is populated by different breeds of weres: spiders, snakes, felines, canines, magical humans who offer Sanctuary and official exorcists. Some weres even work for the FBI. So when a rogue were and a hellspawn are seen working together, weres, the police and Jill must join forces to solve the grisly crimes.
I loved the characters. Perry, the demon, may appear to be just an unassuming businessman with a penchant for pain. But he is obviously flirting with danger and his own safety in order to entrap Jill. He's just deliciously evil. Saul, a were cat, is his polar opposite. He's constantly invading Jill's physical and psychological space. Saul is seriously adorable in a mulish, but quietly supportive kind of way.
The story of the unlikely alliance between two pawns, at the mercy of one of the most powerful demons from New York, was touching. Bottom line: I'd love to get to know Jill and her world a lot better.
4.5, possibly even 5 stars.
Unlike Dante's sci-fi/futuristic world, Jill lives in an alternate, present day universe. Religion plays a bigger part in people's everyday lives, probably because of the beings that go bump in the night; namely the hellspawn, and the humans known as "traders", who barter their souls for favors.
It is Jill's job to bump back, hard. Jill is a former prostitute, saved and mentored by Mikhail, a now deceased hunter, and she has been trained to take over his role as protector of the city. However, to give Jill and edge whilst battling demons, Mikhail also persuaded her to make a trade of her own with the head hellspawn in town, Perry: Jill gets supernatural strength. Perry gets Jill a few hours a month. But not her soul... For now... It's a lonely existence.
All I can say is: This is really interesting world building. In addition to hellspawn/demons, this world is populated by different breeds of weres: spiders, snakes, felines, canines, magical humans who offer Sanctuary and official exorcists. Some weres even work for the FBI. So when a rogue were and a hellspawn are seen working together, weres, the police and Jill must join forces to solve the grisly crimes.
I loved the characters. Perry, the demon, may appear to be just an unassuming businessman with a penchant for pain. But he is obviously flirting with danger and his own safety in order to entrap Jill. He's just deliciously evil. Saul, a were cat, is his polar opposite. He's constantly invading Jill's physical and psychological space. Saul is seriously adorable in a mulish, but quietly supportive kind of way.
The story of the unlikely alliance between two pawns, at the mercy of one of the most powerful demons from New York, was touching. Bottom line: I'd love to get to know Jill and her world a lot better.
4.5, possibly even 5 stars.
January 26, 2010
3.5 stars
I enjoyed this book quite a bit but it took me forever to read for some reason. I'm hoping it suffered a little from "1st in a series" syndrome and the rest will pick up a little bit.
Jill is a Hunter - she keeps her city safe from demons, aka hellbreed. But in order to be the best Hunter she can be, she has made a deal with the numero uno demon in town. He lends her extra strength, power and uber fast healing ability in exchange for a couple hours a month of her time. He has a bit of a masochistic streak.
Bodies are piling up around the city, some of them cops, and Jill has to figure out what's going on. Pretty basic urban fantasy premise, and it never broke any molds. What's enjoyable about the series is Saintcrow's writing, and I anticipate that there's a lot she could do with this series.
This one fell short a little bit though, and here's why.
1. As mentioned above, this didn't really tread any new ground.
2. It was a little melodramatic. Everyone around Jill seemed to need years of therapy after seeing a glimpse of the stuff she dealt with, and she was constantly swallowing back bile and trying not to throw up, or she was shaking or having some over the top physical reaction to everything. I get that this was dark and it was meant to show a much grittier side than a lot of the lighter, more funny urban fantasy I've been reading, but after awhile I wanted to smack Jill and tell her to grow up already.
3. There is a hint of a romance, and it's interesting for what it is, but it was so underdeveloped it may as well not have been there at all. I know absolutely nothing about this guy that Jill was suddenly all interested in. If you're going to toss in a love interest, you could try to make him interesting instead of just sticking him in there because you think you need one. This book would have been just as good if he had been eliminated entirely. Hopefully he'll have more to do in future books.
I did enjoy this book and despite it's faults, I think it's a promising start. I'll definitely be picking up book 2 soon. Hopefully it can build on what's there and go somewhere good. Book 2 will be a deal breaker.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit but it took me forever to read for some reason. I'm hoping it suffered a little from "1st in a series" syndrome and the rest will pick up a little bit.
Jill is a Hunter - she keeps her city safe from demons, aka hellbreed. But in order to be the best Hunter she can be, she has made a deal with the numero uno demon in town. He lends her extra strength, power and uber fast healing ability in exchange for a couple hours a month of her time. He has a bit of a masochistic streak.
Bodies are piling up around the city, some of them cops, and Jill has to figure out what's going on. Pretty basic urban fantasy premise, and it never broke any molds. What's enjoyable about the series is Saintcrow's writing, and I anticipate that there's a lot she could do with this series.
This one fell short a little bit though, and here's why.
1. As mentioned above, this didn't really tread any new ground.
2. It was a little melodramatic. Everyone around Jill seemed to need years of therapy after seeing a glimpse of the stuff she dealt with, and she was constantly swallowing back bile and trying not to throw up, or she was shaking or having some over the top physical reaction to everything. I get that this was dark and it was meant to show a much grittier side than a lot of the lighter, more funny urban fantasy I've been reading, but after awhile I wanted to smack Jill and tell her to grow up already.
3. There is a hint of a romance, and it's interesting for what it is, but it was so underdeveloped it may as well not have been there at all. I know absolutely nothing about this guy that Jill was suddenly all interested in. If you're going to toss in a love interest, you could try to make him interesting instead of just sticking him in there because you think you need one. This book would have been just as good if he had been eliminated entirely. Hopefully he'll have more to do in future books.
I did enjoy this book and despite it's faults, I think it's a promising start. I'll definitely be picking up book 2 soon. Hopefully it can build on what's there and go somewhere good. Book 2 will be a deal breaker.
January 11, 2011
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 protagonist high on demonic power could have gone cheeseball very quickly, but Saintcrow manages to walk the line between making Jill too awesome and too tragic and produces one of the few true anti-heroes I’ve seen in urban fantasy.
Jill is hard to like at first, and Saintcrow has the character push her luck far more than is healthy considering how often she seems to annoy the powers that be, but as the book goes on Jill evolves naturally into someone just as hard-ass, but far more likable.
I think Jill Kismet could still have been too awesome for words if it wasn’t for her demonic benefactor lurking in the background every time she uses her power. Perry (Pericles) is the demon giving Jill enough juice to fight the forces of darkness. He makes the story far more tragic, as no matter how much good she does, she’s damned by the power he gives her. Perry himself is extremely well written, and often feels far more of a threat than the main bad guys.
This isn’t a happy book, Jill is very aware of how much shit she’s in, and she doesn’t always react well to the knowledge, but this makes her, and Night Shift surprisingly well rounded for what could have been a pure popcorn novel.
Highly Recommended*
* One caveat, if you can’t cope with violence on the page, this isn’t the book for you.
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 protagonist high on demonic power could have gone cheeseball very quickly, but Saintcrow manages to walk the line between making Jill too awesome and too tragic and produces one of the few true anti-heroes I’ve seen in urban fantasy.
Jill is hard to like at first, and Saintcrow has the character push her luck far more than is healthy considering how often she seems to annoy the powers that be, but as the book goes on Jill evolves naturally into someone just as hard-ass, but far more likable.
I think Jill Kismet could still have been too awesome for words if it wasn’t for her demonic benefactor lurking in the background every time she uses her power. Perry (Pericles) is the demon giving Jill enough juice to fight the forces of darkness. He makes the story far more tragic, as no matter how much good she does, she’s damned by the power he gives her. Perry himself is extremely well written, and often feels far more of a threat than the main bad guys.
This isn’t a happy book, Jill is very aware of how much shit she’s in, and she doesn’t always react well to the knowledge, but this makes her, and Night Shift surprisingly well rounded for what could have been a pure popcorn novel.
Highly Recommended*
* One caveat, if you can’t cope with violence on the page, this isn’t the book for you.
November 21, 2017
It was an interesting read, but I believe that I wasn't in a mood to read dark fantasy so I will return to the series in the future when I will appreciate it more!
June 23, 2021
Disturbed, and not because of the violence
The premise was promising but the plot was lacking. It's a series of fights and action scenes mixed with the MC's endless whining. There is little depth to the characters, especially the MC. She has almost no personality other than kill and complain. Her thoughts are endlessly repetitive and unenlightening; she rarely stops to think and when she does, it's ponderous. She really should have connected the dots much faster. All she does is run from on fight to the next, never takes care of herself, and then collapses in a puddle of blood. At least she can fight, because she doesn't have much of anything else. I was sick of how she was always dealing with a dry mouth or throat or lips, or she was so tired or dirty. The dry mouth and such might intended to represent fear, but really it seemed to highlight her complete lack of doing the basics to care for herself. She's thirst, she doesn't find water. She's starving, she doesn't find food. She's tired, she doesn't find sleep. She's dirty, she hangs out in her blood soaked clothes for hours instead of showering. I mean, she cannot adult on any level. Like doesn't even try. Talk about lazy.
What truly bothered me the most is her obsession with Mikhail, her teacher/father figure/lover. That was so freaking gross, the fact they slept together. She survived by becoming a sex worker in her teens - no judgment. He rescues her after she kills her pimp - no judgement. She sleeps with Mikhail because he decides it's normal-he has got to be 20+ years her senior - I am full of judgement. She makes a deal with hellspawn because he tells her to - judging hard. He is as bad as her john's were, abusing her sexually. It is so wrong and gross and effing messed up that he slept with the teenager he rescues. This made me literally nauseous. I almost gave up on the book then. Her constant her worship and broken heart and imagining what he'd say was disturbing because it clearly showed she was still under his thumb. He used her and she doesn't have enough sense of self to realize it. And there is nothing normal or right about their relationship. Take out the supernatural component and you still have a potential pedophile or a creepy manipulator who liked his women barely legal.
At one point, she says she doesn't do submission but the reality is she has almost no identity outside of Mikhail and her past as a hooker, used by men. All she is is submission to men. Every time something happens, it's basically what would Mikhail have said or done or thought? It's like watching a person who has been indoctrinated into a cult. The lights are on but no one is home.
If the author is trying to depict all this as healthy, trying to say Mikhail rescued her and was a good man, I am seriously disturbed.
One other thing really annoyed me: the reference that the MC's love interest would make someone a good wife someday because he's good at cleaning and cooking. Uh, sexist much? It's not a wife's job to do those task, and they aren't exclusive to females. Grow up.
Doubt I will finish this series. Honestly left it feeling gross and dirty and not because of the violence, but because of all the stuff I mentioned above. I legit cannot stand 5 more books of the sanctified Mikhail show when he's nothing but a predator who manipulated and used her.
The premise was promising but the plot was lacking. It's a series of fights and action scenes mixed with the MC's endless whining. There is little depth to the characters, especially the MC. She has almost no personality other than kill and complain. Her thoughts are endlessly repetitive and unenlightening; she rarely stops to think and when she does, it's ponderous. She really should have connected the dots much faster. All she does is run from on fight to the next, never takes care of herself, and then collapses in a puddle of blood. At least she can fight, because she doesn't have much of anything else. I was sick of how she was always dealing with a dry mouth or throat or lips, or she was so tired or dirty. The dry mouth and such might intended to represent fear, but really it seemed to highlight her complete lack of doing the basics to care for herself. She's thirst, she doesn't find water. She's starving, she doesn't find food. She's tired, she doesn't find sleep. She's dirty, she hangs out in her blood soaked clothes for hours instead of showering. I mean, she cannot adult on any level. Like doesn't even try. Talk about lazy.
What truly bothered me the most is her obsession with Mikhail, her teacher/father figure/lover. That was so freaking gross, the fact they slept together. She survived by becoming a sex worker in her teens - no judgment. He rescues her after she kills her pimp - no judgement. She sleeps with Mikhail because he decides it's normal-he has got to be 20+ years her senior - I am full of judgement. She makes a deal with hellspawn because he tells her to - judging hard. He is as bad as her john's were, abusing her sexually. It is so wrong and gross and effing messed up that he slept with the teenager he rescues. This made me literally nauseous. I almost gave up on the book then. Her constant her worship and broken heart and imagining what he'd say was disturbing because it clearly showed she was still under his thumb. He used her and she doesn't have enough sense of self to realize it. And there is nothing normal or right about their relationship. Take out the supernatural component and you still have a potential pedophile or a creepy manipulator who liked his women barely legal.
At one point, she says she doesn't do submission but the reality is she has almost no identity outside of Mikhail and her past as a hooker, used by men. All she is is submission to men. Every time something happens, it's basically what would Mikhail have said or done or thought? It's like watching a person who has been indoctrinated into a cult. The lights are on but no one is home.
If the author is trying to depict all this as healthy, trying to say Mikhail rescued her and was a good man, I am seriously disturbed.
One other thing really annoyed me: the reference that the MC's love interest would make someone a good wife someday because he's good at cleaning and cooking. Uh, sexist much? It's not a wife's job to do those task, and they aren't exclusive to females. Grow up.
Doubt I will finish this series. Honestly left it feeling gross and dirty and not because of the violence, but because of all the stuff I mentioned above. I legit cannot stand 5 more books of the sanctified Mikhail show when he's nothing but a predator who manipulated and used her.
December 30, 2008
This was an interesting story. Jill Kismet is a hunter, which is bascially a exorcist/demon killer/protector of innocent/sorceress. She has traded with a hell breed (demon) for some extra powers, and once a month she has to go to him for an hour, and beat him up. (Not sure why he wants that, I think he wants Jill to become evil or something). Anyway, there is a hellbreed that is on the loose and killed 5 cops. Tore them to pieces and left those pieces on a major highway. Jill has been called in to figure out what did it. When she gets on scene she smells the hellbreed (they smell of death) but she also smells something else. Turns out there is also a rogue were on the loose. Two weres who work with the FBI have tracked the rogue were to Jill's city, and they have brought along another were named Saul, to try to catch the rogue. They all have to work together to find the rogues before more people die.
I thought that Saintcrow's take on demons was interesting. They are called hell breeds and they are above ground and look beautiful on the outside. Traders are humans that make deals with the hell breeds. There aren't that many books that I have read that have demons in it, and I liked that this book had that diversity.
It was fast paced and sometimes the flashbacks were a little irritating, but overall I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys urban fantasy and some demon action.
I thought that Saintcrow's take on demons was interesting. They are called hell breeds and they are above ground and look beautiful on the outside. Traders are humans that make deals with the hell breeds. There aren't that many books that I have read that have demons in it, and I liked that this book had that diversity.
It was fast paced and sometimes the flashbacks were a little irritating, but overall I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys urban fantasy and some demon action.
May 21, 2013
Positively in love with this book - with a kick-ass heroine, heart-wrenching tragedy, tonnes of sharp weapons, cute weres and twisted mysteries to solve, it's the perfect novel to snuggle up with and read deep into the night.
February 13, 2020
Do you ever find a book at the right time? This book found me. It's the dark of February, everything is awful, and the pain in this book was perfect. Clensing. Sometimes good things do happen. Sometimes good people do find you. Bad things keep happening and life goes on and yet it's possible for someone like Saul to walk into a life.
He's not even a large part of the novel. Most of it is Jill and her shitty life and the disaster-in-waiting that is Perry and the screaming pain that is Jill grieving the death of her teacher/lover/father-figure/it's fucked up and he's dead and she misses him and he's dead and innocents are dying nightly so she can't do anything but chin up and go without sleep and kill hellbreed.
Which brings me right back to reality: this book has a terrible summary on the back, and you have no idea what I'm talking about.
Night Shift is a straightforward urban fantasy, in a sense: monster kills a bunch of cops, the cops call in the monster hunter, she gets to work untangling the mystery, tracking it down, and murdering it. The twists are the world-building: hunters are an institution. Every city has a hunter or two. Every city has a Sanctuary that no one messes with. Every city has a thriving demon community that the hunters act as sheriff on: killing them, making the bigger ones behave, and so on. The cops openly hand over monster cases to hunters, because they know they're not trained for that kind of nonsense.
So Jill: since her well-respected teacher died six months previous, she's still establishing herself as the local authority. She also has a wrinkle: she cut a deal with a demon for healing ability, super-strength, and cooperation with said demon. In exchange she visits him roughly once a month and tortures him. They both understand that this demon is trying to get inside her head and corrupt her, and her intent is to last as long as possible so she can save as many innocents as possible.
Yes, there are Christian themes in this book. She goes to church. She knows that she is 100% going to Hell in the end because Catholic and Protestant churches have ruled that all Hunters go to Hell. She struggles with this, with her relationship with Jesus, with the practicalities: she's saving innocents and walking the line and it's her choice. Please understand that when I say there are Christian themes, I don't mean that you're going to want to convert or anything at the end, it's more a complex and fascinating facet to her character, and it works well with the general villains in the book being literal demons. No bible-thumping, only the dread of knowing that if you don't murder this demon it will eat more children in the night, and because you have chosen to save the little ones you are going to Hell, fullstop.
So, how the hell does this book avoid becoming entirely grimdark all the time? Easy: it tosses in were-critters. Werecougars, werewolves, werebirds. The FBI in this world has a squad for hunting monsters and the agents it sends to help with the current case are two werecougars that Jill knows and trusts. They bring life and humor into the book and help cut through the grief Jill is carrying, and best of all, they bring along a newbie from the reservation, a were-cougar named Saul Dustcircle. He and Jill don't get along at first, but it doesn't take long for him to figure out Jill's bullshit and decide he's going to help her anyways.
This is a relationship that I understand so painfully well: Jill's desperation to make him go away while wanting him to stay. His quiet patience and encouragement. I was right there with Jill wishing Saul would leave immediately, but also recognizing how damn good he was, and that conflict is so delicious.
Right. The weres do their best, and the case gets worse and darker and the finale is incredible, violent and awful and I wanted to cry, but in a good way.
An absolute tour de force of a book and I cannot believe how happy I am that there are sequels.
He's not even a large part of the novel. Most of it is Jill and her shitty life and the disaster-in-waiting that is Perry and the screaming pain that is Jill grieving the death of her teacher/lover/father-figure/it's fucked up and he's dead and she misses him and he's dead and innocents are dying nightly so she can't do anything but chin up and go without sleep and kill hellbreed.
Which brings me right back to reality: this book has a terrible summary on the back, and you have no idea what I'm talking about.
Night Shift is a straightforward urban fantasy, in a sense: monster kills a bunch of cops, the cops call in the monster hunter, she gets to work untangling the mystery, tracking it down, and murdering it. The twists are the world-building: hunters are an institution. Every city has a hunter or two. Every city has a Sanctuary that no one messes with. Every city has a thriving demon community that the hunters act as sheriff on: killing them, making the bigger ones behave, and so on. The cops openly hand over monster cases to hunters, because they know they're not trained for that kind of nonsense.
So Jill: since her well-respected teacher died six months previous, she's still establishing herself as the local authority. She also has a wrinkle: she cut a deal with a demon for healing ability, super-strength, and cooperation with said demon. In exchange she visits him roughly once a month and tortures him. They both understand that this demon is trying to get inside her head and corrupt her, and her intent is to last as long as possible so she can save as many innocents as possible.
Yes, there are Christian themes in this book. She goes to church. She knows that she is 100% going to Hell in the end because Catholic and Protestant churches have ruled that all Hunters go to Hell. She struggles with this, with her relationship with Jesus, with the practicalities: she's saving innocents and walking the line and it's her choice. Please understand that when I say there are Christian themes, I don't mean that you're going to want to convert or anything at the end, it's more a complex and fascinating facet to her character, and it works well with the general villains in the book being literal demons. No bible-thumping, only the dread of knowing that if you don't murder this demon it will eat more children in the night, and because you have chosen to save the little ones you are going to Hell, fullstop.
So, how the hell does this book avoid becoming entirely grimdark all the time? Easy: it tosses in were-critters. Werecougars, werewolves, werebirds. The FBI in this world has a squad for hunting monsters and the agents it sends to help with the current case are two werecougars that Jill knows and trusts. They bring life and humor into the book and help cut through the grief Jill is carrying, and best of all, they bring along a newbie from the reservation, a were-cougar named Saul Dustcircle. He and Jill don't get along at first, but it doesn't take long for him to figure out Jill's bullshit and decide he's going to help her anyways.
This is a relationship that I understand so painfully well: Jill's desperation to make him go away while wanting him to stay. His quiet patience and encouragement. I was right there with Jill wishing Saul would leave immediately, but also recognizing how damn good he was, and that conflict is so delicious.
Right. The weres do their best, and the case gets worse and darker and the finale is incredible, violent and awful and I wanted to cry, but in a good way.
An absolute tour de force of a book and I cannot believe how happy I am that there are sequels.
September 9, 2015
First, let me start by saying that I read some reviews for this book and there are quite a few people who mentioned it would have helped in understanding the current story/world if they had read Saintcrow's Dante Valentine series first. While it may have helped in getting a feel for the author's writing style, Danny's world and Jill's aren't the same. Dante's is futuristic, complete with gadgets, weird fabrics, technologically enhanced modes of transportation, which makes everything feel markedly "different". Jill's world is an altered version of ours, everything is pretty much the same with just a few tweaks to make it more hers than ours. Bottom line - you don't have to read one series in order to "get" the next, because the stories and the worlds aren't related.
Now, on to the the review...
I loved Jill. Absolutely adored her. She's a survivor, taken from prostitution and made into a hunter from the help of her mentor/father figure/lover, Mikhail (semi-creepy, because father figure and lover should never be synonymous). Mikhail finds her on the street, rescues her, and trains her to be be a hellbreed hunter. Something happened to Mikhail, leaving Jill to fend for herself. The story starts out with her still in a period of mourning which lends a hand to her coming off as broken. But she isn't broken, not in the least. She's determined, tough, cynical, but what makes her not "broken" is that she cares. Not only about her job, but about people. She has friends, she cares for her coworkers, she cares about good versus evil, the light vs the dark. Hardly broken. May need a bit of fixing, but she's getting there. She is definitely a resilient character, which makes me like her that much more.
Jill also has an advantage that helps in her line of work, but sometimes it doesn't seem that way to her. She made a bargain with a hellbreed named Perry and is now left wondering about the state of her soul. Importantly, Jill needs to retain her soul - if she no longer has one, that makes her on equal footing with the creatures she hunts instead of being above them. In exchange for visiting Perry once a month and doing some decidedly creepy things with/to him, she is able to draw preternatural powers from the brand he left on her skin. The brand works as a sort of conduit, which she uses to pull powers borrowed from Perry such as extra speed, strength, senses, and luckily - the ability to heal quickly (which she needs, because she gets beat up quite a bit!) Perry is definitely an interesting guy. He's creepy, he's slimy, he's tricky, he's a hellbreed, but I still like reading about him.
I really liked all of the secondary characters. Harper and Dominic, Jill's mated were friends who work for the FBI, and Saul Dustcircle, a were who doesn't come off as so friendly towards Jill, were defintely my favorites. Surprisingly, most of the weres were feline. I don't remember reading about any wolves (that only surprises me because werewolves overpopulate the genre). Disgustingly enough, there are werespiders in this altered reality. Hopefully those never make an appearance in this series.
I defintely look forward to reading the rest of this series, especially after reading the ending. I was almost as surprised as Jill was in the story :)
Now, on to the the review...
I loved Jill. Absolutely adored her. She's a survivor, taken from prostitution and made into a hunter from the help of her mentor/father figure/lover, Mikhail (semi-creepy, because father figure and lover should never be synonymous). Mikhail finds her on the street, rescues her, and trains her to be be a hellbreed hunter. Something happened to Mikhail, leaving Jill to fend for herself. The story starts out with her still in a period of mourning which lends a hand to her coming off as broken. But she isn't broken, not in the least. She's determined, tough, cynical, but what makes her not "broken" is that she cares. Not only about her job, but about people. She has friends, she cares for her coworkers, she cares about good versus evil, the light vs the dark. Hardly broken. May need a bit of fixing, but she's getting there. She is definitely a resilient character, which makes me like her that much more.
Jill also has an advantage that helps in her line of work, but sometimes it doesn't seem that way to her. She made a bargain with a hellbreed named Perry and is now left wondering about the state of her soul. Importantly, Jill needs to retain her soul - if she no longer has one, that makes her on equal footing with the creatures she hunts instead of being above them. In exchange for visiting Perry once a month and doing some decidedly creepy things with/to him, she is able to draw preternatural powers from the brand he left on her skin. The brand works as a sort of conduit, which she uses to pull powers borrowed from Perry such as extra speed, strength, senses, and luckily - the ability to heal quickly (which she needs, because she gets beat up quite a bit!) Perry is definitely an interesting guy. He's creepy, he's slimy, he's tricky, he's a hellbreed, but I still like reading about him.
I really liked all of the secondary characters. Harper and Dominic, Jill's mated were friends who work for the FBI, and Saul Dustcircle, a were who doesn't come off as so friendly towards Jill, were defintely my favorites. Surprisingly, most of the weres were feline. I don't remember reading about any wolves (that only surprises me because werewolves overpopulate the genre). Disgustingly enough, there are werespiders in this altered reality. Hopefully those never make an appearance in this series.
I defintely look forward to reading the rest of this series, especially after reading the ending. I was almost as surprised as Jill was in the story :)
February 7, 2009
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.
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.
March 16, 2018
This was good. There were a lot of parallels with other sci-fi novels I've been reading. Jill Kismet is a blend of Faith Hunter’s Jane Yellowrock, Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels, and Julie Kenner's Lily in that they are all experienced, capable women with a hard past behind them and interesting love lives.
The weres in Night Shift remind me of Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series, Keri Arthur's Riley Jenson, and Charlaine Harris' Stackhouse series.
The story itself takes place in a parallel world where Hunters work together with the police and weres patrolling their specific areas of ability (a sense of the "police action" from Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan, Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, and Keri Arthur's Riley Jenson). Demons (a blend of Rob Thurman's Cal and Niko Leandros and Faith Hunter's Thorn St. Croix), Traders, and rogue weres are the bad guys while Sanctuary (think Kenyon's Dark Hunter series) provides a safe haven.
Naturally, the bad guys look to one leader, Perry (there's a feel of the early Eric from Charlaine Harris' Stackhouse series and Hamilton's Jean-Claude). The comradeship within the story has a flavor of the Dresden Files and Patricia Brigg's Mercy Thompson.
Night Shift introduces us to core characters and the events that have shaped them as they pursue a hellbreed and the rogue were its protecting. Great action with lots of future promise!
I am really looking forward to the next in the Jill Kismet series...
The weres in Night Shift remind me of Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series, Keri Arthur's Riley Jenson, and Charlaine Harris' Stackhouse series.
The story itself takes place in a parallel world where Hunters work together with the police and weres patrolling their specific areas of ability (a sense of the "police action" from Kim Harrison's Rachel Morgan, Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, and Keri Arthur's Riley Jenson). Demons (a blend of Rob Thurman's Cal and Niko Leandros and Faith Hunter's Thorn St. Croix), Traders, and rogue weres are the bad guys while Sanctuary (think Kenyon's Dark Hunter series) provides a safe haven.
Naturally, the bad guys look to one leader, Perry (there's a feel of the early Eric from Charlaine Harris' Stackhouse series and Hamilton's Jean-Claude). The comradeship within the story has a flavor of the Dresden Files and Patricia Brigg's Mercy Thompson.
Night Shift introduces us to core characters and the events that have shaped them as they pursue a hellbreed and the rogue were its protecting. Great action with lots of future promise!
I am really looking forward to the next in the Jill Kismet series...
February 13, 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 background to this world. Maybe this is a spin-off series and I haven't realized it. Either way, it annoys me.
The main character is flawed, and has some depth to her. Gets her butt kicked an awful lot. Her allies are interesting, but the only one really described in detail is the obvious love interest. I dunno... I'm giving this series one more book before I make the decision to stick with it or drop it. It interests me enough for one more book, especially since it was a pretty quick read with lots of action. It kept my interest, even with the frustrations.
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 background to this world. Maybe this is a spin-off series and I haven't realized it. Either way, it annoys me.
The main character is flawed, and has some depth to her. Gets her butt kicked an awful lot. Her allies are interesting, but the only one really described in detail is the obvious love interest. I dunno... I'm giving this series one more book before I make the decision to stick with it or drop it. It interests me enough for one more book, especially since it was a pretty quick read with lots of action. It kept my interest, even with the frustrations.
April 26, 2020
Ah what a shame. I thought I had read this book before many years ago but it was completely unfamiliar. I definitely think it’s the authors other series, Dante Valentine, that I have fond memories of. I was definitely disappointed in this book for sure, I think my main issue was that it was all Tell and no Show. If I’m to believe a character is badass don’t tell me about it constantly show me how hard and tough she is through her actions, the main character Jill was seriously unbelievable in her ‘baddassery’ and we are just meant to believe it from the start of the book. I also found the action scenes hard to follow, the characters hard to distinguish and the twists weren’t exciting. The only really excellent part of this book is Saul, and I’m never usually one to like love interests. I also liked that there was some diversity in this book, not all the characters were white for once like in most Urban Fantasies I’ve read.
Overall this book was ok, I don’t think I’ll be continuing with the series.
Overall this book was ok, I don’t think I’ll be continuing with the series.
February 17, 2016
I picked this up at my local used book store. The cover grabbed me right away. And the blurb sold me.
Kick butt female protagonist. Creatures of all shapes and sizes to be slain. Count me in.
I had a blast. Jill is very genuine, flaws and all. And the way she faces and takes down the evil beings keeps you on edge, flipping pages, cheering her on. From the mean streets to the sewers below, she hunts.
As for those creatures, you’ll encounter some really bad ones. I’m all about the nastier the better and there were some great ones in these pages.
The writing is fast paced and reads easily, and there are some interesting characters, good and bad. Plus a bit of romance. Nothing to cast a shadow over the action, just enough to make you smile.
For fans of Urban Fantasy, you’ll get what you’re looking for in this book. I’ll be following the series, anticipating more intense action and scary good creatures for Jill to take down.
Kick butt female protagonist. Creatures of all shapes and sizes to be slain. Count me in.
I had a blast. Jill is very genuine, flaws and all. And the way she faces and takes down the evil beings keeps you on edge, flipping pages, cheering her on. From the mean streets to the sewers below, she hunts.
As for those creatures, you’ll encounter some really bad ones. I’m all about the nastier the better and there were some great ones in these pages.
The writing is fast paced and reads easily, and there are some interesting characters, good and bad. Plus a bit of romance. Nothing to cast a shadow over the action, just enough to make you smile.
For fans of Urban Fantasy, you’ll get what you’re looking for in this book. I’ll be following the series, anticipating more intense action and scary good creatures for Jill to take down.
December 23, 2008
What a terrible book! The story was dull, and the writing repetitive and uninspired. I skimmed the last 50 pages, and it took me a long time to read this book, it was just so dull. I should have found something else, but I have a hard time not finishing a book. The use of italics drove me nutty; a good writer doesn't need to use italics to emphasize a word, plot point, or situation. How many times do I need to hear about her wrist scar, etheric force, or her leather coat? The author even includes a glossary; leaving out the repetitive info and explaining stuff in the book would have been too difficult. I wont be looking for more in this series.
July 8, 2013
This is really more like 3.5-3.75 stars. Despite the fact that some might be able to claim the bits of romance are contrived and happen too quickly, I think those were my favorite bits; when Jill Kismet was vulnerable and open to other people, and I think I'll read the sequel to see where the romance leads.
I liked her badassery, but it was just really nice to see that she was more than just a mouthy, ass kicking demon hunter.
I liked her badassery, but it was just really nice to see that she was more than just a mouthy, ass kicking demon hunter.
March 14, 2012
gotta love an asskicking female. Liked her a bit more than Dante Valentine since she doesn't seem to whine so much or question. She DOES do that and it is annoying, but not nearly so much as Dante whom I was yelling at to "JUST TRUST JAPH! HE'S THE LOVE OF YOUR FRICKIN LIFE!" This one has more gumption.
May 7, 2016
*3,5*
Salamyhkäinen, hieman synkkä ja ehdottomasti toiminnallinen loppuun asti. Maailma oli jännittävä elämän ja kuoleman, maan ja Helvetin sekä muiden yliluonnollisten asioiden kuten demonien ja ihmissusien kanssa. Hyvä aloitus ja kyllä jatkan sarjan parissa. Pericles ja hänen osansa tässä tarinassa vei useasti huomioni muista!
Salamyhkäinen, hieman synkkä ja ehdottomasti toiminnallinen loppuun asti. Maailma oli jännittävä elämän ja kuoleman, maan ja Helvetin sekä muiden yliluonnollisten asioiden kuten demonien ja ihmissusien kanssa. Hyvä aloitus ja kyllä jatkan sarjan parissa. Pericles ja hänen osansa tässä tarinassa vei useasti huomioni muista!
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