Mark of the Demon (Kara Gillian, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

May 03, 2010 Alisha rated it really liked it

Settling on a numerical rating for this book was a toughie. I'd give it 3.5 if I could, but didn't mind rounding up.

All in all, this book was fairly enjoyable. The story takes place in a world where, according to public belief, the paranormal does not exist. This is the furthest from the truth as far as Louisianan detective Kara Gillian is concerned. She's a summoner of demons (not the heaven/hell kind but rather otherworldly creatures), and as such has a wealth of knowledge about all things abn Settling on a numerical rating for this book was a toughie. I'd give it 3.5 if I could, but didn't mind rounding up.

All in all, this book was fairly enjoyable. The story takes place in a world where, according to public belief, the paranormal does not exist. This is the furthest from the truth as far as Louisianan detective Kara Gillian is concerned. She's a summoner of demons (not the heaven/hell kind but rather otherworldly creatures), and as such has a wealth of knowledge about all things abnormal.

When the book begins, she's only a few months into her promotion to the Violent Crimes division of the Beaulac PD. One would think that it would mean a dearth of cases: the sleepy southern town doesn't get much in the way of extreme crime. But this changes drastically when an previously unsolved string of brutal serial murders is seemingly renewed after a three-year hiatus. Kara is given this case, which is just as well because she realizes very quickly that these murders somehow involve the arcane…her (secret) specialty.

Kara Gillian herself is quite interesting as she's portrayed. She's more or less a loner, with no friends to speak of other than her aunt and maybe a fellow officer or two. There was a lot of "self-evaluation" going on in addition to the actual main plot thread, and it was interesting to watch her wrestle with her identity in the "normal" world. As a cop she's extremely sharp, and through her eyes one is privy to a compelling evaluation of these serial violent crimes.

There's a good amount of "P" in this paranormal romance (through Kara), but I must admit that I found the "R" to be quite lacking and…dare I say, random? Not outright unwelcome, but rather unnecessary as portrayed. The element added almost nothing to the story, being introduced rather abruptly and with limited believability. The "love" interest here, Lord Rhyzkal, was terribly one-dimensional…it felt almost like his role in the first two-thirds of the story was an afterthought to the last one-third.

That last one-third though…rocked. I couldn't get through the story fast enough. The police investigation took on many dimensions, and tied together much of the story such that it all ended satisfyingly. It's the reason why I rounded my rating up, quite frankly. By the time I finished the book, I was looking forward to how the next one was going to continue Kara's adventures.

This book definitely has some elements of the so-called "first-book-in-a-series syndrome," but it's worth reading, particularly in order to get the background for book number two (which as of this writing I've read and liked very much). ...more

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Jun 19, 2013 Alisha rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Second Readthrough. I think I would rate it just a smidge higher this time around, in part because with hindsight I can see why some elements were included, ones I'd once thought were weaknesses but were just very, very delayed payoffs.

My first readthrough is reviewed here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/101131848 ...more

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Sep 15, 2011 Marsha rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites

I may one day decide to change my rating to 4 stars, but, for now, it will remain at 3. Okay, I've switched it to 4 stars. I usually round up since there are no half star ratings.

This is such a hard book for me to review. For a few chapters, I was rolling along quite enjoying the book. Then for several chapters, it fell flat and I had to put it down and move on to something that really captured my attention.

Kara is a loner that works as a detective for a Louisiana Parish police department. She I may one day decide to change my rating to 4 stars, but, for now, it will remain at 3. Okay, I've switched it to 4 stars. I usually round up since there are no half star ratings.

This is such a hard book for me to review. For a few chapters, I was rolling along quite enjoying the book. Then for several chapters, it fell flat and I had to put it down and move on to something that really captured my attention.

Kara is a loner that works as a detective for a Louisiana Parish police department. She has recently been promoted to Detective and even more recently been shifted over to the violent crimes division where she can finally get a handle on the Symbol Man murders (which, of course, have started up again). She's also a summoner. She can summon demons. Though, I have to give this author credit for creating a slightly different world with this regard. Kara has to practice and move up in her rank through hard work and dedication to her craft as a summoner.

The Symbol Man mystery is, of course, linked to her aunt who raised her after her parents died and to her ability to summon demons. I can't say too much more without giving too much away, but the mystery was a nice approach to this UF novel. It seems that so many UF novels have a sort of mystery involved - who's trying to murder me/my friends and why and how can I stop them. But here, there really is a murder investigation in which Kara has to use her detective skills and not only her summoning abilities. There is, of course, some seedy hot and heavy with a demon and an interesting connection with a visiting FBI agent - who may or may not be on the wrong side after all. You'll have to read to find out.

What I didn't like is that reading this book was like moving forward in a very jerky motion with several stops along the way. I enjoyed the characters for the most part, but Kara did seem a little bothersome at times. She had few friends and no current love interest (she's only had 2 - which we were reminded several times. Please, just fill the page with it once and give us something new to read rather than filling the pages with repeat stuff). You would expect her to be a little awkward in her ability to deal with others if she is so backward in her relationships herself. But, she seems to be able to interact quite well with the local coroner and the local crime scene photographer. But, what was with her so easily inviting Ryan into her home? Their relationship (though, I know was supposed to be professional) seemed to proceed to - Yeah, stay in the guest room. And what is wrong with block cheese? Sorry, you have to read it to understand.

Anyway, the ending moved along and FINALLY drew me in. I will be reading the next installment. ...more

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Jun 18, 2011 Jamie ~ Bad Boy Inspector rated it it was amazing

Shelves: genre-urban-fantasy, subject-pn-demons, read-2011

4.5/5.0

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Jul 08, 2014 Katyana rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: uf, ass-kicking-women, fantasy, thriller-suspense, demons

Wow. I really liked this. It is an interesting world, with good twists and turns.

Yeah, there were a couple times where I thought Kara was a little slow on the uptake - especially for a detective - but all in all, she was really solid.

Lots of setup in this book. I'm interested to see where the characters go from here. ...more

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