Review: Blood of the Demon by Diana Rowland

Title: Blood of the Demon (Kara Gillian #2)
Author: Diana Rowland
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Heat Index: 2 out of 5
Release Date: February 23rd, 2010
Word/Page Count: 369 pages
Format: Purchased

Between Heaven and Hell, man and demon, she's about to face the one thing she may not be able to survive.

Welcome to the world of Kara Gillian, a cop with a gift. Not only does she have the power of “othersight” to see what most people can’t even imagine, but she’s become the exclusive summoner of a demon lord. Or maybe it’s the other way around. The fact is, with two troublesome cases on her docket and a handsome FBI agent under her skin, Kara needs the help of sexy, insatiable Lord Rhyzkahl more than he needs her. Because these two victims, linked by suspicious coincidence, haven’t just been murdered. Something has eaten their souls.

It’s a case with roots in the arcane, but whose evil has flowered among the rich, powerful, and corrupt in Beaulac, Louisiana. And as the killings continue, Kara soon realizes how much there’s still to learn about demons, men, and things that kill in the night—and how little time she has to learn it.

Warning, will contain spoilers.


Arai's Review:

I enjoyed Diana Rowland’s first book, Mark of the Demon, and when I had the misfortune to hit three books in a row that were DNF, I thought I’d head back to the stacks and check out her second book for a bit of a cleanser.

Right off the bat, I definitely enjoyed the mystery more in this book than I did in her previous book. While well-formed and clearly thought out in Mark of the Demon, the bad guy was a little too easily identifiable. Unfortunately, it almost seems like Rowland has taken the extreme caution to make sure this doesn’t happen again by throwing about ten different possibilities at you. You know how sometimes at a magic show, you’ll spend so much time looking for the barest hint of each slight of hand that you’ll miss the trick entirely? That’s what I felt like reading this book; after Mark of the Demon, I felt superior in my knowledge that I would be able to snuff out the bad guy within the early chapters of the novel like I had in the previous book. C’mon, it’s partly mystery, you know that part of you reads it simply to try and outwit the author. Hats off, Rowland, this round goes to you.

Now, I will fully admit to enjoying a glass of wine tonight while reading the end of this book. With that out in the open, I would like to say that there was honestly a point towards the end where I felt the urge to graph out everything that was going on because there was a massive character development/plot upheaval that took place in the span of about two pages. I’m not saying it was poorly done; to be honest, if Rowland had drug it out, as some authors have the tendency to do, I would have been bored. But it felt like there were a lot of names and a lot of connections unloaded at once, in addition to all the connections the characters had been building previously in the novel, that you felt a piece of scratch paper and a pen would have been handy. At least I wasn’t the only one who felt this way, though, since the characters had to do it, too.

Cue Large Map of Intersecting Characters and Plots

Which brings me to another point of Rowland’s writing; yes, there are going to be moments when her heroine is a bit silly or a bit over the top, but Rowland fully acknowledges it in the book. It’s great to see a character which is flawed in a way that’s human and doesn’t annoy the heck out of you. In fact, if anything, it might make the character more endearing to you and definitely makes her more interesting.

I’ll definitely be continuing the series with eager anticipation.