An ancient Sumerian god, Sin was one of the most powerful among his pantheon. . . Until the night Artemis stole his godhood by trickery and left him one step from death.
For millennia, this ex-god turned Dark-Hunter has dreamed only of regaining his powers and seeking revenge on her. If only life were that simple.

Unfortunately he has bigger fish or in his case, demons, to fry. The lethal gallu that were buried by his pantheon are now stirring and they are hungry for human flesh. Their only goal is to destroy mankind and anyone else who gets in their way. Lucky Sin is the only one who can stop it—that is if a certain woman doesn’t kill him first.

Trust of any kind died in him the moment Artemis tricked him, but now he must rely on another woman or see an annihilation of biblical proportions. Enemies have always made strange bedfellows, but never more so than when the fate of the world hangs in the balance. Now a man who knows only betrayal must trust the one person most likely to hand him to the demons. Artemis may have stolen his godhood, but this one has stolen his heart. The only question is will she keep it or feed it to the ones who want him dead?

Synopsis: Devil May Cry is the 19th story in the Dark-Hunters series of romances by Sherrilyn Kenyon. In this novel, we meet Sin, an ex-god from the Sumerian pantheon who works as a special kind of Dark-Hunter. He spends his time hunting and killing a particularly nasty kind of demons called the gallu, who not only can kill humans by the boatload, but also convert them into vicious zombie-like creatures. Unfortunately, Sin's unorthodox methods and lifestyle have made him something of a pariah among his Dark-Hunter brethren. And of course, like any good Kenyon hero, he is also out for revenge against the one who did him wrong way back when. This time it's the Greek goddess Artemis; she's the one who betrayed him thousands of years ago and stole his godhood from him. The heroine Katra, on the other hand, is a familiar face from previous stories (most significantly, Kiss of the Night and The Dream-Hunter). One of Artemis' loyal handmaidens, Kat has been sent by the goddess to the human realm to take Sin out for his supposed transgressions. Of course, Artemis also wants him dead before he has a chance to have his revenge on her. And it doesn't help matters that when Sin first meets Kat, he takes one look at her and mistakes her for Artemis.

What an informative book! Up until now, who and what Katra actually is have been something of a mystery. Is she Greek? Is she Atlantean? Is she a goddess or just a mere servant to the gods? Devil May Cry answers all of these questions and then some. Up until this point in the series, I sort of expected Kat to be Acheron's eventual love interest; however, this book explains her relationship to Acheron and the other gods while introducing lots of new characters and a whole new pantheon of gods and beasties.

I really liked Kat when she appeared earlier in the series. She's tough, courageous, and loyal to her friends. And she's a good person - she refuses to pass judgment on Sin until she sees proof of his alleged crimes with her own eyes. And even then, she is willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. For his part, Sin could care less what Kat thinks of him. He's only got two things on his mind: revenge against Artemis and stopping the gallu demons from unleashing hell on earth. Of course, Kat manages to distract him with her sense of humor and honesty; he can't help but fall in love with her. She really is another great Sherrilyn Kenyon heroine, with just the right mix of strength and vulnerability to make her loveable without being abrasive. Sin sort of came across to me as a sort of generic tortured hero, but he's still a likeable guy and you want Kat to get her man in the end.

My Favorite Scene: The one when Kat and Ash meet for the first time in Artemis' temple (I don't want to spoiler, so I won't say anymore...) ( )

This one wasn't as good as the others in the series. Sin wasn't as strong a leading man, and the complete focus on the intrigues between the gods was a little tiring. I guess it was a nice break from the "immortal guy and mortal human woman fall in love" pattern, but it didn't have the same zing. You do get a little Artemis/Acheron back-story in this one. ( )

Katra Agrotera & Sin

Katra, Ash's daughter, finds Sin/Nana of the Sumerian pantheon. Learn a lot about Ash and Artemis' past.

"Defeat does nothing but feed the part of the soul that demands a rematch. So long as there is life there is hope. And so long as there is hope, there is determination."

"For a semblance of affection, for the novelty of a gentle touch on his flesh, he'd sold himself to her eleven thousand years ago."

"Immortals can and do die. Some of us more than once."

Ash: "I am death and sorrow."

"When you've spent a lifetime being betrayed by everyone around you, it's really hard to let that go."

"When you love someone...truly love them, friend or lover, you lay your heart open to them. You give them a part of yourself that you give to no one else, and you let them inside a part of you that only they can hurt — you literally hand them the razor with a map of where to cut deepest and most painfully on your heart and soul. And when they do strike, it's crippling — like having your heart carved out. It leaves you naked and exposed, wondering what you did to make them want to hurt you so badly, when all you did was love them. What is so wrong with you that no one can keep faith with you? That no one can love you? To have it happen once is bad enough ... but to have it repeated? Who in their right mind would not be terrified of that?" ( )

the first of the dark-hunter books I've read, and I kinda like the series but it is a little over comlicated on the whole gods and goddess thing. ( )