The fifth entry in Kim Harrison's series about Rachel Morgan and the Hollows. I would say that this book is easily the best since book two - the action kicked off literally from page one and there were enough plot twists, complications, heart-pounding sex scenes, arguments, comedy moments and terror to keep the pages turning at a vigorous pace!

Here Rachel realises that the focus isn't quite as securely hidden as she originally thought - she wakes to find herself being possessed by scary mad demon Newt, who seems to be searching for the focus. This, alongside the murder of various Weres, starts a plot that takes Rachel to some very dark places.

This was the first of the books that caused me outright emotional turmoil, caused by events surrounding two characters. One of these was Trent - I had been enjoying the enigma of the elf, who has done some seriously naughty things but was becoming a character that seemed to mean well. This was all thrown on its head during this book, where we see the depraved levels that Trent is capable of, which disappointed me. I liked him as a character prior to this, but now find myself feeling about him in the same way as Nick. I did love his first meeting with Ceri, though, something that has been coming for the past couple of books. Quen's reaction to Ceri was also lovely, and I'm glad I can still see Quen as the honourable warrior.

The second character to suffer in this book was Kisten. I LOVED Kisten, and found myself very upset by the resolution that Harrison introduced to his story. I don't want to say anything more, for fear of major spoilers, but I am keen to see how it plays out over the next book(s).

I am also a little scared by the fact that Harrison keeps introducing the idea of how indispensable Jenks is to Rachel, but also shows his son taking over more and more duties, and keeps emphasising how old Jenks actually is. Also, Matalina spent most of this book off-stage ill, and I hate the thought of these two lively characters being missing from future books.

By the end of the book, Rachel has openly dealt with demons and seen the people of Cincinnati develop prejudices against her for it. She's interrupted Trent's wedding to Ellasbeth spectacularly. She has been invited to join a demon cult. She's had a taste of what life might be like with Ivy on a more permanent basis. Altogether, this was an action-packed and exciting book and was possibly my favourite so far, since I really enjoyed the new emotional punch Harrison added. ( )

Loved it! Kisten..... I was on the edge of my seat hopeful that what I was dreading wouldn't be the reality. Can't wait to see where this goes in the next book. ( )

Unfortunately, I ruined part of this for myself by reading about the next book on Amazon. So if you don’t want to know what happens with Rachel and Kisten, don’t do that! Overall, this was a solid entry in a series I love, though I don’t think it was quite as good as the last one. There are a lot of surprises here, the first one coming immediately when Rachel wakes up in the process of being possessed by a demon… and it isn’t Al for once. The characters continue to show growth, but I have to say that I was really disappointed in Trent. I was just getting used to thinking about him being a basically decent guy under the whole “running a drug cartel” thing when it turns out he’s much, much worse than we thought. When this book ends, there’s a fair amount of stuff that remains to be explained. There’s been a big change in Rachel’s world, and I can’t wait to see how things shake out. ( )

Kim Harrison has a way of gently sucking you into a story and then throwing twists and turns at you in a way that makes you want more. It was no different with this book. It takes me a while to get into these, but once I hit the half-way point the action really picks up and I can't seem to put it down. In this book, it left me wanting more (thankfully the newest book comes out in a week or so). Some upsetting turns of events happened at the end of the book and I'm longing to see what is in store for dear Rachel Morgan. I have yet to be disappointed by one of these books. :) ( )

I loved this book. The series in general is wonderful. But this book just pulled at my emotions like no other book has. That being said...I was very sad to see one of my favorite characters killed off. But I guess looking back at the situation surrounding that character, it really couldn't end in a good way. Which is too bad for Rachel. I mean, doesn't she deserve some happiness? Can't wait to read the next book. ( )