Blood of the Demon (Kara Gillian, Book 2) (edition 2010)

The second installation in the Kara Gillian series made me just as excitable as the first. I absolutely love love love this series. Did I mention I love this series? I don’t know WHAT it is about this series but I love absolutely everything about it. This is me, reading this series:



In ‘Blood of the Demon’ Kara is investigating a series of suicides where the individuals essence wasn’t released from their body the way a normal death would; their essence appeared to have been ripped forcibly from their body and Kara can’t figure out why or who could have done this. Rhyzkahl has requested that Kara be his ‘summoner’ where she would have access to his power and knowledge, she would just be required to summon him often. Kara begins realizing that there is in fact more than meets the eye with Ryan; but he’s not being as forth coming with information as she would like him to be. Kara’s Aunt Tessa remains in a coma as a result of the Symbol Man’s last summoning with her essence seemingly lost. Without her Aunt, Kara is left to learn on her own and it’s really awesome to see her grow as a summoner in this book.

The one irritating factor I had with the book which resulted in the 4 stars (since I still really liked it) was the Ryan and Kara relationship. I have wanted Ryan and Kara to be together from the very beginning. I LOVE those two. So. This is an adult novel; however, when Kara denies the fact that Ryan likes her, when Kara gets jealous at Ryan for lame ass things, or when Ryan does something but Kara justifies it in her mind as him being ‘just a friend’, I feel as if I’ve stepped into a Young Adult novel. And trust me; if I wanted to read a YA novel type relationship I’ve got plenty of books to satisfy that. But here I am reading a nice Adult novel and I feel like I’ve stepped into the YA Twilight Zone.


The ending? Ah! It made me go all ‘OMG Excited Cat’ all over again. Anyways, bottom line. You need to read this. I HIGHLY recommend it. It’s totally awesome and… well I love it. :D
( )

Book two brings back many of the elements that I enjoyed from MARK OF THE DEMON, with none of the plot kryptonite that drove me up a wall. I love Ryan and Kara's chemistry (though I wanted to clap and hoot in support of Jill's "Girl, you crazy" line. Glad I'm not the only one thinking it), and while the plot was complex and a little over the top, it never torpedoed my ability to suspend disbelief like book one. ( )

RATING: 3.5 stars.Not as good as the first one (the story seemed like more of the same, the mystery wasn't as well explored), but still the characters and the world building are appealing. Full review to come (maybe). ( )

I am so happy that I recently discovered this series. The Kara Gillian series is about a police detective who can also summon demons and see and manipulate the arcane. In the first installment we got to know Kara (a realistic, down to earth, all around likeable character) and her world. We also met her demon summoner Aunt Tessa, a demon lord named Rhyzkahl, and the uber sexy and endearing FBI agent Ryan.

In "Blood of the Demon", bodies are starting to turn up in which the bodies's souls or essences have been stolen. Kara is one of the few people who can actually see the missing souls and thereby can tell that fact alone links the murders. Again the actual mystery is so interesting and entertaining I don't want to spoil the details or give anything away. Take my word that the plot is well paced and fully developed. There are plenty of surprises and excitement to intrigue any urban fantasy or paranormal fan. Rhyzkahl is still ready and willing to offer Kara affection and attention but she hesitates to call on him due to his powers. Now he is asking her to be his summoner, a link Kara isn't sure she is prepared for.

Romance to me is a secondary part of any novel I read. I want the mysteries and the kick butt action. I want to learn about supernatural worlds and the creatures that inhabit them. That said, the romance (or would be romance) between Kara and Ryan is a highlight of this series. I love her, I love him. They work together so well because they are friends first. The author has done an excellent job of naturally bringing the two together. This isn't a love at first sight plot device at all. The tension between them crackles. They are obviously into each other but they both skirt the issue, neither willing to risk their friendship. Still I love every scene and every interaction. I want them together but I dread the moment we lose this chemistry.

So far I really enjoy the fact that each case has been completely resolved by the time the last page is read but yet there are plenty of ongoing storylines to keep the reader waiting for more. I have the third book at my bedside and I can't wait to read it and be caught up on the series. I have to say that this has earned a place on my pre-order 'must have' list. ( )

In Rowland's urban fantasy novel, Kara Gillian is a cop with a secret gift. Not only does she possess "othersight" and can see what others can't, but she is also a summoner. She summons a demon lord to help her with two unsolved cases. She works side-by-side with a sexy FBI agent but these cases can't be solved by him or her without help because they weren't just murdered, their souls were stolen. a case with roots in the arcane, the case is also deeply rooted among the rich, powerful and corrupt in Beaulac, Louisiana. As the killings continue, Kara realizes she has a lot to learn about humans, demons, and all things that kill in darkness. A riveting, suspenseful combination of police procedural and urban fantasy. ( )

In Blood of the Demon, Beaulac homicide detective Kara Gillian is finally able to go back to work after she was technically dead for two weeks after the conclusion of the Symbol Man investigation. Her Aunt Tessa Pazhel remains in an extended care facility after having her essence stolen from her body by the Symbol Man. Kara tries to find answers to how she can get Tessa’s essence to come back to her body before it is too late, including basically destroying Tessa's wards.

Kara also finds herself engaged in an investigation into an apparent suicide by one of her own fellow officers, and escalates its way through the wealthy Beulac community. Call it Louisiana Politics as usual if you like; bribery, corruption, sex with your own daughter in law, blackmail, and murder to protect your own neck. Where a judge can call the police and demand that an officer be removed from an investigation in order to slow it down, or stall it altogether.

Kara is learning more about her ability as a summoner, or one who has the ability to open portals between the mundane world and the demon realm. She is actually growing stronger the more she learns about herself. She can now summon demons without having to wait for the full moon. She even discovers that Tessa has a boyfriend much to her chagrin.

The villain this time around: A Soul (Essence) eating human who doesn't kill as many people as the Symbol Man.

Yes loyal readers, we do get a bundle of scenes with Lord Rhyzkahl in them, and we also learn more about Special Agent Ryan Kristoff, but not enough to explain how he came about his abilities or why he is being called an oath breaker by a twelfth level demon. Zach also has become something of a mystery with his ability to show up at a moment’s notice when Ryan is in trouble, and somehow knowing what Ryan is, but refusing to say anything to Kara.

Crime Scene Technician Jill Faciane who has become Kara’s best friend over the course of the last two books, also makes an appearance. I like Jill, and love the interaction between her and Kara. Jill steps fully into Kara’s world when she comes face to face with a demon at her aunt’s home. She doesn’t even blink an eye. I also like the fact that Cory Crawford has been promoted and is now Kara’s boss. He is starting to understand what Kara can do, and supports her fully.

This book is definitely not a let down from Mark of the Demon. Kara is still being pursued by people who want to kill her. She still maintains her rugged determination, and snarky attitude, along with the attitude that she will do whatever it takes to solve her cases, including making more enemies.

In the end, Kara and Rhyzkahl agree to terms where she becomes his summoner, and she agrees to call upon him at least once during a moon cycle for 3 years. (Full Moon) She also gets his mark on her left forearm to prove that she belongs to him and is under his protection as well, something that Ryan isn’t too thrilled to see. But, as far as Ryan and Kara's romance goes; it's a non starter.

I like this book because there’s no carryover story into the next release. You can ALMOST read this book as a solo book, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Read Mark of the Demon first before entering into this story, and then follow it with Secrets of the Demon. The story ends on a happy note and not a head shaking what the hell just happened moment. Of course, having already read the next book in the series, I am definitely looking forward to the fourth book, Sins of the Demon (January 2012). ( )

Summoner/Detective Kara Gillian returns in Blood of the Demon, or, playing off the common nickname for the book's predecessor, Mark of the Demon, CSI: Demonology 2. This time around, Kara investigates the strange murder of a rich and powerful member of her southern Louisiana town. The trophy wife is the obvious suspect, but, once Kara discovers that the victim's essence was ripped out, the arcane come into play. The mystery unfolds in exciting, action-paced twists that thicken with each page. As the body count rises and more victims have their essences ripped out, Kara must get to the bottom of the crime while juggling a growing relationship with her partner and the continued attention of a sexy demon lord.

Even better than Mark of the Demon, Diana Rowland spins a wonderful and exciting tale. Rowland's writing abilities have certainly sharpened since her previous novel, as has her ability to overcome some of the small issues in the Mark of the Demon. The summoning world becomes more strongly developed, and the characters' relationships and personalities grow. I particularly liked Kara because -even more than other female characters out there, and more-so than in the previous novel -I felt like I could relate to her somewhat. She felt like a realistic character rather than the perfect butt-kicking heroine or angsty character who was always complaining about something. Kara exhibited a wide range of real, believable emotions that made her a multi-dimensional character.

Kara's relationship to the sexy demon lord Rhyzkahl also progresses (and I was concerned that this wouldn't happen for the sake of keeping mystery for no real reason). I would have liked to have seen a stronger focus on it though and hoped for answers to all the questions surrounding Rhyzkahl -but at least the steamy romance scenes helped make up for it!

A noticeable improvement from the previous novel, Blood of the Demon is perfect for fans of paranormal romance and police procedural. Can't wait for the next book in the series. ( )

Call this "Mark of the Demon 1.5," as much of the story is about mopping up the issues from the first book while our heroine Kara Gillian decides whether she is going to accept the risks that come with dealing with a demon lord. Apart from that Rowland plays a strong hand in terms of developing Kara's internal life. Less well developed is the slew of murders that a killer or killers is leaving in their wake, as I'm not sure that those responsible are well integrated into the plot until too late in the game. My response was basically "them!?" ( )

Kara Gillian’s life has settled down now that the dust has cleared from her recent disappearance. After a month long leave she’s back at work and trying hard to cope without her Aunt Tessa. But, she soon discovers the body of her coworker and fellow officer dead of apparent suicide which unleashes a fresh wave of arcane horrors.

Only she can see the mysterious rending of his essence, or life force, from his body leaving her to question if in fact he wasn’t murdered. Soon other bodies begin piling up with their essences ripped away just as unnaturally from their bodies, each escalating in its grotesque violence. Unable to fathom what creature could be capable of consuming essences Kara is once again in need of help only a demon can provide.

But, it’s not only the odd murders have her thoughts buzzing. It would appear her aunt applied a thick layer of the deadly wards to protect her library where she keeps all of her books on the arcane, a room where Kara is certain the answers to how to return her aunt’s missing essence as well as clues to what could be doing this new round of killings. Unable to open the wards, she invokes the help of a reyza demon, but when the wards come down all hell begins breaking loose in the city as mysterious creatures begin showing up seemingly stalking her, or is it Agent Ryan Kristoff htat's being stalked?

Anxiously looking for answers she seeks the council of Lord Rhyzkahl who comes with his own price-be his personal summoner.

In this second novel in the Kara Gillian--Demon Summoner series by Diana Rowland, we are once again catapulted into the world of the arcane. But, it’s not the overly supernatural world of other series. This one pulses with the mundane reality as we know it with a slight tinge of the paranormal, where demons are able to summoned to offer aid and knowledge by those proficient at shaping and controlling essence. Though demon is contextually synonymous with Hell, these creatures aren’t evil…exactly. But, neither are they good. They are restrained by a strict honor system, but in this novel we are shown how flexible that system is by Kehlirik, a reyza demon Kara has summoned in the past. While he doesn’t exactly betray her, he also doesn’t take it upon himself to mention a dangerous mushy portal in the library she has asked him to un-ward, a portal that would give him honor and prestige in his own realm. It was something of an eye opening experience, both to her and the reader, to finally see the mercenary aloofness of a demon we were beginning to consider an ally and friend and it leaves you to consider the creatures that are being dealt with. While not exactly brimming in good will towards them, I still really enjoyed the addition of the lesser demons in this book. It added another layer to the story by portraying demons in a less hellish light that was both interesting and refreshing leaving me hoping for even more summonings in the next installment to learn more about them.

The character progression is once again superb in this novel. With lot of emotional snags causing chaos within the characters lives. It gives the sense of believability to them as if the characters could literally step from the pages. While the angst of Kara’s relationship with Ryan is still ongoing and ambiguous in nature it adds yet more suspense to an already suspenseful detective mystery. But, to Kara and the reader, he still carries a big question mark over his head. We are given few clues to what he is or why he is known in the demon realm, but we definitely know that he is more then he appears. Something hinted at by Rhyzkahl on more then one occasion. But, along with these stalwart characters, we are introduced to more of the people surrounding Kara, people she didn’t even realize she could count as friends. Jill returns this time to discover Kara’s secret and Zack also brings some surprises of his own. All are instantly likable and three dimensional without having to be truly indoctrinated into who they are or what their histories are. I was left with the impression of knowing them while still being intrigued by all that I don’t know.

However, while I loved most of the aspects of this novel, this mystery is a little more chaotic then Rowland’s debut novel of the series. The characters are easily confused as we don’t have much knowledge of them and we never really meet many of them. Essentially they are figureheads of the community with the label ‘suspect’ attached to them and most end up with their essences devoured viciously anyway. But, the mystery itself is still tangled and delightfully surprising even without being able to immediately identify suspect A from suspect B.

Despite what little trouble I had with the book, Rowland delivers a true page turner that utilizes urban fantasy with a whopper of a police procedural. Filled with twists and turns on every front even the ending will have you begging for more. ( )

Nice continuation of the subplots, with a great set up for an ongoing series. This mystery didn’t work quite as well for me as the first one, but that could be because I could only read in dribs and drabs due to a crazy worklife. Looking forward to the next instalment. ( )

Blood of the Demon is the second novel in the Kara Gillian series by Diana Rowland and it's one that I've been anticipating since reading Mark of the Demon last year.

Kara Gillian is a newly promoted detective for the Beaulac Police Department in Louisiana and she's just returned to her job after being presumed dead for several weeks. She's still emotionally distraught over the state and well being of her aunt's health plus the fact that the first two cases she lands aren’t typical murders. With her "othersight," a unique ability to see the energy flow of the arcane, she sees the victims have had their essence ripped from them, violently. With each killing the brutality of the murders keep getting worse. Kara's is on her own and at a loss because she's clueless to what preternatural being could be stealing the victims' essence. Kara reaches out to the sensuous, sexy demonic Lord Rhyzkahl for the answers but he wants something in return, he wants her to be his personal summoner. You see, Kara has the ability to summon beings from another plane that have been called demons for centuries for want of a better name. Ryan, a ruggedly handsome, FBI agent and a close friend of Kara's, who she wishes more often than not was much more, is angered when he finds out Kara is summoning Rhyzkahl for answers. A tension develops between the two resulting in a strain friendship.

Ryan and Rhyzkahl are both enigmatic and Kara is drawn to them both. I find Ryan to be the dependable, make you feel safe and secure kind of guy, while I see Rhyzkahl as more of the elusive bad boy type. Kara is tough, strong, and independent but she also has a softer side, one that is lonely and wants to feel wanted as a desirable woman. The romantic tension between Kara and Ryan escalates while the relationship with Kara and Rhyzkahl is still sizzling. Kara has definitely landed herself in a complicated love triangle.

Blood of the Demon has met and surpassed all of my expectations for this novel. The world building is creative and ever growing to show more dimensions that captivates a reader's attention. The suspense and mystery surrounding the arcane murders ignited my curiosity to a higher level with every page I turned, while the intrigue of decadent politics and the seedy rich of Louisiana add a licentious feel to the story. The characters are flawed and believable with personalities that draw you to them. I find myself yet again eagerly awaiting the next book in this series. I highly recommend this series to any Urban Fantasy fan out there; I seriously doubt any of you will be disappointed. ( )

This second book in Rowland’s Demon series is basically the same as the first with a few key differences. First, the mystery isn’t isn’t as easy to figure out. I would consider this a good thing if the suspects weren’t so easy to confuse with one another, thus making the mystery unnecessarily complicated. Secondly, suddenly almost every character either finds out about and accepts the supernatural or has some kind of supernatural gift themselves, which just seems ridiculously unrealistic. Lastly, romance is a stronger subplot in this book. I normally wouldn’t mind this, but the main character’s obliviousness, insecurity, and impulsive, flaky actions in the romance department do not endear her to me. Despite these weak points, Blood of the Demon is still enjoyable, about on the same level as the first book. It’s an entertaining, unique blend of crime fiction and fantasy with compelling characters and more realism than one would expect. Rowland leaves some mysteries unexplained, making the reader want to find out more. The third book has yet to be released, and, while I can’t quite care enough to be impatient, I’ll probably still read it when I get the chance. ( )

http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/weblog/algae-2010-03.html#rowland ( )

Review courtesy of AllThingsUrbanFantasy.blogspot.com

BLOOD OF THE DEMON the second book in the Kara Gillian series (Mark of The Demon, book 1, is available now) about a Homicide Detective/Demon Summoner in Louisiana. It reads like a perfect combination of Buffy (season 6) and The Closer.

The demon was little more than a mist of fog and teeth, barely visible to normal sight. It coiled in slow undulations in the backseat of my Taurus as I drove through the night, the tires of the car humming on the asphalt in low rhythmic counterpoint to the movement of the demon. – Opening line of BLOOD OF THE DEMON

The world building in BLOOD OF THE DEMON is superb. The demon mythology is distinct from most urban fantasy novels in that they aren’t intrinsically evil, at least no more evil than a gun. They are immensely powerful beings from another dimension, more like aliens then creatures from Hell. There are different levels of demons; the higher level demons are more powerful, harder to summon, and exact a higher the price for services rendered.
Enter Kara. She has inherited the ability to see the supernatural world, manipulate arcane magic, and summon demons. Kara is a fantastic new heroine, part Rachel Morgan, part Kinsey Millhone, she's smart and observant, and occasionally losses her temper. She's also been a loner most of her life because of her abilities, and is only just now begun to forge some tenuous friendships; One with FBI agent investigating the supernatural, Ryan (who was introduced in the first Kara book Mark of the Demon). There is a lot of romantic tension between Kara and Ryan, but I felt as though he was fighting a loosing battle when compared to the Demon Rhyzkahl (not to mention hiding some secrets of his own).
I really liked the character of Lord Rhyzkahl, or rather I should say I liked the potential of the character of Lord Rhyzkahl. In BLOOD OF THE DEMON, he is reduced to little more than a booty call--or booty summons--for Kara. He arrogantly throws out threats and we're told how scary and dangerous he is, but mostly he's the demon the girls write about on bathroom walls: For a good time, summon Lord Rhyzkahl! We get hints as to a more significant role that he should play in future books, which are deliciously promising, but I feel like he wasn't fully utilized here.
At its core, BLOOD OF THE DEMON is a well-crafted crime novel perfectly incorporated into a complex paranormal world. The police procedural details are interesting and well placed between Kara's attempts to balance her supernatural world with the mundane and the two men who draw her to each world. The world building, characters, and satisfying love triangle give these books the potential to develop into an must read series.

Sexual Content: References to sex, a scene of semi-graphic sensuality, a long semi-graphic sex scene.

My Rating: 4/5 ( )

Blood of the Demon is Diana Rowland's second book, and the second book in her series about Kara Gillian, a demon summoner and cop in rural Louisiana. (I talked about the first book, Mark of the Demon, here.) This time around, Kara is again dealing with deaths with an arcane bent - this time with someone or something ripping people's essence out and consuming it. Plus she's trying to figure out what's going on between her and a federal agent also involved in the arcane while dealing with a demon lord and trying to recover her aunt's stolen essence.

Once again, Diana Rowland has written a fantastic novel. It's the perfect blend of police procedural and urban fantasy. I love how nuanced the plot is, and how much series development there is. This series is my new favourite to offer up to people who want something fun and smart to read, with a supernatural bent.

Also published at http://ireadgood.wordpress.com ( )