I love this series and now have to wait too long for the next one! ( )

What did I think? I thought it was a great pity that this series has apparently been junked by the original publisher, and the author is having to go it alone and self-publish the rest of the series.

Glad she is, though.

Anyone who baulks at self-pubbed titles should not worry: I noted only a couple of editing errors (no more than in a traditionally published book). The quality is absolutely fine.

This book is an example of what the urban fantasy genre needs: a book with characters and plot. Both at the same time. This is not "romance" masquerading as urban fantasy.

Jesse James Dawson is a happily married man with a kid; he has a job (two jobs, if you count demon-slaying), responsibilities, and a demon who hangs around giving him cryptic hints. He is refreshingly different from the usual "kick ass" heroine (who never trains) who spends most of her time whining about something or other, or offending people for no good reason (being too arrogant to acquire basic social skills does not count as a good reason).

Stewart can write men. More, she can write blokes. Most of my own friends are male, and as far as I can tell, Stewart gets the male viewpoint spot on. It's refreshing to read an urban fantasy novel - other than [a:Jim Butcher|10746|Jim Butcher|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1400640324p2/10746.jpg]'s - that does not treat men or women as sex objects, and allows the possibility that male and female characters can work together without either sex or some kind of gender war going on. Hooray for Stewart.

Some people don't like that in this book, Jesse doesn't kill any demons. In fact, there isn't a lot of fighting. Personally, I think that is because the book doesn't need it. Besides, a series consisting entirely of idiot-makes-deal-with-demon-Jesse-kills-demon would get really, really repetitive after a while. Like, three books. After that, it's really necessary to put something a bit more complex in. This book introduces another character (baddie) and we finally get a bit more information about what might be going on.

Of course, that's going to be really frustrating if Stewart doesn't manage to publish the next book. Hopefully, she will, and I will certainly be getting it when she does. ( )

Oh goodness, what can I say about K.A. Stewart’s A Snake in the Grass? It’s amazing, action-filled, urban-fantasy deliciousness. With each installment of the Jesse James Dawson series, the stakes get higher and I just can’t get enough.

Axel is also back in his full glory. I can’t get into it much here because I don’t want to spoil things, but let’s just say we now know for sure who and what Axel is and it’s wonderful.

Stewart had set this up for a heck of a climax with the next book. Fans of Jim Butcher will love Jesse James Dawson. Long live “The Way.”

Five Freaking Awesome Stars ( )