Sympathy for the Devil

This was another exciting episode in the Morris and Chastain series. Quincy Morris begins the story in a depressed state after an exorcism goes wrong. He feels guilt for what he feels were mistakes on his part. The priest who was conducting the exorcism and who is a friend of Quincy's was blinded by the demon inside the teenage girl. When Libby has trouble contacting Quincy, she visits him in Texas and helps to pull him out of his depression and self-destructive behavior. Just in time too....

Suspicions have been raised that one of the Republican presidential hopefuls - Howard Stark - might be a demon. Quincy and Libby are being asked to investigate. Libby is brought in when one of Stark's political opponents dies in a freak accident at show more home. Libby smells black magic at the scene and has her suspicions raised.

It seems that there are factions in Hell. One group of demons supports Stark's bid for the White House while a second group opposes it. The second group has returned a CIA assassin killed in 1983 to life and tasked him with killing Stark. He is Mal Peters. He has as his partner a fourth rank demon known as Ashley. Half the story is told from their points of view as they try to find a way to kill Stark.

Both groups come together after an assassination attempt on Stark is thwarted by Libby's actions. But they soon realize that their goals are the same - removing the demon from Stark's body and returning it to Hell before it can cause Armageddon. Only their ways of accomplishing the goal is different. They end up working together in a thrilling climax to the story.

The thing I like best about the Morris and Chastain series is how very real and possible it all seems. The paranormal is interwoven so seamlessly with reality as I know it. The world building is fascinating and well done. I recommend the series to all lovers of urban fantasy. show less

Demonic interference with politics, Morris discovers that the aftereffects of being caught by demon fire isn't good and can cost some people. He goes through a downward spiral that needs Chastain to drag him out of it and they also have to try to work out how to defeat a demon who has Armageddon in mind.

Interesting and I like the characters, they are not all powerful and they do have flaws, and there are times when you wonder what they plan to do next. The bad guys were also interesting and I could imagine them succeeding if they kept going. I enjoyed the read.

Rating: 4 stars

I tried to start this last night and it just wasn't working for me. So back to the library it went.