Mark of the Demon

Mark of the Demon isn’t your average urban fantasy novel; instead it is a brilliant mix of police procedural and urban fantasy all rolled into one. The story itself is dark, focusing on a serial killer by the name of the Symbol Man. After years of being dormant, he returns to the lime light leaving a gruesome trail of bodies in his wake. Kara Gillian, a freshly promoted homicide detective, is given the lead on the case, but her investigative powers aren’t the only asset she’s bringing to the table. She’s also a summoner, a caller of demons that can sense the arcane which permeates the victims. Unable to tell the other detectives about what she knows she is happy to discover when an FBI agent who is assigned to assist her in the show more case can also see the minute traces left on the bodies. Between the two of them they find that the real motivation behind the killings is more horrific and insane then they could have imagined.

As if dealing with a lunatic serial killer isn’t enough, Kara also has her own demonic problems, in the form of Rhyzkahl, a Demon Lord. Unlike lesser demons, Lords do not like being summoned into our sphere. As an honor bound species they feel that is the highest insult to their class and often kill the one guilty of such an offense. When a summoning of a lesser demon goes awry Kara comes face to face with her greatest nightmare, a very angry Demonic Lord. Only narrowly does she escape his wrath, but being the beautiful creature he is, she can’t deny his pleasure. With a lingering offer to call him to her again, she is baffled and mollified by her stupidity and is only more stricken when Rhyzkahl begins showing up in her dreams luring her to call him, an act that would leave him unbound and free to terrorize and enslave our world.

But, only as she begins to slowly piece together the mystery of whom the Symbol Man is and the horrible purpose to his murders does she begin to see how connected she really is, both by her past and by the Demon Lord that haunts her.

The twining plots in this story really keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat until the very end. It’s a well planned mystery that has a fast pace interspersed with romance and action. The worlds are well built, dismissing the Hollywood world of CSI and showing the sad and slow truth about homicide detectives and how crimes are solved. The arcane aspect of the plot is also made more real by the attention to small details, giving the reader information to help the world come to life. Briefly you are introduced to the demon hierarchy and the customs between summoner and demon, as well as the art of summoning the demons.

In addition to the world being well built, the characters themselves are highly developed. Kara is a feisty detective, ambitious and hard working with a quick wit. But, she is also able to acknowledge and accept any flaws or short comings within her character which makes her seem more vulnerable. But, adding to her mettle, Diana Rowland also demonstrates her ability to let a character grow. FBI Agent Ryan Kristoff begins the story as an icy and standoffish personality. I had a hard time coming to like him until he began to thaw towards Kara and we find that he is much the same as her. Hiding his ability to use Othersight, a way of seeing the arcane, he also is cut off from the ‘normal’ world. In the end, he is a very interesting character and the blossoming relationship between the two is tentative and more likable for it.

And as with any great story, the conclusion of this mystery leaves you craving more-to understand the undiscovered talents of the characters and to continue to see how the relationship between Kara and Ryan evolves as well as how her relationship between the Demon Lord Rhyzkahl will change. show less

RATING: 4 stars!

This one should have a Goodreads shelf all to itself named "what urban fantasy should be but often isn't". No, really. I enjoyed this book a lot; it wasn't outstanding in terms of plot, world or characters (it's still only the first book, though), but overall it was pretty good on all three aspects.

Kara Gillian is a detective... and a summoner. She calls on beings from a different realms and works spells with arcane magic.

She lives a moderately normal life (for a summoner, that is) until she transfers to the violent crimes unit. A serial killer is on the loose and it looks like he knows some magic too.

This first book in the Kara Gillian series was pretty enjoyable. The author balanced mystery, paranormal elements and show more some romance pretty well and in the end she had an engrossing read. I was never bored. Of course there was this one character that annoyed me a bit, but overall it was good.

What was good:
- the nice mystery plot: it was much more developed than mystery plots usually are in these kinds of books and it wasn't just about the 'paranormal angle'. It was refreshing.
- good pacing: I repeat, I was never bored.
- the heroine that wasn't tough but also wasn't a whiner: she was actually quite likable.
- the mysterious paranormal hot guy who wasn't totally annoying: I adored Rhyzkahl's 'otherness'. He was a bit typical of paranormal male leads, sure, but also cool. Just... cool.
- the hot, sexy scenes that didn't take over the entire story (read: nice balance, romance didn't turn this into a paranormal romance parading as urban fantasy). Enough said.
- an interesting world (still not well developed, but as I said: first book).

What wasn't so good:
- the somewhat annoying male that will be part of a love triangle (BUT he wasn't too bad, which is good): the FBI agent was not needed really. :P
- the cookie-cuter villain: the bad guy was so boringly evil. Mwahahah evil.
- the heroine's aunt was annoying: a bit too out-there and very stereotypical of the ditzy character. I didn't like her much.

Overall: thumbs-up! xD show less

Some people go gung-ho over angel UF, my thing is the darker stuff. Reeling from my encounter with the Hollows series, where the books carved a permanent place in my psyche, I itched for more demon themed Urban Fantasy stuff. Not easy to find done well, especially since so much of it is poorly done Paranormal Romance stuff that I have no interest in reading.

Mark of the Demon did scare me with its beginning. Jumps into a sex scene in the very beginning, which usually turns me off, and I worried dullness/cheapness would follow. Thankfully that's not the case as the sex scene that popped up so soon is promptly shut in the closet and hidden. The rest is pure story, thankfully with the absence of senseless nookie.

This one holds a unique show more touch - a blend of urban fantasy with the investigative crime scene. Sure all of them have mysteries and many heroines are in law enforcement of sorts, but this one more so. She's a homicide detective working her first case involving a serial killer in a small town of Louisiana, along with a yummy FBI agent who grows on you, forensics, morgue trips, you name it. The book focuses as much on police procedure as it does the arcane magic she investigates.

Kara is a genuinely likeable heroine - tough but flawed and insecure, not beautiful at all but yearning to have companionship, having to hide a large amount of what she is and can do to avoid enduring small town ignorance. Rhyzkahl was awesome - powerful, sexy, terrifying, and you never know where you stand with him. At first it seemed she was very valuable, then almost like she wasn't, so I suppose other books will fill in more of the secrets so I can finally catch on.

I'm a character-orientated gal, so this book totally works in that respect. Plot wise it's different, edgy, dark and demented. The ending was incredible, and there's nothing light and fluffy about this story and the evil man they're investigating. Again, awesome. show less

The friend who lent me this novel commented that one of the fine things about it was how well grounded in ordinary life it is. Detective Kara Gillian is just a normal policewoman, except for the small matter that she has the vocation of calling demons. Yes, the core of the story is about how she inadvertently calls a demon lord, and thus finds herself sucked into an ever accelerating series of serial killings, which tie into a family inheritance of a past summoning that went very wrong, but that the story is so well-grounded in lived-in detail that the sense of place and way of life almost overshadows the fantasy elements. This is not to mention that the costs involved in dealing with the looming menace are very high indeed, and very show more poignant. The interesting question will be whether the author can one-up this book, having obviously poured so much of herself into it. show less

Now I typically don't dig on romance in my UF or paranormal, but I made an exception here. There is plenty of action, demons, and a hunt for a serial killer that made this a superb mixture of urban fantasy and police procedural, so a wee bit of HOT romance scenes didn't put me out at all. It probably also helped that Diana Rowland can write superb HOT romance scenes.
This was an excellent mixture of UF and a thriller with the hunt of a serial killer. Neither the paranormal story or the thriller mystery got lost to the other, the complemented the other. I am not sure I've read one like this before. And I really hope the next in the series, BLOOD OF THE DEMON, is more of the same.
What I dug even better was the ending...the WTF?? moment show more when the killer was revealed...whoa....did NOT see that coming at all and I liked that!
Five whoa beans..... show less

Diana Rowland loves gore and guts. She must have worked in a morgue or have friends/relatives who have. This is the second book I have read by her, both different series, and both with coroners' offices and some gory descriptions. This book isn't anywhere near as descriptive (of gore) as My Life As A White Trash Zombie (due to its brain focus), but with an extremely active seriel killer into torture - there's still plenty!

I felt there were a few anomolies and holes in the mystery and relationship elements, however I satisfied myself by railing at the characters obtuseness or inconsistencies.

Narrated by Liv Anderson
4 stars
Whilst Liv delivered a good and consistent narration, I missed the deep south accent for Kara, the main character. show more Perhaps this was a decision to ensure consistency, but having previously listened to My Life As A White Trash Zombie where Alison McLemore really nailed that aspect, it just fell a little short. show less

I just want to squeal about how much I adored this book. It has been on my TBR shelf for years, literally. On a whim, I pulled it off the shelf and I can't emphasis how glad I am to have done so. This book is the first that I have read that really does a top notch job of mixing police investigation/CSI type storytelling with the paranormal. The story is about Kara Gillian who gets the lead on a murder case which echoes a previous case from years ago. Is it the same killer or a copycat? But Kara sees something on the bodies that most people wouldn't see. She sees the Arcane or magic. Kara has certain 'extra' abilities. She can summon demons and bind them to do her bidding for a price. Adding to the drama, Kara accidentally summons a show more Demon Lord Rhyzkahl. Rhyzkahl does something very...surprising when he visits Kara.

For starters I absolutely adored Kara. She was smart and funny and just normal, very girl next door (who can summon a demon). She has a little more pudge than she'd like. She is smart as a whip and caring and loyal. I also wasn't a big fan of Rhyzkahl, although I am not sure whether I was supposed to be or not. I did really like Ryan, the FBI guy. But I liked him for the same reasons I liked Kara. He was just an average guy in very non-average circumstances. And he is handsome and witty. The mystery was hard to figure out and there were more than a few breath taking twists and turns. Overall I was spellbound.

I can seem to go on and on in reviews about books that I don't care for but with books I enjoyed as much as I enjoyed this one its more difficult to write a review. I don't want to give a single surprise away. I knew nothing about "Mark of a Demon" other than what was on the back blurb. I can just encourage others to read this one because it is written well, has delightful characters, and shocks and thrills along the way to a very satisfying conclusion. show less