"Shows you what would happen if Buffy got married and kept her past a secret. It's a hoot." - Charlaine HarrisRetired demon hunter Kate Connor must go back to work when she spots a demon lurking in the local Wal-Mart. But she'd better not arouse suspicion. This kind of thing could really hurt her husband's political career.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
What would happen if Buffy the Vampire Slayer got married, moved to the suburbs and became a stay-at-home mom? She'd be a lot like Kate Connor, once a demon/vampire/zombie killer and now "a glorified chauffeur for drill-team practice and Gymboree play dates" in San Diablo, Calif., that's what. But in Kenner's sprightly, fast-paced ode to kick-ass housewives, Kate finds herself battling evil once again. First a demon tries to kill Kate while she's making rigatoni for an important dinner party that her sweet second husband, Stuart, has scheduled—at the last possible minute—to butter up potential allies in his run for county attorney. Kate dispatches the demon handily enough, but she learns that Goramesh, one of the terrible High Demons, has come to town looking for something. Where's he hiding and what does he want? Can she defeat him without exposing her past to Stuart—and without putting two-year-old Timmy in day care? Though Kenner starts off her story by dropping so many brand names the book reads like a how-to manual for product placement, she settles down to the action soon enough, and readers will find spunky Kate hard not to root for in spheres both domestic and demonic. Film rights sold to 1942 Pictures and Warner Brothers. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"I loved Carpe Demon! Ninety-nine percent of the wives and moms in the country will identify with this heroine. I mean, like who hasn''t had to battle demons between car-pools and playdates?" - Jayne Ann Krentz
"A blend of sophistication and wit that has you laughing out loud!" - Charlaine Harris
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
"A blend of sophistication and wit that has you laughing out loud!" - Charlaine Harris
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More About the Author
When Julie was knee-high to a grasshopper (an expression that she would like it known she has never, ever used in real life) she informed her parents that she was going to be a novelist, and proceeded to write Kitty Claws, a bestselling book about a cat as Santa. (The book sold out its entire print-run of one, so lets not split hairs about that "best-selling" thing, okay?)
After that stellar start, Julie continued to dabble in the literary arts, writing short stories on yellow pads that she forced her mother to type, scribbling poems on ruled notebook paper that she forced her mother to type, making up skits and songs that she forced her mother to watch and listen to, and diving head-first into high school journalism, at which point, mom finally got a break.
In college, she continued with the journalism thing, picking that as her major and working at The Daily Texan, the student newspaper for the University of Texas. The idea that she could actually write novels and, oh, buy food too, completely eluded her.
The journalism thing cranked along nicely for about one semester. Then Julie got a job as a production assistant on a movie originally called Splatter, but which was released as Future Kill (and can still be found in Blockbuster and through Netflix), with really great Giger poster art. Julie worked her tail off, appeared as an extra, had a great time, and promptly switched her major to film.
Graduating at the ripe old age of 19, Julie chickened out and didn't move to Los Angeles to become the next Steven Spielberg. Instead, she stayed in Austin and worked as a media assistant until she decided that perhaps law school was the better way to go because, hey, a degree in film slides so seamlessly into law. (Or, more likely, grad school was inevitable and the LSAT seemed doable.) Not one to waste time, Julie took the LSAT in December, and was admitted to Baylor Law School on a full scholarship the following February. Law school and Julie got along great, and after graduation, Julie went to work as a law clerk on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, where she had a fabulous time drafting legal opinions, preparing the judge for court, and taking regular trips to New Orleans on a government per diem. During her two year stint as a clerk, the writing bug bit again, and Julie wrote a stage play that will never, ever see the light of day. Really. So don't even ask.
After her clerkship, Julie decided she could handle moving to the Big City, and she took a job with Skadden, Arps in L.A., where she worked on a variety of cases with some very smart lawyers. After a year, she moved on to smaller and smaller firms (and had a short stint as a production exec at a small film company, thus justifying all those credit hours in college). She continued to work with very smart lawyers, one of whom introduced Julie to Julie Garwood (her books, not the woman herself), and the writing bug bit again.
Though Julie had been dabbling with writing in her limited spare time, she'd lacked focus. Now, she'd found it, and she was determined to write an historical romance. You may, after reviewing Julie's book list, note that there are no historical romances on there. Let's just say that she didn't succeed at that task. Julie did, however, discover that while she has a head for contemporary nuances, the ins-and-outs of historical detail are enough to make her head explode.
The in-progress historical was promptly shelved, and Julie turned her attention to fleshing out a contemporary romance, having decided that category romance was the way to go, since with the demands of a legal job, she'd be much more likely to finish 240 manuscript pages than 400.
Finish them she did, and though she got nice feedback on the voice, the novel didn't sell. One editor, Harlequin's Brenda Chin, returned a rejection letter with a note that the hook wasn't enough of a "sexy premise."
Always up for a challenge, Julie came up with the opening line, "You need a man," which she thought had oodles of sexy premise potential. She just had to find a story to go with the line. Eventually, she did, and Nobody Does It Better, Julie's first published novel, was born. She entered the first few chapters in contests, finaled, and was ultimately judged by that same Brenda Chin, who ended up buying the manuscript. (Which is not the reason Julie thinks Brenda is a really cool person. Truly.)
By that time, Julie had realized that 400 pages were manageable after all, and she'd almost completed a paranormal romance along the lines of The Little Mermaid about a cat who is in love with her master. The Cat's Fancy sold just a few months after the original sale. Both books came out in 2000, along with a second Temptation, and Julie has had at least 3 books hit the shelves annually every since, and now has well over twenty books to her credit, crossing over a multitude of genres, most of which are represented in some way by the clever pictures in the collage at the top of this page.
Praised by Publishers Weekly as an author with a "flair for dialogue and eccentric characterizations," Julie's books have hit lists as varied as USA Today, Waldenbooks, Barnes & Noble, and Locus Magazine, all of which has made Julie a happy camper. Julie is also a two-time RITA finalist, both times for books about strong women (a superhero and a demon-hunter). There's probably some deep meaning there, and if you know what it is, feel free to drop Julie a line.
Julie was also the winner of Romantic Times' Reviewer's Choice Award for Best Contemporary Paranormal of 2001, the winner of the Reviewers International Organization's award for best romantic suspense of 2004 and best paranormal of 2005, and the winner of the National Readers' Choice Award for best mainstream book of 2005. Not that she's keeping track or anything.
Julie writes a range of stories including quirky romances, sexy contemporaries, young adult novels, suspense, paranormal mommy lit, and (soon!) darker urban fantasy.
Her initial foray into the urban fantasy mommy lit genre--Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom--proved especially successful, resulting in a Booksense pick, a Target break-out book, other accolades and honors, and a movie deal. Specifically, Carpe Demon, is in development as a feature film with Warner Brothers and 1492 Pictures. Julie frequently pounds on her battered wooden desk (Salvation Army, $25, gotta love it) in order to urge the project from development to screen. (In Hollywood, these things are never certain until you're watching the movie and eating popcorn.)
Julie and her husband moved from Southern California back to Texas in 1995, and Julie quit the practice of law to write full time in 2004. Now, she lives and writes in central Texas with her husband, two daughters, and several cats. She is an active supporter of Love Without Boundaries. Click here to learn more about the charities Julie supports.
After that stellar start, Julie continued to dabble in the literary arts, writing short stories on yellow pads that she forced her mother to type, scribbling poems on ruled notebook paper that she forced her mother to type, making up skits and songs that she forced her mother to watch and listen to, and diving head-first into high school journalism, at which point, mom finally got a break.
In college, she continued with the journalism thing, picking that as her major and working at The Daily Texan, the student newspaper for the University of Texas. The idea that she could actually write novels and, oh, buy food too, completely eluded her.
The journalism thing cranked along nicely for about one semester. Then Julie got a job as a production assistant on a movie originally called Splatter, but which was released as Future Kill (and can still be found in Blockbuster and through Netflix), with really great Giger poster art. Julie worked her tail off, appeared as an extra, had a great time, and promptly switched her major to film.
Graduating at the ripe old age of 19, Julie chickened out and didn't move to Los Angeles to become the next Steven Spielberg. Instead, she stayed in Austin and worked as a media assistant until she decided that perhaps law school was the better way to go because, hey, a degree in film slides so seamlessly into law. (Or, more likely, grad school was inevitable and the LSAT seemed doable.) Not one to waste time, Julie took the LSAT in December, and was admitted to Baylor Law School on a full scholarship the following February. Law school and Julie got along great, and after graduation, Julie went to work as a law clerk on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, where she had a fabulous time drafting legal opinions, preparing the judge for court, and taking regular trips to New Orleans on a government per diem. During her two year stint as a clerk, the writing bug bit again, and Julie wrote a stage play that will never, ever see the light of day. Really. So don't even ask.
After her clerkship, Julie decided she could handle moving to the Big City, and she took a job with Skadden, Arps in L.A., where she worked on a variety of cases with some very smart lawyers. After a year, she moved on to smaller and smaller firms (and had a short stint as a production exec at a small film company, thus justifying all those credit hours in college). She continued to work with very smart lawyers, one of whom introduced Julie to Julie Garwood (her books, not the woman herself), and the writing bug bit again.
Though Julie had been dabbling with writing in her limited spare time, she'd lacked focus. Now, she'd found it, and she was determined to write an historical romance. You may, after reviewing Julie's book list, note that there are no historical romances on there. Let's just say that she didn't succeed at that task. Julie did, however, discover that while she has a head for contemporary nuances, the ins-and-outs of historical detail are enough to make her head explode.
The in-progress historical was promptly shelved, and Julie turned her attention to fleshing out a contemporary romance, having decided that category romance was the way to go, since with the demands of a legal job, she'd be much more likely to finish 240 manuscript pages than 400.
Finish them she did, and though she got nice feedback on the voice, the novel didn't sell. One editor, Harlequin's Brenda Chin, returned a rejection letter with a note that the hook wasn't enough of a "sexy premise."
Always up for a challenge, Julie came up with the opening line, "You need a man," which she thought had oodles of sexy premise potential. She just had to find a story to go with the line. Eventually, she did, and Nobody Does It Better, Julie's first published novel, was born. She entered the first few chapters in contests, finaled, and was ultimately judged by that same Brenda Chin, who ended up buying the manuscript. (Which is not the reason Julie thinks Brenda is a really cool person. Truly.)
By that time, Julie had realized that 400 pages were manageable after all, and she'd almost completed a paranormal romance along the lines of The Little Mermaid about a cat who is in love with her master. The Cat's Fancy sold just a few months after the original sale. Both books came out in 2000, along with a second Temptation, and Julie has had at least 3 books hit the shelves annually every since, and now has well over twenty books to her credit, crossing over a multitude of genres, most of which are represented in some way by the clever pictures in the collage at the top of this page.
Praised by Publishers Weekly as an author with a "flair for dialogue and eccentric characterizations," Julie's books have hit lists as varied as USA Today, Waldenbooks, Barnes & Noble, and Locus Magazine, all of which has made Julie a happy camper. Julie is also a two-time RITA finalist, both times for books about strong women (a superhero and a demon-hunter). There's probably some deep meaning there, and if you know what it is, feel free to drop Julie a line.
Julie was also the winner of Romantic Times' Reviewer's Choice Award for Best Contemporary Paranormal of 2001, the winner of the Reviewers International Organization's award for best romantic suspense of 2004 and best paranormal of 2005, and the winner of the National Readers' Choice Award for best mainstream book of 2005. Not that she's keeping track or anything.
Julie writes a range of stories including quirky romances, sexy contemporaries, young adult novels, suspense, paranormal mommy lit, and (soon!) darker urban fantasy.
Her initial foray into the urban fantasy mommy lit genre--Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom--proved especially successful, resulting in a Booksense pick, a Target break-out book, other accolades and honors, and a movie deal. Specifically, Carpe Demon, is in development as a feature film with Warner Brothers and 1492 Pictures. Julie frequently pounds on her battered wooden desk (Salvation Army, $25, gotta love it) in order to urge the project from development to screen. (In Hollywood, these things are never certain until you're watching the movie and eating popcorn.)
Julie and her husband moved from Southern California back to Texas in 1995, and Julie quit the practice of law to write full time in 2004. Now, she lives and writes in central Texas with her husband, two daughters, and several cats. She is an active supporter of Love Without Boundaries. Click here to learn more about the charities Julie supports.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
35 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Buffy Got Married,
By
This review is from: Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom (Kate Connor, Demon Hunter) (Mass Market Paperback)
Carpe Demon is an enjoyable read. The setting is modern suburbia, but demons exist and can possess the recently deceased or those willing to ally with them. Our heroine is a retired demon hunter, pulled out of her suburban life to fight a powerful foe.The _Buffy_ influences are evident, but well handled. It is "horror", in the sense of including demons, but there are no graphic descriptions of death, injuries, or foul evil. There is some mention of sex between the married protagonist and her husband, which is discretely handled). The fight scenes are brief. The book is suitable for, tho perhaps not interesting to, a teenage reader. For the experienced mystery reader, the puzzle, clues, and red-herrings will be obvious too soon. This reader found herself impatiently waiting for Kate to figure out the problem at several points. I found the the setting and the situations a bit too akin to Buffy and the underlying puzzle weak. I'd recommend it as beach reading from the library or used book bin, but not at full price.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
a few belly laughs but I wanted it to be better, overall,
By
This review is from: Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom (Kate Connor, Demon Hunter) (Mass Market Paperback)
A fun read that starts out better, much, than it finishes. Story threads are pretty abruptly wrapped up. Early scenes are especially funny and better written. I enjoyed this, though, I just wanted it to be better. Kinda wished it had been in smaller paperback form instead of the pricer version. I'll get the next in the series from the library.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Teenage angst, child care, and demon killing -- yikes!,
By
This review is from: Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom (Kate Connor, Demon Hunter) (Mass Market Paperback)
Kate Connor thought she'd put her demon hunting days behind her. She'd lost a husband and had a teenage daughter from her first marriage. Now happily remarried with a young child, she was focused on getting her daughter through high school, her son potty trained and helping her husband get elected county attorney. What could possibly go wrong?A senior citizen demon crashing through your kitchen window just before a party is not the way Kate expected to find out that demons are invading her town. Then she finds that budget cuts have severely reduced the demon hunting group and she's basically on her own -- though the church will send someone to do research. So now Kate has to hone her rusty demon hunting skills and pick up some of the dutes the support teams used to do without her daughter or husband find out. But it seems a demon might be after her family and she's going to have to take charge and that might mean bring in some untrained help -- her friends. This books was in turns funny, hilarious, frustrating, and sad. There is so much of a the daily life of a stay at home mom and the problems of everyone thinking your day is your own. Stir in demon hunting/killing, a drugged out senior demon hunter, a husband who is acting weird and things take off. This is not a serious book but it is fun.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
My name is Kate Connor and I used to be a Demon Hunter. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
cathedral archives Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
San Diablo, Lazarus Bones, Boo Bear, Father Corletti, Brother Michael, Coastal Mists, Demon Hunter, Eddie Lohmann, Kate Connor, Happy Meal, Bishop's Hall, Carpe Demon, Forza Scura, Todd Greer, Garre Pemon, Miss Sally, Carpe Pemon, Jerry Springer, Jueie Kenner, Jufie Kenner, Mary's Cathedral, Nurse Ratchet, Pie Kenner, Teddy Grahams, Clark Curtis New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
My name is Kate Connor and I used to be a Demon Hunter. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
cathedral archives Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
San Diablo, Lazarus Bones, Boo Bear, Father Corletti, Brother Michael, Coastal Mists, Demon Hunter, Eddie Lohmann, Kate Connor, Happy Meal, Bishop's Hall, Carpe Demon, Forza Scura, Todd Greer, Garre Pemon, Miss Sally, Carpe Pemon, Jerry Springer, Jueie Kenner, Jufie Kenner, Mary's Cathedral, Nurse Ratchet, Pie Kenner, Teddy Grahams, Clark Curtis New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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- Welcome to Wisteria Lane: On America's Favorite Desperate Housewives (Smart Pop series) by Leah Wilson on page 58
- Wolf at the Door (The Others, Book 1) by Christine Warren in Front Matter
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