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28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Urban Fantasy Romp, June 6, 2009
This review is from: Demons Not Included: A Night Tracker Novel (Mass Market Paperback)
DEMONS NOT INCLUDED, the first novel of the new Night Tracker Urban fantasy series by Cheyenne McCray, is a no-brainer fun romp that is designed to carry readers from the first page to the last at blistering speed. And the book does exactly that.
McCray has been hitting several bestseller lists with her urban fantasy offerings, and this one is probably going to follow those earlier novels. The sexy, provocative cover caught my eye and the first-person narrative drew me in on the first page. I settled in and read the book over the course of two nights, easily flipping through the scenes and adventures.
The material is easily devoured and understood. McCray's writing is nice and tight, and her dialogue is very natural. There are a number of well-drawn characters as well as situations and barbs swapped between the various story people.
Nyx Caer, the main character, is a half-Drow. She's also a princess, which gives her some special standing in the Drow world, but - as it turns out - not much. Drow women are expected to be submissive. Nyx is anything but. She also splits her time as a human and a Drow, something that has very seldom happened to half-Drow. Of course, she's beautiful either way, but in her Drow from she has amethyst skin and blue hair. Personally, I wish they'd put her on the cover in Drow form, but I suppose that's coming.
Her days are filled with working as a private investigator specializing in paranormal casework. Her human partner is a tough female go-getter that loves the paranormal side of life. The PI side of things feels fun, not necessarily realistic because there's so much paranormal activity as well as a nearly total disregard of danger even though several of Nyx's paranorm friends end up dead. But I checked my willing suspension of disbelief at the cover and had a great time not worrying about the logistics of real crime scene investigation.
At night, in her Drow form, Nyx hunts dangerous demons and other supernatural creatures that pose a threat to humans as well as other paranorms. She has a lot of powers and I enjoyed the forethought that McCray put into their development and how they worked.
The fight scenes as a human and as a Drow are really well done. The author writes very visually and I never had a problem picturing any of the action in my mind. She's graphic and quick, never one to loiter through a scene because she's constantly piling new information into the mix.
The romance angle seemed a little heavy to me in this one. The unrequited love, hesitation over getting involved again after a bad break-up, and miscommunication between Nyx and her human don't really get in the way of the action, but they are definite side-steps to the plot.
DEMONS NOT INCLUDED is definitely light and entertaining, not something that will stay with a reader long after finishing the book. But there's enough going on that I'm looking forward to the next book and I'm betting most urban fantasy readers will feel the same way.
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24 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Paint By Numbers Read (D Grade), July 13, 2009
This review is from: Demons Not Included: A Night Tracker Novel (Mass Market Paperback)
Demons Not Included is Cheyenne McCray's first novel in her Night Tracker series, which has and pretty okay looking cover (if you appreciate a pretty looking fit female stomach) and a heroine with a creative name. Other than that, this eye rolling book is one designated for the land of forgotten books. Five pages in and I wanted to forget what I was reading because it was painful. Demons Not Included felt like a paint by numbers read. There was an extreme case of telling and not showing. Info dumping runs rampant on every page and it felt so empty as if nothing was really put into the writing. Hey reader, look at this, let's tell you about that, insert some snooze worthy action and a few sex scenes for those who like sex in their books and hope you will have a book that will keep readers interested in the next one. In my case, that will not be happening. Some may feel that Demons Not Included is a fun urban fantasy romp, but it simply doesn't work because it has too many faults. Again, the writing seems so stilted and the voice of Nyx Caer, the half fairy heroine grated on my nerves.
Nyx is a princess whose father is king of the Drow realm. Nyx is not the submissive type like most of the Drow females, so Nyx lives in New York City, because it is such a cool place to live! She spends her days as a private investigator who specializes in paranorm cases. Not paranormals but paranorms. Pretty hip lingo, isn't it? Nyx is partners with Olivia, a human with huge breasts (Nyx points this out a few times) who loves to dress in those cutesy t-shirt with phrases on them that you find at stores like David and Goliath and what a sixteen year old would wear. Olivia is definitely not a sixteen. Olivia and Nyx are so very opposite with their wardrobes. Olivia likes to dress down in jeans and sneakers, while Nyx loves to wear Neiman Marcus clothes such as Dior blouses, Hermes scarves, Fendi jackets and Victoria Secret underwear. Also Nyx loves her Dolce & Gabbana hand bag to pieces and her Xphone. Can we say extreme case of name dropping product placement here? And the much beloved Xphone of Nyx's is mentioned six times in the first chapter. Perhaps the title should have been Demons Not Included: The Xphone Chronicles?
Nyx is a trendy half human, half fairy crime fighter who can afford all these expensive name brands because she has more money than she can do with. Such are the perks of being a fairy princess. Nyx has it bad for NYPD Detective Adam Boyd. But Nyx can't engage in any aerobic bed fun with Adam because when the sun sets, Nyx's Drow side comes out and because her ex-lover Stan thought she was freak, Nyx has been scarred emotionally when it comes to men. Nyx looks human during the day but at night her straight black hair turns into, "a luxurious cobalt blue" and her ears turn pointy. Her skin becomes, "like pale amethyst marble" and her teeth turn pointed like a vampire's, but she doesn't thirst for blood. When Nyx fights against the demons that cause trouble at night, she wears a special costume. This costume is a leather pants and a black leather corset set. I can't help but wonder why Nyx hasn't been confused as a sex worker wearing that outfit.
Some of Nyx's paranorm (remember, not paranormal) friends are being killed by these demons and Nyx can't defeat them all because it seems she is the only one available to fight. Nyx has a mentor and former lover Rodan of the Pit nightclub who is also Drow, into S&M and is so very seductive and elusive. We know he is into the kinky side of things because we are told of his spanking bench, toys and naked nymphs in his bed. Nyx is perturbed by Rodan because she doesn't appreciate that Rodan has given Nyx a bodyguard. His name is Torin, which Nyx calls "T" just for kicks and giggles. The amount of times she would call Toran by that letter "T" grated on my nerves just as much as the constant mention of the Xphone.
Nyx is beloved by all and is an excellent warrior in her leather clad body. She is up against all types of baddies but has some big brawny men to keep her in one piece. Not only does Nyx have to keep daddy dearest calm because he is not happy to have a daughter that puts herself into danger, but Nyx has to deal with her feelings for Rodan and Adam. Rodan would sacrifice everything for Nyx. He would be an one woman man and keep the spanking to a minimum. Adam is the sexy human who Nyx thinks is adorable. She is afraid to commit to him because what if he finds out what she really is? Perhaps if Adam sees her in her leather outfit, he wouldn't care if her hair was blue? And what would happen if say Toran stepped on Nyx's Xphone so we wouldn't have to hear about it every other page?
Demons Not Included reads very poorly. I had no connection to Nyx or the other characters in the least. This is one less than hollow ho-hum run of the mill book that has nothing to recommend for it.
Katiebabs
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Demon's Not Included, August 7, 2009
This review is from: Demons Not Included: A Night Tracker Novel (Mass Market Paperback)
The only thing that impressed me about this book is how talented the author was at giving us bits and pieces of storyline-breadcrumbs to read every now and again, while she went on to write about everything else except the plot . This series has the potential for greatness but I doubt anything will really change. It reminds me of the Otherworld series. There is so much potential to take the Otherworld series to a serious level but at the same time there's something really flaky and fluffy about it; and this book is no different. It's a shame, I'm really into drows at the moment and there aren't many good fae books out there that are urban fantasy and cater to adults, besides Karen Moning's fever series and Richelle Mead's Dark Swan series (sigh). Half drow half human Nyx is a private investigator working to help solve vicious attacks on the human and paranormal communities by fugitive demons who escaped their realm. Not only are these escapees wreaking havoc but they are really hungry too and aren't too particular in which species they snack on. This book really tried my patience. Needless to say, I will not be reading No Werewolves Allowed, the next book in the series. I gave this book three-stars instead of one-star because it wasn't all bad. Personally, the boom in urban fantasy books seems replay the same type of story over and over again. Heroine doesn't know magic exist and then suddenly she's shocked to discover it does and she has all this power and it's up to her to save mankind; plus she's usually too-stupid-to-live and over abundantly sassy. Thankfully this book didn't go that route and it was pretty creative with several instances of intellect and intrigue. Contrary to the positives in my review, I just don't have any patience for flaky novels these days. I won't be reading this series but I will give her Magic series a try.
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