Customer Reviews

Demons Not Included: A Night Tracker Novel

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

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.

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

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.

Demons Not Included is pretty much like most of the urban fantasy out there. Paranormal tough chick working at an investigating firm. She is of course strong, hot, and attracts men. There are some bad guys causing trouble and it's up to the main character and her team to save the day. I enjoy the urban fantasy genre, and most urban fantasy books are good, but this one has a few things added that takes it up a notch. First, I couldn't put it down. There is no stagnation or boring sections in Demons Not Included. The reader is wondering who the bad guy is, who the traitor is, what the symbols on the floors mean, will the main character come clean with her love interest, and so on. Second, I like the main character. Nyx is strong yet vulnerable. She can get hurt and she has relationship problems, but she is willing to take the blame when things go wrong. I also like that this is a self contained story in which everything is solved, because I do think that while I enjoyed this book, I don't think I'd love the series. The characters are interesting enough for one story, but so much has been resolved that the next story seems like it would be boring. Overall, Demons Not Included is an exciting story about a half drow versus a demon horde. It's a nice quick read with a likable heroine and is full of enough action to keep readers interested. I'm glad a read it, and I think it's definitely worth giving a shot.

Half-human, half-Drow Nyx Ciar may be Princess of the Dark Elves, but she's currently living in New York as a paranormal private investigator by day and Tracker of demons by night. When fellow Trackers are killed, Nyx soon discovers that a Demon Apocalypse is nigh.

Cheyenne McCray has done such a good job with the secondary characters that I like them more than the primary ones. Nadia's past in the Bermuda Triangle sounds exotic and intriguing, and Olivia DeSantos is undoubtedly awesome. Unlike Nyx, Olivia is all-human, and thus her fighting skills and whatnot are even more impressive because she doesn't have magical genes and powers. But she has personality plus, and is great fun. However, the author overdoes it by having Olivia wear T-shirts bearing witticisms. The character is so vibrant that the hokey slogans aren't needed, and thus make them seem lame.

Unfortunately, Olivia is not the main character here, and thus plays second fiddle to the annoying Nyx. At first the Princess's voice is kind of fun, and she's honest enough to admit that she's spoiled. The problem, however, is that she doesn't try to change that. Excluding the fighting scenes, nary a page goes by without a brand name appearing. Everything from clothes, coffee, chips and cat food. And her XPhone, let's not forget. She doesn't just pick up her phone; Nyx picks up her XPHONE, specified all the freaking time. Yes, the phone has more capabilities than just calling and texting, but the persistent and ever-present brand names just make her seem incredibly shallow.

Mind you, everyone consistently telling her how beautiful she is doesn't exactly make Nyx get over herself. Beautiful in human form, beautiful in Drow form, and her skin isn't purple - it's AMETHYST.

And being Drow doesn't mean just being Drow, because apparently that's not enough. Nyx has several kinds of elemental power. The key to creating likeable characters is to make them more realistic, and if she'd only had power with ONE element, that would've been fine.

If the Night Tracker series has a different heroine for every book, this could actually be quite good - the world-building and plot certainly are page-turning - but if Nyx continues to narrate each novel, I don't know if I could summon up the enthusiasm to stick with the Night Trackers.

Maybe I need to keep a list of heroine names separated by author; because for the first few pages I had the heroine of "Demons Not Included" confused with another heroine of the same name (slightly different spelling I think) by another author and it threw me for a bit. Cheyenne McCray's new 'Night Tracker' series began with a bang and, at least for me, ended with a bit of a whimper.

Nyx is a one-of-a-kind gal--half-human, half-Drow. By day she's a blonde human--at night she's an amethyst (NOT PURPLE)-skinned, dark-haired Drow. She grew up living in the Drow underworld pampered by both parents and got her strong will and strength from her Dad the Drow King, and her unwillingness to submit and daytime human looks from her Mom. She's also likely the only Drow female to be trained as a warrior and she can certainly kick butt. However, all these things made her a sort of outcast in Drow society...not that it really bothered Nyx' she'd much rather live in the human realm anyway.

Nyx also has a plethora of sexy, available men--one a Drow, one a human, and one a...something. This first book really mostly sets the scenery and rules for McCray's new series (even though it's an offshoot of her previous 'Magic' series) and introduces the main cast. Maybe that's why I felt a little let-down at the end...because although there is AN ending, it's not an END...is that too confusing?

There's sex (and with more than one character), there's mystery (of the paranormal sort), there's action (all over the place), and there's lots of bad guys and a big battle towards the end. Now, even though "Demons Not Included" wasn't a five-star read for me, I fully intend to follow the series and see where she's headed and what happens next with Nyx. So did I enjoy the book? Yes. Will I continue to read Cheyenne McCray? Yes. Was I a little disappointed? Yes.

Here we go again...if the lack of proofreading and editing were not distracting and annoying enough...this author writes baddly. I sincerely hope that with time this series got better, I won't be checking though.
The writing is teenagery, and the characters are consistent with that assessment. Their imaturity is galling and what is, I am sure, supposed to be an insightful peek into the protagonist's psyche, turns into inadvertent comedy. She is 30 going on 12. She screams incessantly, wasting the breath she does not have, while running furiously towards a friend being slaughtered; the pity fest and guilt over matters beyond her control are contrived and absurd. She dubs someone a *precious* friend, a best friend, having known them for two years (okay let's let that slide), warns them against a guy they are hanging out with and the *best, precious* friend ignores her, pouts and affects anger and irritation. Lord save me from precious friends like that.
We have no basis for her attraction to the human detective, except he is cute. He is also so incredibly dumb he cannot have figured out her *gignourmous secret*: OMG SHE IS NOT FULLY HUMAN!! This is a *shocker*, as she works for non-humans at a non-human agency, investigates non-human crimes and kills and aprehends non-humans. WOW, incredible deductive powers must be employed before the poor man realises she is not-human.
The tall dark handsome guy she is forced to work with is irritating and maddening because he is domineering and arrogant. Well heck, she sprouts from a world where ALL males are like that, a culture she is familiar with, what is her problem, exactly? He saves her life, guards her and she cannot stop bitching.Finnicky and shy and blushing(awe)from a person who has lived surrounded by BDSM and every kind of erotic act imaginable, including multiple partners of different genders...repeat inconsistencies ad nauseum.

If it were possible to rate this no stars I would. I did my best to finish this several times, but in the end, once more, went to Kim Harrison to detox.

In present day New York City, Half-breed (human and drow elf) Nyx and her purebred human partner Olivia investigate supernatural felonies. At night when her darker elf side takes control, she is an elitist Tracker working for Rodan hunting down demons not included in the Underworld.

Nyx and her Tracker peers are shocked when one of her elite teammates is murdered and a human police liaison vanishes. Nyx fears something nasty is coming at the same she mentors a new Tracker Torin, whose essence she cannot read; something she finds intolerable and distrustful. She also hides her attraction to human police detective Adam Boyd, who is working the case; as she assumes he will reject her drow side. As other Trackers die, Nyx panics that the midnight end is now.

Leaving the "Magic" saga behind, Cheyenne McCray begins a new urban fantasy enchantment series with the first Night Tracker thriller. The story line is fast-paced from the onset, yet Ms. McCray introduces fans to her vision of a paranormal New York City through the investigations. Nyx is a kick butt heroine who keeps the exhilarating plot focused on the inquiry into the serial killing of Trackers. DEMONS NOT INCLUDED is a super extremely dark Manhattan supernatural police procedural.

Harriet Klausner

I have to say, that I disagree with most of the posters here. I found this book to be written well (although I do think possibly the editing [typos, name mix-ups] could have used some help). It started off at a really good pace and stayed there most of the time. However, it was nice to have it slow down once and a while and either give us a peak into the heroine's past or add information to the overall setting of the book. and for me at least, tried to flesh out the other background/surrounding characters, so you could understand, why she felt the way she did. Yes, I do agree that it did have a lot of information as it is the beginning of a new character series for this writer. But the ending left me looking forward to the next installment. Also, since this was the first book that I had read by McCray, it peaked my curiousity about her other books. I think if you like a combination of romance, mystery and action, you'll like this book. However, if you don't like your genres to mix, then yes you'll be disappointed. If you need your stories to be wrapped in a nice neat package at the end, again, this book might not be for you. Also, we all shouldn't take ourselves so seriously - these type of novels are what they are, fantasy and a nice escape from the real world once in a while. Sit back and enjoy the story for what it is.

i would not recommend this book at all. It was one of the most painful reading experiences i have had in a long time. The plot itself is somewhat creative, and could have been pretty interesting. But the author used such stilted, boring writing that it was almost impossible to want to contiue reading. dont be fooled by the cute cover art, this book is a snooze. i forced myself to finish it, and it did not improve. There are some akward love scenes that seemed like they were just tossed in.

bottom line, one of the worst romances i've ever read, and the worst paranormal one i've ever encountered. I cant believe a publisher would let something like this go out even. it's that bad.