Devil's Punch: A Corine Solomon Novel [Mass Market Paperback]

Ann Aguirre (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 3, 2012 | Series: Corine Solomon Novel (Book 4)

The power swelled inside me, burning, hurting, but I let it center me. Pain means I'm still here, fighting. I envisioned it swelling in my hand in a seething rush, gathering, gathering, and then I sent it out on my resolve like a dark and winged thing riding the magickal wind.

As a handler, Corine Solomon can touch any object and learn its history. Her power is a gift, but one that's thrown her life off track. The magical inheritance she received from her mother is dangerously powerful, and Corine has managed to mark herself as a black witch by dealing with demons to solve her problems.

Back home, Corine is trying to rebuild her pawnshop and her life with her ex Chance, despite the target on her back. But when the demons she provoked kidnap her best friend in retaliation, Corine puts everything on hold to save her. It's undoubtedly a trap, but Corine would do anything to save those she loves, even if it means sacrificing herself...

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Aguirre has a gift for creating strong characters who keep her readers coming back for more." --Publishers Weekly

"Outstanding and delicious. I can't wait to see what [Aguirre] comes up with next."
-NYT Bestselling author Patricia Briggs

"¡Muy caliente!"
--NYT Bestselling author Rachel Caine

“I can’t wait to see what [Ann Aguirre] comes up with next.”

“Urban Fantasy fans will want to get drunk on this series… [it] just keeps getting better.”

“Aguirre has a gift for creating strong characters who keep her readers coming back for more.”

About the Author

Ann Aguirre is a USA Today bestselling author who lives in Mexico with her husband, children, two cats, and one very lazy dog. She writes SFF, romance, and YA. Visit her online at annaguirre.com.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Roc; Original edition (April 3, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451464494
• ISBN-13: 978-0451464491
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 4.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #705,930 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

USA Today bestselling author Ann Aguirre has been a clown, a clerk, a savior of stray kittens, and a voice actress, not necessarily in that order. She grew up in a yellow house across from a cornfield, but now she lives in a terracotta adobe house with her husband and children. In this guise, she writes SF, UF, and YA.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly imaginative and utterly heartbreaking April 8, 2012

By Maja @ The Nocturnal Library

Format:Mass Market Paperback

How far would you go to save your best friend? If you're anything like Corine Solomon, you would take a one-way ticket to hell without a second thought.

This is my tenth book by Ann Aguirre, and she has yet to write a single sentence that I won't like. From her restrained writing style to her astonishing worlds, everything she does demonstrates calmness, precision and experience not many authors have.

My relationship with Corine Solomon got off to a rocky start. Just like Sirantha Jax, she was insufferable at first, mildly infuriating later and a role model by the end. Not that we got to see much of Corine this time around, as she was sharing her body with a vicious demon queen. She was mostly in the background, a helpless spectator in her own life, and even when she found the strength to push the queen down, she was rarely the Corine I know and love. She and the queen started out as complete opposites, one gentle and mellow, the other evil incarnate, but the lines started blurring pretty soon and suddenly I had no idea where one ends and the other begins. Just like Chance, I was unsure about her actions, constantly wondering which part was Corine, and which the demon queen. If that isn't proof enough of superior writing skills, I don't know what is.

I adore that Aguirre toys with the genre, stepping in and out as she sees fit and abandoning it altogether when the need arises. Hell Fire, book two in the series, was really a small-town horror story, compelling, utterly creepy and so much better than the small town horror story that won 2011 GoodReads choice award. That's when it became clear that the author refuses to be confined by the genre and it was around that time that I started worshiping the ground she walks on... with much dignity, of course. ;) She took a step back with the third book, Shady Lady, which was a real urban fantasy if I ever read one. It was, at that moment, the best one of the series. I loved an impossible man together with Corine, I suffered with her, I fought right alongside her and I cried when she lost the things she valued most. I thought it would be a hard one to top, and it was, but I might have underestimated Aguirre's ability to surprise her readers. She wrote a book so unlike Shady Lady, or any of her books for that matter, that it's simply impossible to compare them.

Flirting with high fantasy did wonders for this series. The second Corine and Chance jumped (literally, they jumped) into the demon realm, my jaw dropped and that's where it stayed. From the gate and the sacrifice the crossing required to Xibalba, a huge demon city they ended up in, every single detail was in its place. The demon queen's palace was as real to me as my own back yard, and the creatures that gathered there will feature in my nightmares for a long time to come. I've said this before, but it deems repeating: nobody builds worlds like Ann Aguirre. Each one is a work of art, but when the time comes to destroy them, she shows no mercy. I think that's what I appreciate the most.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Lost in Hell August 27, 2012

By Mycroft

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Since Blue Diablo I have awaited each new installment of Corine Solomon's adventures with baited breath. I should have watched Survivor or some other pointless television show. Devil's Punch is a dreary never-ending whine about lost love and demon life. No wonder they call it hell, if I had to listen to this all of the time I'd find a way to jump ship. I never liked the character Chance and am happy he's met an end although there are signs he'll make a come back. If you find Harlequin Romances too challenging this is just the thing. So long Binder don't hurry back.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars She's that good of a writer April 10, 2012

By Under The Covers Book Blog

Format:Mass Market Paperback

Devil's Punch
Reviewed by Ann & posted at Under the Covers Book Blog

I would love to have Corine Solomon as a friend. When she learns that her best friend, Shannon has been taken by the demons she has provoked, Corine makes no hesitation as she sets her plans in motion to get her back. She is loyal and kind, and although her life right now is still murky, she knows that she has people in her life that are worth fighting for.

DEVIL'S PUNCH begins in Mexico, where Corine and Chase are trying to work their relationship out. Chase has been giving Corine her space, but I have to say that I loved how he was able to convey his feelings without smothering her. Those tender kisses and longing glances really solidified the fact that he really does care about her and what happens between them. I loved the glimpses into his past and really wished there was more of that because I enjoyed more of his character that way.

Though the book starts off in Mexico, it doesn't really stay that way. Early on, Corine's journey to find her best friend takes them out of Mexico and into Sheol, or Hell. I found that the pacing was good. There wasn't a moment that dragged for too long. I thought that that was noteworthy because in most of Ann's books, she is able to move the story on smoothly while punching you in the teeth. She's that good of a writer.

Another nice thing about this book is the action. Aguirre incorporates interesting mythology while making it her own. I noticed that Aguirre's writing style isn't flashy and yet it still manages to hold my attention. But don't get me wrong, the action is in no way subdued. There are demons, so there is no way that this book could be passed up!

Interesting things occur in this book that makes me eager to read the next book in the series, AGAVE KISS. I can't help but wonder what Aguirre has in store for her readers next!

*Review Copy provided by author