Customer Reviews

Hunting the Demon (Demon Hunters, Book 2)

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

 

 

Nic Diavolo, doesn't know that his often absent father is a demon, and not just any demon but a demon lord and one of the Son's of Darkness that rule the demons. He does know that he has disturbing dreams about monsters, monsters that seem to want something from him.

Shay Pearson's assignment is to find out just how much Nic knows about his heritage and whether or not he is or will let the demon side rule. Shay belongs to the Keepers of Light, the good guys who are trying to prevent the demons from committing crimes on Earth. Shay is drawn to Nic both sexually and emotionally making this one of the hardest things she has ever had to do. In addition Shay is having visions about Nic, dark visions.

Add in a brother Nic doesn't remember, a black diamond that both the Keepers and the Sons are desperate to find, and evil forces that want to compel Nic to recognize his demon side and take his place as a demon lord and you have a hot sexy romance with loads of exciting adventure.

This is a great book, better than the first. The chemistry between Nic and Shay was out of this world. I love the way Jaci develops her characters, they pop off the pages and take on a life of their own and I just plain liked Shay better than I did Gina from Surviving Demon Island.

Less of a paranormal/special ops romance, Hunting the Demon also has less of the demon hunting action that made the first book such fun a synthesis of two genres. Additionally by spending time to develop the 'next at bat' couple, Ryder and Angelique, author Jaci Burton ends up weakening the story between our stars here, Nic and Shay.

We met Shay is in the last book,Demon Hunters: Surviving Demon Island (Book 1), . Shay is gorgeous, blond and though she has the drawl, she's no southern belle. She's psychic and collects daggers - oh and she hunts demons. Shay is drawn to Nic even before she meets him, just from seeing him at a distance, he tickles her 'spidey senses'. Everything about Nic is hot. He's bronze, fit and rich, the only drawback is, since he's Derek's brother (from the last book), he's half demon. So it's Shay's job to act as bait, to flirt with him so that the Realm of Light's demon hunting team can kidnap him and find out if Nic's already gone over to the dark side and succumbed to his inner demon.

Shay and Nic sizzle but have a hard time getting close, because they keep betraying each other. First Shay, with her role in Nic's kidnapping. Then Nic, who seduces Shay and makes a real connection with her - only to ruin the afterglow by leaving her tied to the bed so that he can escape. I had hard time with how easily these two forgave each other. Just a couple sultry looks and then they're back all over each other like nothing ever happened. This made them seem shallow and not so smart.

Even though it seemed like there were more love scenes in this book, Nic and Shay's relationship was not as well developed as Gina and Derreck's in the previous book. Part of the problem might have been that thread with Shay's fellow demon hunter Ryder and lovely French archaelogist Angelique pulled the focus away from ours stars at inopportune moments. Shay and Nic's relationship might have felt more intense if their story wasn't constantly being interrupted. Maybe if the switches between the two couple's threads in story were placed differently, it might have helped.

Even though I thought that Angelique and Ryder detracted from the other pair's romance, I really did like their interactions. Burton did a good job of fleshing them out and setting up the next book, Demon's Touch, where they will be the stars. I am really looking forward to seeing these two determined characters butt heads and for tough hard emotionless bad boy Ryder to turn to goo in Angelique's arms. Too bad Demon's Touch doesn't come out until summer 2008, but it will definitely be on my wish list.

"Hunting The Demon" is the sequel to "Surviving Demon Island", a series about a group of people, part of the Realm of Light, who fight against demons (led by the Sons of Darkness) in a traditional fight between good and evil. The first thing about this book to note was that it wasn't necessary to have read "Surviving Demon Island" and in fact the backstory was delivered very well in this book, not feeling over-clunky as can happen and not patchy so that the reader gets confused. I hadn't read the first book but I always knew what was going on whilst reading this book, which is unusual.

Secondly, in this crowded genre of paranormal romance it seems that sex is usually more important than plot in the recent releases. Fortunately this book focuses far more on plot (although there is of course some sex) and, to some extent, on characterisation. Our heroine, Shay Pearson, is part of the demon hunting team and is sent to get close to the improbably-named Nic Diavolo to find out whether he, a half-demon, is evil or good. His brother Derek is a member of the demon hunting group but he and Nic were separated when Nic was eight and Nic was subsequently raised by his demon father, Ben. Shay and Nic get on well but within a day she has to lure him to be kidnapped, which of course means Nic feels betrayed by her. He does his own bit of betrayal subsequently which hurts Shay and from these two significant experiences they begin to form some kind of a relationship of trust.

There's a little more to Shay than meets the eye as she's been having visions her whole life which tend to come true. Shay has visions of Nic becoming head of the demons with the help of the Black Diamond, something that the demon hunters and the demons are both searching. Nic's colossally rich family own a diamond mine in Australia and it's to this mine that the group goes, once Nic has accepted the existence of demons, to search for the diamond and try to stop the demons' plans.

There's an introduction to another romance in this story (one which I expect will appear in a future instalment in this series) which is between Tyler, the demon hunter, and Angelique, an archaeologist tasked to find the black diamond, and there are plenty of fight scenes overall and crawling around caves and in dark tunnels. It's a reasonably written story and the setting in Northern Australia makes a welcome change. Overall the characterisation is a little lightweight but it's a pleasant enough read and rather better than a lot of the books being released in this genre at the moment.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book, [...]. © Helen Hancox 2007

I absolutely LOVE this series. If you've read the 1st one, then so much won't surprise you, but these books have it all---good story, good "romance" and leave you waiting for the one.

The first book was definitely better. I pretty much rushed through this book, it had a hard time holding my attention. The storyline was just not intese enough.

This was a great book. It had a really great plot combined with some great love scenes. The love between the characters was believeable and smoldering sexy. The ending was a little sappy but I loved it anyways. WIll definitely investigate this authors other books.

This second book in the Demon Hunters series is as hot, suspenseful and action packed as the first book. I was hooked from the first page ~ after waiting rather impatiently to get my greedy little hands on this book in the first place - I limited my fluid intake and read the whole book in one sitting - all 417 pages. The members of the Ream of Light that we met and fell in love with in the first book are all back as they try to convince Derek's brother, Nic just who is friends and enemies - the Sons of Darkness are. This book is fast paced with an engrossing storyline, interesting characters, vivid descriptions and erotic romance. Next summer can't come soon enough for the next book in the series, The Demon's Touch with Ryder and Angelique's story.

Realm of Light demon hunter Shay Pearson is assigned to take out demon Nic Diavolo. Her plan is to seduce the hunk until she has him caught in her lure so that she can bring him to his brother. On the other hand Nic is attracted to Shay so he plans to seduce her.

However, Nic has some issues to deal with that he does not understand because he is unaware, unlike his sibling (see SURVIVING DEMON ISLAND) that his father was a demon, making him a half breed. When he comes under attack, Shay stays at his side helping him survive as she knows he is special to her. However, when she tells him the truth and what he believed about his family is a lie, he rejects her fantasy though he wonders what is happening to him.

The sequel to the exhilarating campy SURVIVING DEMON ISLAND, HUNTING THE DEMON is as much fun as its paranormal predecessor. The story line is fast-paced and just over the top in zaniness so that readers will enjoy the latest battle in the war against the demons. Nic and Shay are a superb pairing as the heroine knows that a deadly foe is coming for the half demon; she is confident against the adversary but unsure of how to deal with her new "partner". Fans of wild comic book like paranormal romantic suspense tales will enjoy this engaging encounter in which Shay's "demons" from her past stand in the way of love as much as the enemy does.

Harriet Klausner