Mark of the Demon

Kara Gillian, Book 1

By: Diana Rowland

Narrated by: Liv Anderson

Cop and conjurer of demons, she's a woman in danger of losing control - to a power that could kill....

"Why me? Why now?" That’s what Beaulac, Louisiana, detective Kara Gillian was asking herself when an angelic creature named Rhyzkahl unexpectedly appeared during a routine summoning. Kara was hoping to use her occult skills to catch a serial killer, but never had she conjured anything like this unearthly beautiful and unspeakably powerful being whose very touch set off exquisite new dimensions of pleasure. But can she enlist his aid in helping her stop a killer who’s already claimed the lives - and souls - of 13 people? And should she?

The Symbol Man is a nightmare that the city thought had ended three years ago. Now he's back for an encore and leaving every indication on the flesh of his victims that he, too, is well versed in demonic lore. Kara may be the only cop on Beaulac’s small force able to stop the killer, but it is her first homicide case. Yet with Rhyzkahl haunting her dreams, and a handsome yet disapproving FBI agent dogging her waking footsteps, she may be in way over her head.

©2009 Diana Rowland (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Love Love Love

Any additional comments?

This is great start to a wonderful series. I couldn't download the second book fast enough!!! Great narration as well.

another so so book

I seem to have picked quite a few mediocre books lately. Not so bad that I want my time back, but not good enough that I want to continue with the series. This is a decent fantasy novel and the romance was not cookie cutter so that is good.

Oh, for Pete’s sake, folks, it’s not that much

The way the reviews talked about jumping into sex with demons, F bomb dropping and gruesome torture, I expected a jagged, grimdark, urban fantasy True Detective style. But, there’s only two sex scenes and they’re fairly quick and not detailed much beyond some grabbing of tatas. The F bombs were nowhere near Samuel Jackson territory. Even the mystery involving deaths with torture were more quantity than quality (the dead are rarely given names, much less backstories).

This was instead somewhere between YA and police noir. I liked the way it started more on the police procedural end (admittedly after the chapter 3 demon nookie), and then gradually let us in on arcane summoning, the nature of the demon realm, and the rigid demon code of honor.

I could have used more details on the world (apparently most are unaware of the arcane). This could also have used more action, humor, or a faster pace. But, the final third picked up, delivered a few good twists, and opened the series up for some interesting possibilities.

Series review: This ended up being neither a police procedural nor a romance series.
Books 5-9 brought diminishing returns on a muddled mess of a fantasy invasion arc.
Resolution depended upon late in the game introduction of new characters, magics, and factions.
It gave me the same bad taste as the resolution of the first GoT TV series.

Loved it!

Who was your favorite character and why?

The Aunt

Which character – as performed by Liv Anderson – was your favorite?

The Main

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

How to summon a demon

Any additional comments?

It was a really good book, the audio is nice and easy going. You really get into it.. And the twists are insane.

mark of the demon

book was entertaining, easy to listen to, cant wait to listen to the rest of the series. found out about author on facebook. post about her lawn dragons. more dragons!