3 from Harriet

Demons Not Included
Cheyenne McCray
St. Martin’s, Jun 2 2009, $7.99
ISBN: 9780312949600

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

Succubus Heat
Richelle Mead
Kensington, Jun 2009, $15.00
ISBN: 9780758231994

In Seattle succubus Georgina Kincaid remains stunned by the betrayal of her boyfriend writer Seth Mortensen who slept with her best friend Maddie; make that ex boyfriend and ex BFF (see SUCCUBUS DREAM). However, her boss archdemon Jerome is tired of her negativity as a succubus must be upbeat and her inability to suck souls as that is why a succubus lives so he exiles her to Vancouver to work for a less tolerant rival with instructions to perform industrial espionage.

However, back in Seattle, a Satanist cult has performed some spectacular seemingly supernatural events. Several of her peers and paranormal associates have vanished including Jerome. Currently more human than hell spawn, Georgina knows she must act starting with finding and saving Jerome before civil war breaks out over who’s in charge. Also Seth wants a second chance with his beloved to include sex; she considers going for it with her on top since she no longer can suck his soul from him.

The latest Succubus urban fantasy (see SUCCUBUS DREAMS and SUCCUBUS BLUES) is an engaging Seattle thriller starring the intelligent but frazzled Georgina. Nothing goes right for the heroine as she has lost her skill, her boyfriend, her best friend, and her boss. However, instead of wallowing in self pity, she searches for Jerome to keep the political-industrial hell spawn complex from overt hostilities. Although the story line contains too many cul de sacs, which in fairness adds realism to the heroine’s probe, fans of the series will enjoy Georgina amateur sleuth. Harriet Klausner

Dead Men’s Boots
Mike Carey
Grand Central, Jul 23 2009, $25.99
ISBN: 9780446580328

London exorcist Felix “Fix” Castor attends the funeral of his possessed friend John Gittings when a fancy dressed lawyer Maynard Todd arrives with a court order authorizing cremation; the widow Carla asks Fix to prevent the disinterring of her spouse’s body. The spirit remains in his body’s home.

Fix is at the Magistrate Court supporting the contention of Pam “Pen” Bruckner that she has power of attorney for possessed Rafael Ditko. However, Professor Jenna-Jane Mulbridge has a counter claim insisting Rafi is unsafe to free from her asylum where she researches the paranormal. Judge Runcie realizes there are two issues with his legal focus on a review panel, angering Pam and satisfying Jenna-Jane for now.

Janie Hunter wants to hire Fix to prove her husband Doug did not commit the rape and murder that he has been accused of and arrested for. She insists that American serial killer Myriam Seaforth Kale performed the deeds although she has been dead for four decades. Fix knows the MO in the brutal King’s Cross rape-murder is exactly that described of Kale. So he assumes somehow the odious evil came back, but how and where she is stymies the exorcist because he fears a repeat that he wants to prevent. However, Fix’s inquiry assisted by Juliet the succubus and Nicky the paranoid zombie leads him to something even darker crossing over.

This London based urban fantasy thriller contains three prime subplots that grip the reader from the moment the body of Gittings is interred and never slows down as every move the exorcist makes seems increasingly dangerous. The story line is fast-paced as Fix works his inquiries. Sub-genre fans will enjoy his escapades and seek his previous two caseloads (see Vicious Circle and THE DEVIL YOU KNOW). Harriet Klausner