Kate Connor put demon hunting aside when she settled down with childhood sweetheart (and co-Hunter) Eric and began a family. Fifteen years later she has two children - fourteen year old Allie, and toddler Timmy, the son of her second husband. Stuart, an aspirational politician, knows nothing of her true past, which is how Kate wants it. So when she fist senses a demon in Wal-Mart, Kate dismisses her suspicion. Until another demon attacks her in her kitchen. Now Kate has to uncover why demons have taken root in her formerly quiet town, what they want, and who's behind it, all without alerting her husband and while continuing to run a busy household.
The first in a series, Carpe Demon is fresh and engaging. Kenner's voice is amusing and light, and her heroine is no helpless victim. The back story is well integrated into the general plot rather than being presented in a data chunk and the story is - at least within the confines of the genre - realistic and believable. That someone close to Kate is the mastermind is evident relatively early on, and though I guessed who quite a lot earlier than Kate did, the clues were subtle and the red herrings likely.
There's a nice thread of sarcasm and irony, not typical in paranormal novels (particularly from the allegedly irony-free States), and unlike many fantasy worlds, Kate's domestic responsibilities don't magically vanish just because she's got some demon hunting to do. I liked her relationship with her second husband, and that she acknowledged the ongoing loss of her first. I also liked Kate's friend Laura, and her negotiated relationship with Allie. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for the sequel. - Alex
Click here for Lynn's review of Carpe Demon.
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