Personal Demon
By Kelley Armstrong

Chaos rules in Armstrong's complex eighth Women of the Otherworld installment (after 2007's No Humans Involved). This book is about Hope (a chaos loving half demon) and her off and on boyfriend Karl (werewolf jewel thief). The formidable Benicio Cortez once helped Hope out of a jam, so she agrees to go undercover and join a supernatural youth gang that's been causing problems for Cortez's multinational corporation (a Cabal - think Mafia family for supernaturals disguised as a Fortune 500 company). Assuming the persona of bratty rich Faith Edmonds, Hope works her way into the gang, participates in heists and soon finds herself dangerously attracted to one of the other members, cute Jasper Jaz Haig. All too soon, Jaz's diabolical plans lead to a shocking tragedy.

The characters are well drawn and compelling. The erotic scenes flow with the story and are very well written. Excellent plot, the villains have to be discovered and everyone doesn't come out swinging. Armstrong excels in depicting Hope's transformations, but new readers might want to read earlier books to get context for all the mayhem.

The Outlaw Demon Wails
By Kim Harrison

Witch Rachel Morgan has a demon after her, but that's just one of her many troubles in this action-packed sixth installment of Harrison's Hollows series . A nice guy, Marshal (the witch from Mackinaw Island), might be moving into Rachel's town and life, but she's still getting over her last boyfriend, Kirsten, whose murder she has yet to solve. Elf politician Trent Kalamack wants her to go to the ever-after on a dangerous mission. Rynn Cormel, Cincinnati's new master vampire and ex-leader of the free world, is interfering in her life. Her friend, former demon familiar Ceri, is unexpectedly pregnant, by an unexpected partner. Rachel's mom has a very dark secret related to Rachel's father and Keasley's true identity is revealed. On top of all this, Rachel worries she may have had a too close encounter with a vampire and soon becomes concerned about her own abilities with demon magic. With the help of her feisty mother, Alice, and her pixy partner, Jenks, Rachel boldly tackles every challenge amid a cascade of plot twists that will delight Harrison's fans.

Love the book, love the series. Answers questions that had been stirring in the under current but the book's main mystery is still unanswered. You don't always get all the answers when you expect them and thats what makes this series fun. Kim's a masterful story teller and has a way of making fantastical characters seem like people you know. If Kim keeps writing them I'll keep reading them.

Mister B. Gone
By Clive Barker

Mister B. Gone marks the long-awaited return of Clive Barker, the great master of the macabre, to the classic horror story. This novel, in which a medieval devil speaks directly to his reader - his tone murderous one moment, seductive the next - is a never-before-published memoir allegedly penned in the year 1438. The demon has embedded himself in the very words of this tale of terror, turning the book itself into a dangerous object, laced with menace only too ready to break free and exert its power. Jakabok Botch, the child of two demons who has inherited his father's two tails, is rendered even more grotesque after he tumbles into a fire and most of his face is badly burned. A violent dispute with his abusive father, Pappy Gatmuss, leads to the pair being trapped by a net from our world. Jakabok manages to elude capture and eventually finds his way to the home of Johannes Gutenberg, whose wife turns out to be an angel in disguise.

I found this a strange book indeed. This fable about good and evil is less than rewarding. The book's format- simultaneously Botch's first-person narrative and his break-the-fourth-wall address to the reader pleading for him or her to burn the book - may puzzle readers. I really did want to burn this book, but I paid good money for it, so will set it free instead. Hopefully the next owner will enjoy it more than I did.

For a Few Demons More
By Kim Harrison

In bestseller Harrison's fifth demon-kicking extravaganza to feature Rachel Morgan, the Cincinnati-based bounty hunter and spell caster still possesses "the focus," a 5,000-year-old demon-crafted Were artifact. With the help of her pixie partner Jenks and Detective Glenn, Rachel must deal with demons and master vampire Piscary, who along with angry Weres, struggle for possession of the artifact. The elf Trent comes back into play and it's a totally different side of him than readers have read before. Ceri, the powerful ex-demon familiar, shows Rachel just how much she respects her and Rachel's pack mate David takes on a major role. A serial killer is on the loose and Rachel's alpha werewolf pal, David Hue, becomes the prime suspect of the FIB (aka the human-run Federal Inderland Bureau).

Action-packed and full of Rachel's persistent erotic ruminations, this tale includes a shocking finale that will leave fans anxiously waiting for the next installment in the Hollows series.

Haunted
by Kelley Armstrong

Eve Levine made a bargain with Fate, and now she's come to collect, sending Eve off on a quest to retrieve the soul of an escaped demi-demon. Playing ghost world bounty hunter isn't exactly what Eve had in mind for an afterlife career, but a deal is a deal. Eve never breaks a promise...even when the cost of repaying that debt turns out to be more than this ghost can afford.

This is part of a wonderful series of books. You can jump books - they are written so you can pick it up anywhere and not be totally confused. Although the narrator changes, the books take place in chronological order, in the same universe with the same cast of characters. A narrator from one book will appear as a character in another. Events from one book will be referenced in others. Some subplots carry on from novel to novel, bridging narrators. It's done very cleverly and there are always characters that you build a relationship with. Another series that I have to order from my local Dymocks. There are also quite a few shorter stories dealing with teh same characters on the web.

http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com