Review: Darkness Calls by Marjorie M. Liu

Title: Darkness Calls
Author: Marjorie M. Liu
Series: Hunter Kiss #2
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Release Date: June 3, 2010
Publisher: Orbit
Edition: Paperback
Blurb:

Nomad born and bred, demon hunter Maxine Kiss has always relied upon herself to fight the darkness that surrounds her, the predators-human, zombie, and otherwise-who threaten the earth. But one man has penetrated her lonely life: Grant, the last of his kind. With music he is able to control any living creature…including demons. And now his life is in danger.

Haunted by the past, determined to change the future, Maxine soon understands that to save Grant, she has only one choice-to lose control, and release her own powers of darkness.

This is the follow up book to The Iron Hunt in which the author introduced us to Maxine Kiss and the rest of the group. In this one we get to know more about some characters, especially Jack and Grant. There were plenty of questions about what exactly Grant was and why everyone was so afraid of him and we finally get some answers about it, even though I wished more was revealed about him, especially since we only find out more at the end of the book.
We also get some new insighs into Jack as well as things he did in the past.

Even though there's always something happening since page 1, I felt like the book didn't go anywhere. There was plenty of running around/action, but I felt like most of it was unnecessary. Also, I would have prefered to know more about the bad guys before they were dead, not after. I wish Maxine could have gotten some down time instead of always jumping into situations blind. The introduction of Killy, a new character, was a bit rushed and I would have liked to know more about her than what kind of psychic ability she had.

In this book the possiblity of new supernatural creatures is also raised, and while I don't think they are really needed in this world, they do create a new problem for Maxine and co. One of the things I loved was seeing Rose tranform from a crazy homeless person to a kick-ass very dangerous one. The boys are still really cute and deadly, and Zee keeps being my favourite one. Also, the bad guy was really creepy and that was one of the things that made me love to hate him.

I liked this book more than the previous one. There was plenty of action, and while I sometimes though of it as excessive, it did make the book an enjoyable read.


Memorable Lines:

“Please,” Archie whispered hoarsely. “I want to convert.”
“Liar,” rasped Zee, before I had a chance to tell the zombie to go fuck himself. The little demon leaned close to lick the air above Archie’s brow. “Cutter lies, Maxine. He still hungers.”
“He murders,” I said, gripping the remains of the switchblade in my fist as a young face flashed through my mind, bloody and sliced, long brown limbs naked, splayed. Torn doll. Torn in places I did not want to remember. “She was just a kid.”
“She was a prostitute,” Archie said. “She was already prey.”
Dek and Mal, coiled heavy on my shoulders, peered from beneath my hair and hissed at the zombie. Unlike the others, they were built like snakes, with two vestigial limbs good only for clutching my ears. Heads shaped like hyenas. Sharp smiles. Fire in their breath. Archie stared at them, and trembled.

Previous Book:
1. The Iron Hunt - Review

Next Book:
3. A Wild Light

Rating:

* I received this book from the publisher for review.