Review--Demons of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison

 

Rachel Morgan will learn that the price of loyalty is blood...

Rachel Morgan, witch-born demon, suspected that protecting the paranormal citizens of Cincinnati as the demon subrosa would be trouble. But it’s rapidly becoming way more trouble than even she could have imagined.

While Rachel and her friends may have vanquished the trickster demon Hodin, his mysterious associate known only as “The Mage” is eager to finish what Hodin started, beginning with taking down Rachel’s power structure piece by piece.

When he frames Rachel for the death of a powerful coven member and the vampire leaders in DC threaten to send a new master vampire to take the city in hand, Rachel’s friends Ivy and Pike are forced into hiding, and even her lover, Trent, finds himself under fire. With her world falling apart, Rachel desperately needs help. But with all of her supporters under attack, her only hope is to make a deal with the unlikeliest of allies...

Kim Harrison's Demons of Good and Evil is the 17th book of the series and has been one of my all-time favorite Urban Fantasy series since the beginning! This is a series you will need to read from the beginning as things follow from one book to the next and certain plot threads will carry over. In this one, Rachel has a rogue mage causing chaos in her life and one of her friends is in danger.

The book opens up to complete chaos and it's only the beginning really. The Weres of the Hollows acting strangely and her friend David gets involved but is almost immediately injured. That's about when Rachel realizes an old nemesis is back, Walter is gunning for the Focus that is secured within David as he's looking to become the Alpha Were himself.

When David gets kidnapped from the hospital it becomes an all hands on deck moment, for not only was David in danger, but the rest of Were kind would be at risk too. Rachel must work with David's co-alpha, Cassie in order to find Walter before he can do the unthinkable to David. It's during the rescue mission that Rachel learns Walter has a mage in his back pocket, a powerful one at that who seems to be gunning for Rachel personally.

Soon it becomes a race against the clock to figure out who this mage is before he decides to wreak further havoc over Cincinnati and the Hollows. But Rachel is also being hounded by the local Coven for the spell she cast last go around that put Hodin in his place. It wasn't what you would call an "approved" spell and she might be facing Alcatraz once again for trying to save the city she loves from danger.

All in all, this was an exciting and exhilarating story indeed! I'll admit that I did not pinpoint this mage down at all! I wasn't expecting the reveal that we were given and honestly I'm smacking myself for not realizing it either! Lol. The action and intensity to this book were spot on! It was just the right kind of pacing to keep me entertained! That and having Jenks around to lighten the mood! I love that pixy for sure and enjoy his quips!

If you're looking for a hot romance read, this might not be the book/series for you. While there are the occasional romantic interludes between Rachel and Trent, they are few and far between. It's a book with very low heat being Urban Fantasy where the romance takes a back seat to the action. I remember why I enjoyed Urban Fantasy in my early days as too many of the paranormal books I found before focused way too much on the romance and not on the world saving. So bare that in mind if you feel like giving this series a try! But again, I recommend starting at the beginning as there's a lot of history going on in this series and you kind of need to see where it all started to get the references to certain characters and events.

Demons of Good and Evil was yet another stellar contribution to The Hollows series! I am amazed by how much Harrison can continue to add to this world and all the danger Rachel continues to face! If you're not afraid of commitment, this is definitely a series worth binging!

Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars