Review--Demon Bound

JACK WINTER'S DEADLY PAST HAS COME BACK TO HAUNT HIM...AND HIS ONLY HOPE LIES IN THE SHADOWS OF BLACK LONDON, THE SUPERNATURAL UNDERWORLD TEEMING WITH DARK MAGIC AND FEY GLAMOUR.

Thirteen years ago, Jack Winter lay dying in a graveyard. Jack called upon a demon and traded his soul for his life...and now the demon is back to collect its due. But Jack has finally found something to live for. Her name is Pete Caldecott--and because of her, Jack's not going to Hell without a fight.

Pete doesn't know about Jack's bargain, but she does know that something bigger and far more dangerous than Jack's demon is growing in the Black.Old gods are stirring and spirits are rising--and Jack doesn't stand a chance of stopping them without Pete's help...

The second in the Black London series, Demon Bound, was a bit more entertaining than the first, Street Magic. Although having read the first made Demon Bound make more sense.

While the novel is told in third person it seems to come from Jack's perspective a bit more, and we get to see into his head in a way. I think this is why I found the book more entertaining for some reason. Jack is a very interesting character, he has many flaws, but he is working to remedy some of them with Pete's help. Jack is a fun character overall and he is in a deep load of sh*t when the demon returns to remind him his time is almost up.

He tries to keep this a secret from Pete because he doesn't want her to hurt for any reason, he has strong feelings for her--which might have been obvious in Street Magic, but it's been so long I cannot remember. He cares for her, but he can't bring himself to be completely honest which drives a wedge between them that Pete can sense, she knows there is something wrong and it drives her crazy that Jack won't share with her.

When they are assigned a simple exorcism case, things start to go wary, as the demon interrupts Jack to present a proposition for him that Jack willingly takes if it means he has a chance to save his soul. The terms were not clearly stated as such, but Jack is a crafty man and already the wheels are turning as he figures a way out of his bargain. Better yet, he is sent off to find a man that has managed to slip beneath his demon's grasp and the demon wants him back.

Jack flies to another country on a mission to find this man, only he hits several brick walls and people he thought he could trust turn out to be the opposite.

The ending leaves you wondering what is going to happen next, I will admit I got a little lost as to why this "thing" is happening or where it suddenly came from, but it is big. Lots of unexpected surprises turn up in the last few chapters. speaking of which, after Chapter 35, the numbers go haywire it was really weird. Seems like the copy editor slipped up because there are some major jumping around. I was afraid I was missing some pages, but the page numbers are all there in consecutive order, so don't worry about the chapter numbers, the novel still makes sense.

The characters are very interesting in this series because other than Jack and Pete--short for Petunia, you never know who you can trust, who's bad and who's good. Which makes the book slightly more entertaining in my opinion. Jack is still my favorite character for he is nowhere near perfect or 100% decent, but he still has a good heart for want of trying.

The relationship developing between him and Pete was also nice, it was a slow sweet start. Pete is trying to fight her emotions and not fall for Jack even though she cares and Jack is hopelessly in love with her, but cannot bring himself to open up about his deal with the demon, so it puts a wedge between them, as I mentioned.

Those weren't too spoiler worthy comments, so no fears. Pretty much done now. Some things that still left me confused was Pete's role, the Weir? I can't remember Street Magic and I know that's where it probably came up, but oh well. I'll post it on my list once I find out.

Hope everyone has a great New Year's Eve, for however you celebrate. Be safe! :)