Review--Devil's Business by Caitlin Kittredge

Pete Caldecott did everything she could to save Jack from Hell, even reigning in the dark machinations of the Morrigan to help bring him home. Still, Black London has not welcomed Jack back with open arms. . . So when a friend in Los Angeles asks for help tracking a sorcerous serial killer, Pete and Jack decide a change of scenery couldn’t hurt. . .

But the shadow side of the City of Angels turns out to be more treacherous than they ever imagined. Together, Pete and Jack must navigate a landscape teeming with hostile magic-users— and fight an unknown enemy. When their investigation leads to a confrontation with the demon Belial, Jack learns that he wasn't the only thing to escape from Hell. Now it’s up to him and Pete to track and eliminate an evil older than the Black itself—before it turns L.A. into Hell on Earth. And destroys life as they know it back at home…

WARNING! SPOILERS FROM BONES GODS ARE PRESENT!

Devil's Business is the latest in Caitlin Kittredge's Black London series, and this time Pete and Jack head for LA! Jack was told to leave London because of his past misdeeds and Pete is told to leave as well. Perfect timing for an acquaintance to call Pete up asking for her help with a case. Jack is reluctant to go but seeing as he has to leave the country and that's where Pete's headed he follows along.

A pregnant woman was mutilated and killed, with her unborn baby missing as well. It's obviously a demon, but which demon remains to be unseen. And with Pete being pregnant herself, there's this unspoken connection she has with the case. She wants to find the demon who's doing this and stop him once and for all.

But of course, this is more Jack's story. As it seems to be running now, if I remember right, the first book was more with Pete as the third person narrator, but lately it's Jack! And Jack is quite the character. Completely flawed, but yet he still tries to do the right thing. He's used and abused drugs, tangled with dark magics and demons, yet he still has a caring heart. And he too feels like he needs to be a better man since he's the father of Pete's child. He wants to be better than his own father, but he feels like he'll be a failure. So there's definitely a lot of self-growth there for him.

There were quite a few scheming demons in this story as well. It was hard sometimes to figure out who was the lesser evil, since they are demons none of them are good. They all have their own schemes and they all want Jack to be their posse and use him for their sinister purposes. And of course there are threats to Pete which causes him to act. It sort of comes down to wanting to rule the world and bring hell on earth while others don't want that necessarily and want to put an end to the other "worse" demons. Confusing to explain, but reads pretty well.

Jack will do whatever it takes to get himself out of the demon's plans, even if it means working with them temporarily. Especially when Pete's life--and their kid's--is at stake.

Overall it was an okay read. At times my mind did kind of wander, I think it has something to do with the world building. I have a hard time trying to keep track of all its rules and how things just "are". And I'm not 100% sure if this was the last book or not. It had an ending that feels like it can go either way.

Overall rating 3.5/5 stars