Categories: Seal of Excellence Recipients, YA Fantasy, Young Adult
Series: The Daemon World
Publisher: Cantraip Press
Author: Mary Maddox
As a teenager, Lu Darlington attracted national attention when she and her friend Lisa escaped a sadistic killer known as the Professor of Death. She never told anyone about the daemon who saved her life that day. Ten years later, Lisa shows up at Lu’s door, fleeing another psychopath stalker. But Lisa’s not the only one seeking Lu after all this time. One by one, the daemons descend: Voracious Chama. Sinister Black Claw. Beautiful Talion. Chama wants Lu, but Talion claims her. The women of Lu’s family have always belonged to Talion—and they’ve suffered deeply for it. As the human threat draws closer, Talion demands that Lu bind herself to him in a harrowing ceremony that will destroy an innocent man and change her forever—but might save Lisa’s life. Can she navigate the violent intrigues of the daemon world without being consumed by its terrible, all-consuming demands?
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Books in this series:
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Reviewed by Awesome Indies
April 1, 2015
Get that third eye ready, Daemon Seer is a rollicking, dark thrill tide through the mind of one Luanda Darlington, aka the woman who ended the serial murder spree that electrified and terrified the nation. She’s avoided the spotlight, but for how long? The Professor of Death might be dead, but his ghost still haunts Lu in the form of the bestselling nonfiction book detailing Conrad’s exploits. And the writer responsible for the book… he’s haunting her as well.
Lisa, the scarred survivor of the Professor’s final lesson is in the picture too, on the run from an abusive cop. The same cop currently combing the entire lower 48 states to bring Lisa back to a punishing world of sex, drugs and degradation. Lisa arrives at Lu’s door with nothing, except an annoying case of telepathy with Lu.
Plus, it’s about this time that the gorgeous, seductive and irresistible daemon Talion shows up.
Stylistically, Daemon seer flows at a fast pace, with bits of back story stuck into it like bloody shards of glass into a voodoo doll. The narrative is tense, active, and stripped for speed. There are a few points where the speed actually overtakes the reader’s ability to keep up, but keep reading: the thing you’re confused about is going to be explained soon, either next few paragraphs or the next page. If there’s one continual source of confusion, it’s the amnesia box. Not entirely sure how it was developed, how it works, and how at other times it doesn’t.
The characters are realistic as human beings, with description painting them as individuals rather than dialogue.
It was awesome to see the plot progress, and to see how intense the action got. Most impressive is how I thought the various events would be the climax of the story, but then I thought to myself, ‘that can’t be right, there are 60 more pages left’ and lo and behold, the actual conflict continued on to later smash me with another great climactic scene.
The book ties up very nicely, without leaving the reader at a cliffhanger, yet sets up further books in the series well. I’d be intrigued to read the following book in the series and see how events and characters develop, notably with Galen, Lisa and Chama.