ARC Review: Darkness Calls - Marjorie M. Liu

Haunted by the past, determined to change the future.

Nomad born and bred, demon hunter Maxine Kiss has always relied on herself to fight the darkness that surrounds her, and the predators - human, zombie and otherwise - who threaten the earth.  One man has managed to get through her protective isolation, but Grant isn't just special to her.  He's the last of his people, and can use music to control any living creature... including demons.  And now that they've found him, his life is in danger.

Maxine follows Grant's trail through night-bound cities and underground clubs, ending up in an ice palace lost in a fold of time.  She comes to understand that to save Grant, she has only one choice - to lose control, and release her own powers of darkness.  But a great evil is coming, and Maxine has more to lose than love.

Hunters Kiss Series:
Hunters Kiss (companion story available in the anthology Wild Thing)
The Iron Hunt
Darkness Calls
Armor of Roses (novella in the Inked anthology)
A Wild Light

For more information visit the Marjorie M. Liu's website

Review:
Darkness Calls is the second book in the Hunters Kiss series by Marjorie M. Liu and I was looking forward to spending more time with Maxine and her "boys".  I really enjoyed the first book The Iron Hunt but in my opinion Darkness Calls was even better.  I like the fact that Maxine doesn't know the full extent of her powers and that we are discovering things alongside her.  Although I enjoyed The Iron Hunt I did find myself getting confused by some of the plot twists but Darkness Calls was a much smoother journey and I didn't want to put the book down.

Maxine is a unique heroine and I love her "boys" - the demons who are there to protect her.  During the day they magically attach themselves to her body in the form of tattoos and protect her from any harm - they can stop a bullet or any other weapon which comes in very handy if you're a demon hunter.  At night the 5 boys Zee, Aaz, Raw, Dek and Mal peel from her skin and come to life - at times like children they are affectionate to Maxine and love to chew on teddy bears but they are also deadly fighters who will protect her no matter what.

We get to learn a lot more about Grant and his musical abilities in this book which is something I was hoping for after reading The Iron Hunt.  Maxine obviously loves him deeply but she worries about putting down roots and the fact that the demons could use the people she cares about to get to her.  It was nice to see Maxine's friends rally around her in this book though and I can't wait to read the next book in the series A Wild Light.

Source: Thanks to Orbit for sending me this review copy

Other Reviews:
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