Red Fire-Deidre Knight

Red Fire
Deidre Knight
Signet, Oct 2008, $6.99
ISBN: 9780451225382

They were the magnificent seven Spartans of the mighty three hundred led by King Leonidas of Sparta who tied up the powerful Persian army at the battle of Thermoplyae. They sacrificed themselves to give the Greek army to the south time needed to prepare for the invaders. After observing these warriors die for the common good, the God Ares offered the chosen seven soldiers immortality in return for being humanity’s protectors; they accepted without a second of thought.

Twenty-five hundred years later one of the immortals Ajax Petrakos knows his loneliness will end soon as the Oracle has informed him his other half lives in Savannah, Georgia. He immediately travels there to meet Shay Angel before his ancient enemy a malevolent demon abducts her. However, Shay is not helpless as she and the male members of her clan see and hunt demons; she is the first female to be able to see the evil ones. As they come together to fight the immoral demonic djinn, he knows his passion for her is a distracting emotion in combat especially if a prophecy is true predicting death while she sees his dark wings and knows he is not an angel although he seems to offer her love.

RED FIRE is a fabulous urban romantic fantasy in which Knight’s mythos combines the ancient Greek Gods with the Spartan three hundred in a modern day setting. The story line is action-packed from the moment Ajax and Sable search for Shay and never slows down as one escapade leads to another. Although somewhat similar in tone to the numerous urban fantasy sagas inundating the market, sub-genre fans will enjoy this fine opening entry as Deidre Knight makes Greek Gods, Immortals, demons, and demon hunters seem real through a solid cast especially the doubts of the rude heroine.

Harriet Klausner