Wednesday, June 3, 2009

The Highwayman-Michele Hauf

The Highwayman
Michele Hauf
Silhouette Nocturne, Jul 2009, $5.25
ISBN: 9780373618156

Max Fitzroy the highwayman is renowned for his killing of familiars. So when feline familiar Aby recognizes she has just encountered Max, she expects him to kill one of her nine lives. Thus she is stunned when instead he asks for her help; not easy for Max to do as his gut instinct says kills her.

He wants her to assist him in removing the demon shadow stuck inside his body since Paris 1758. He has not tasted any mortal pleasures in the two and a half centuries since. However, the pair quickly realize they must find his former partner Rainier who is stuck with the other half of the demon’s shadow if he to rid himself of the blight. The only problem is that his ex associate prefers the status quo of what a demon has given him.

This refreshing “triangle” makes for a wonderful exhilarating romantic fantasy that hooks the audience the moment Aby faces death when she meets Max; ironically she expects him to kill her yet is attracted to him in an ultimate form of tough love. The story line is fast-paced and filled with action, but it is the complicated relationships that turn the world of Michele Hauf into a fabulous read as the audience will wonder if this saga will end the same ways Alfred Noyes’ poem did.

Harriet Klausner

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