Sunday, December 5, 2010

Hellforged-Nancy Holzner

Hellforged
Nancy Holzner
Ace, Dec 28 2010, $7.99
ISBN: 9780441019809

In Boston’s Deadtown quarantined zone, Vicky Vaughn is the only local professional demon exterminator amongst a horde of paranormal Americans. After her recent banishing of a Hellion demon, Vicky figures she can take the advice of her sister dormant shapeshifting wife and mother Gwen who tells her to get a life by enjoying her time with her First Amendment rights lawyer boyfriend Kane the werewolf.

However her respite ends when she realizes she is the connection between the recent horrific murders of several now twice deceased zombies. Her concerned Aunt Mab demands her slayer niece go to Wales to obtain training on fighting a Hellion demon. She also tells Vicky she must read The Book of Utter Darkness to understand her part in the prophecies; although when she was a child her touching the forbidden despicable tome led to her father’s death. A stranger arrives insisting he is Pryce her cousin who knows her destiny and plans to use Vicky’s role to bring hell on earth.

With the Human-Paranormal Joint Task Force “Goon Squad” watching her every move, Vicky already feels paranoid, which will exponentially grow as she begins to understand her destiny. Demons, demi-demons and other ilk try to manipulate her, but Vicky is an exterminator; so she begins to fight back with Kane and her teenage zombie apprentice Tina having her back as the action goes global including "to hell and back" (late Medal of Honor winner and actor Sergeant Audie Murphy would understand).

Harriet Klausner

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