When the Devil needs a rogue demon killed, who does he call? The Player: Necromance-for-hire Dante Valentine is choosy about her jobs. Hot tempered and with nerves of steel, she can raise the dead like nobody's business. But one rainy Monday morning, everything goes straight to hell. The Score: The Devil hires Dante to eliminate a rogue demon: Vardimal Santino. In return, he will let her live. It's an offer she can't refuse. The Catch: How do you kill something that can't die?
Review of 'Working for the Devil (Dante Valentine, Book 1)' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
For the whole series: By the gods and kittens, that censored hurt.
Seriously excellent world building, really strong character development, a fascinating look at ethics without truth, and just... damn. An impressive and in many ways resonating construct, but I'm literally writing myself a note to never pick this particular series back up again because the price is so damn high.
And yeah, it gets five stars. Because it does what it does so very well. And because so many of the underlying structures are absolutely beautiful.
Review of 'Working for the Devil (Dante Valentine, Book 1)' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
This book is basically good clean fun-- well, actually, maybe not clean, but certainly good fun.
Dante Valentine is a Necromance in a somewhat alternate future, where Necromance is a respectable profession with a guild and a uniform. Supposedly Necromances earn their bread by identifying remains and reanimating the occasional corpse to settle any disputed wills or question dead witnesses. I say supposedly, because Dante isn't interested in anything so boring and gets herself pulled into hell in the first chapter, where, as the title hints, she finds herself employed by Lucifer, and with an unwilling prince of hell leashed to her as a familiar.
Honestly, that may sound mildly farcical, and at times the book flirts with the edge of too much (the part where it turned into wingfic was the part where I had to stop to roll my eyes) but that's part of its charm. Dante's distinctive, …
This book is basically good clean fun-- well, actually, maybe not clean, but certainly good fun.
Dante Valentine is a Necromance in a somewhat alternate future, where Necromance is a respectable profession with a guild and a uniform. Supposedly Necromances earn their bread by identifying remains and reanimating the occasional corpse to settle any disputed wills or question dead witnesses. I say supposedly, because Dante isn't interested in anything so boring and gets herself pulled into hell in the first chapter, where, as the title hints, she finds herself employed by Lucifer, and with an unwilling prince of hell leashed to her as a familiar.
Honestly, that may sound mildly farcical, and at times the book flirts with the edge of too much (the part where it turned into wingfic was the part where I had to stop to roll my eyes) but that's part of its charm. Dante's distinctive, somewhat brash personality carries the first person POV, the pace is rollicking and non-stop, and the writing is technically adept, so if you're willing to hear about the adventures of a gun-toting orphaned bisexual necromancer with a demonic familiar and the first name Dante, you're probably going to let the slight over-the-topness go.
As I require, or at least STRONGLY REQUEST, in books dealing with demons, there are at least some theological underpinnings. Not anything the pope would endorse (somehow, I don't think this has an imprimatur) but at least not utter nonsense.
Also, seriously, Saintcrow's books have the nicest covers I've yet found in the girl-demon-hunter genre. Finally, a book where the heroine's badassness is not signalled with a glimpse of her lower-back tattoo.
