Review: Intense and detailed. A complex dance that kept me up late finishing this excellent book.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 27, 2014
Originally reviewed for Tea and Book.Wrap your mind around a post apocalyptic world. The goddesses came to earth and the Demons followed. The only way to save the rest if the world was to set up a barrier capturing everyone and everything inside. For centuries the battle between the goddesses and the Demons reigned. Each in selfish pursuit if their own agenda, leaving the humans trapped with them to suffer the consequences. With the coming of the Demon Slayer the world changed again.Now the Demons have been removed and can no longer access the human plain. The goddesses have left leaving mankind to fend for itself. And yet the barrier remains... the world is a dire place, especially for those with demon blood.Paula Altenburg tells this story in her Demon Outlaws series. It's an intense fact driven story with twists and turns that leave the reader stunned. At times, it seemed like the first two books weren't related even though they took place in the same place and were sequential. But Demon Creed ties it all together. But can also be read easily as a stand alone.Godseeker assassin Creed has passed as full human his entire life. Affable and easy going, charming. His only real goal was to protect his sister, a known Demon "spawn". Now that she is safely married he can continue his quest to find the children that seemed to have gone missing. His path eventually leads to an isolated ranch where a woman's child has been sold. Little did he dream that, that missing child would change the course if his investigation. Or that his mother would capture his heart.Nieve was raised in luxury but when a Demon entranced her into having sex and leaving her pregnant. Everything shifted. Once the adored child if a doting father she finds herself not just cast out of his house but sold to the man who had been bargaining to make her his wife. Now she is little more than a slave, with a gaping hole in her memory. Told by her owner to seduce the stranger asking questions, she finds herself unable to do so. Instead her memory of her son begins to surface. When her master dies, she has no choice but to trust in Creed (although she has no problem trying alternative options).Into the darkness they go, following the trail of the missing children as well as Nieve's son. A very obvious case of three steps forward, two steps back. Every triumph is hard fought. And yet they continue on. Realizing eventually that all paths are leading to the Demon Slayer.It's a difficult world and each day they spend together brings Creed and Nieve closer together. And yet their closeness is eclipsed by the fact that Creed is tracking half demon children with the intention of turning them over to the godseekers and NO WAY is Niece going to lose her son again.Top all this off with a half demon whose soul desire us to gather these same children to her. Loving them in a rather distorted manner. She is willing to bargain with demons to get her way and the demon she funds wants one thing, Nieve.Like I said before, intense and detailed. A complex dance that kept me up late finishing this excellent book.A great ending to a fabulous series.ShauniThis review is based on the ARC of Demon Creed, provided by netgalley