Review: A great first book in this series
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 19, 2012
3.5 starsThaddeus Kane is a half breed, part human, part demon. Kane and his demon partner, Chaz, work as troubleshooters for their demon boss, Shalim.  During an investigation into the death of a high school quarterback, Kane and Chaz discover that a consortium of Wizards seem to be more interested in young humans than they should be. The deeper Kane digs into the mystery, the more questions he turns up and more and more kids turn up in trouble. Kane partners with a demon from a different clan to try to solve the mystery and discovers that the consortium is after not demons, not humans, but a small group of beings that if they live past their 24th year are seemingly immortal.  Welcome to a world of witches, demons, wizards, immortals, humans and other beings that live in heaven, hell and earth.Kane was abandoned as a child and left to die when he stumbled into the demon world.  Shalim, the leader of the clan he stumbled upon, recognized there was more to Kane than just being a half-breed and allowed him to live among his clan.  Kane had to fight and claw for any respect he gained and prove to Shalim that he was an asset worth keeping.  Kane is loyal to his clan, more than a little jaded about the worthiness of others, but still manages to hold compassion and try to help others who might not be able to help themselves. Others see this trait in him and either take advantage of it, or think that it makes him weak. I think it is something he fights in himself and is not sure whether it's good or bad.  He is a little difficult to get to know but once you do you soon find he is just a big ole marshmallow under the swagger.  He tends to pick up strays and despite himself, gets attached to them.Along with Kane, we meet a mysterious female demon from another clan, Decible, who is hell-bent on helping Kane find the immortal kids and save them.  Kane is a bit wary of her intentions, but they work well as a team and Decible gives us bits and pieces of information about who she might be, but we really don't ever get to know her well.  She seems to know an awful lot about Kane and who he is, more than she should so I have a feeling we are going to see more of her in the future.  Another of Kane's ragtag band of misfits is Jezrielle, one of the teenage immortals. The consortium has Jezrielle in their sights. She reluctantly joins Kane and Decible in their quest.  Jezrielle is a strong, smart, street wise young lady who had to grow up too fast.  She goes from mistrusting Kane, but needing his help, to grudgingly trusting him and even possibly liking him. Rounding out the team is a nurse named Anne Kidd, who it turns out, is a witch who is just coming into her powers.  Anne isn't thrilled with learning she is a witch, she isn't thrilled with helping Kane and is even less thrilled with working with Decible, but Kane manages to pull her into their little group.  The interactions between Decible and Anne were particularly fun to watch and I have a feeling they are going to get more action in the future.While I enjoyed this book, it was a little difficult to follow at times, I kept feeling like I was beginning in the middle of the story and had missed some important background information.  Eventually, we get some of Kane's history and some world building as far as the demon realm goes, but I was still lost as to the politics involved between the Wizards, Demons and Witches. I'm assuming we will get more information as the series goes on, but I think the book would have been better had we had it up front. It will be interesting to see where the author takes us in the future, I'm sure there will be more to be heard from Kane's little group of misfits. There is a decent little reveal toward the end of the book, again it left more questions than answers but it was unexpected. I think if the author works out the kinks of world building and character building this will be a fun series to follow and I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next.Reviewed as a Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild