Review: Unclean Spirits

This is the first book in the Black Sun's Daughter series by M L N Hanover.

Book Blurb:

In a world where magic walks and demons ride, you can't always play by the rules.

Jayné Heller thinks of herself as a realist, until she discovers reality isn't quite what she thought it was. When her uncle Eric is murdered, Jayné travels to Denver to settle his estate, only to learn that it's all hers -- and vaster than she ever imagined. And along with properties across the world and an inexhaustible fortune, Eric left her a legacy of a different kind: his unfinished business with a cabal of wizards known as the Invisible College.

Led by the ruthless Randolph Coin, the Invisible College harnesses demon spirits for their own ends of power and domination. Jayné finds it difficult to believe magic and demons can even exist, let alone be responsible for the death of her uncle. But Coin sees Eric's heir as a threat to be eliminated by any means -- magical or mundane -- so Jayné had better start believing in something to save her own life.

Aided in her mission by a group of unlikely companions -- Aubrey, Eric's devastatingly attractive assistant; Ex, a former Jesuit with a lethal agenda; Midian, a two-hundred-year-old man who claims to be under a curse from Randolph Coin himself; and Chogyi Jake, a self-styled Buddhist with mystical abilities -- Jayné finds that her new reality is not only unexpected, but often unexplainable. And if she hopes to survive, she'll have to learn the new rules fast -- or break them completely....

This is another one of those books that I have been eagerly anticipating. And another one of those books that let me down.

I just could not get excited about this book. The characters were not engaging. The plot was slow and dragging and - well, boring.

With the first book in a series we usually have a great many things that need to be set up. Characters have to be introduced and back stories set down. And I am okay with that - I really like that. I want to know why someone is doing what they are doing - what motivates them and such.

But I just didn't care enough with this book. It took me 5 days to read this book and that was because I just didn't want to pick it up.

I see potential in the characters - they just need that little extra 'oomph'. That certain something that makes a reader go "okay, what's he/she gonna do now".

I guess I'm more of an action girl than I thought - because I was ready for something to happen long before anything did. It seemed like 3/4 of the book was planning to do this or planning to do that - instead of just doing it.

The sequel is due out in September and it is called Darker Angels......maybe it will be a little better. But I have to say the covers for both books are awesome!! That is another reason why I was so eager to pick up Unclean Spirits - the cover art is great.

I give Unclean Spirits 1 out of 5 stars.

M

Black Sun's Daughter
1. Unclean Spirits (2008)
2. Darker Angels (2009)