Rage in the Page: Surprisingly Amusing

Friday, August 01, 2008

California Demon: The Secret Life of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom
by Julie Kenner

This book operates on the premise that the Vatican has a secret branch dedicated to hunting and killing demons. Kate, a demon-hunter since she was a teenaged orphan, gets roped back into duty when her small town in California starts being attacked. This is all a secret from her husband and children, though she did confide in her best friend.

It's all about the balance between normal suburban life (especially when dealing with a teenaged daughter) and a secret, super-agent mission. She manages rather well, identifying the demons who've taken over the bodies of the geezers in a local retirement home (and killing them), storing bodies of dead demons in the trunk of her car until they can be disposed of, and uncovering a plot to bring a super-demon out of a book and into the world.

There's a weird sub-plot where Kate deals with a teacher at her daughter's school who reminds her a great deal of her deceased (via mugger, not a demon) first husband. Coincidentally, he too is a demon hunter, though he's not officially sanctioned by the church, and helps take down the super-demon at the end (is that really a spoiler? it's rather obvious she'll succeed...).

There's a nice conclusion, but it also sets up the next book rather well. Kate has to figure out what's up with this teacher, since (ok, this part's a spoiler) she's afraid her husband used dark magic while dying to take over another person's body, and that the teacher is actually her husband. More importantly, taking down the super-demon involved revealing her secret life to her daughter, who now wants to become an apprentice; considering Kate started her training at the same age, it'll be hard to say no...

Labels: demonic possession, fiction, fun